DELHI PUBLIC SCHOOL

NACHARAM/ MAHENDRA HILLS

SUBJECT : SOCIAL SCIENCE Notes CLASS : X

Chapter – Development (Economics)

1. Important Economic terms

a) Development – It is the process by which one’s goal or aspiration for
progress is fulfilled. It can improve the economic, social and political
condition of the people.
b) National development – It means development of the country in per capita
income, health, education etc.
c) National Income (NI) – It is the sum total of the individual income of the
people of the country in a year.
Or

It is the sum total of the value of all final goods and services produced
in a country in a given period of time plus the income from abroad.

d) Per capita income (PI) – Average income of a person of a country. It is

calculated by dividing the total population of a country with its National
Income.
PI = National Income/ total population
e) Life expectancy – Average number of years a person is expected to survive.
f) Infant mortality rate – Total number of children that die before the age of
one year as a proportion of 1000 live children born in that particular year.
g) Literacy rate – Proportion of literate population in the 7 and above age
group.
h) Literate – People who can read, write and understand simple statements in
their own mother tongue are called literate.
 i) Net attendance ratio – Net attendance ratio is the total number of children of
age group 14 and 15 years attending school as a percentage of total number
of children in the same age group.
j) Body Mass Index (BMI) – Weight of a person in Kg divided by height
square in meter.
2. What is development? Mention Explain two aspects of development.
Development refers to the progress or improvement in lifestyle. Important
aspects of development are:
● Different people have different developmental goals.
● What may be development for one may not be development for another .It
may even be destructive for others.
● For development people look at a mix of goals.
3. “People have different developmental goals.” Justify the statement.
● Different persons are placed in different life situations. Hence their notions
of development are different. Developmental goals of a rich urban boy
would be different from that of a farmer’s son. It depends entirely on the
present life situations.
● .Eg: The developmental goal of a student of class 12 from a rich urban
family would be to go abroad for higher studies but that of a farmer’s son
would complete his minimum education by coming to the city.
● Eg: A big industrialist would aspire to make his company an MNC but a
budding industrialist would be keen on establishing his industry in his
country
● A farmer who depends only on rain for growing crops would like to have a
bore well in his field or avail other irrigational facilities .But a prosperous
farmer would want to increase his income through higher support price for
his crops and ensure good education for his children.
(Can write any other example also)
4. “People have conflicting developmental goals.” Support the statement with
suitable examples.
● What may be viewed as development by one may not be development for
another .It may even be destructive for others.
● For example removal of slums to build multiplexes may seem as
development to some but the same activity is destruction for the slum
dwellers that will be displaced from their settlements.
 ● To get more electricity, the industrialists may want more dams’ .But this may
submerge and disrupt the lives of the tribal people.
● A girl expects as much freedom and opportunity as her brother. She expects
her brother to share the household chores but her brother may not like this.

5. “For development, people look at a mix of goals”. Support the statement with
suitable examples.

● If women are engaged in paid work, their dignity in the family and society
increases.
● It also happens that if there is respect for women there would be more
sharing of housework and a greater acceptance of women working outside.
● Expectation may also be to provide a safe and secure environment for
women, so that more women can come outside to work.
6. Give some examples where factors other than income are important aspects of
our lives.
● There are various other aspects apart from income that are important in our
life. They include good education,good health,a healthy working
atmosphere, secure and regular jobs that enhance our sense of security, and a
friendly and cordial neighborhood.
● People also seek things like equal treatment, freedom, security and respect.
● Women need a safe and secure environment to take up a variety of jobs.
● They also seek a pollution free environment.
7. What is the main criterion for classifying different countries by the World Bank?
What are the limitations of this criterion?
● In World Development Report 2019, brought out by the World Bank, Per capita
income of a country is used as criterion to classify countries.
● Countries with per capita income of US $49300 per annum above in 2019 are
called rich countries.
● Those countries with per capita income of US $2500 or less are called low
income countries.
● India comes in the category of low middle income countries because its per
capita income in 2019 was just US $6700 per annum.
● The rich countries excluding countries of the Middle East and certain other
small countries are generally called developed countries.
 Limitations of per capita income
● However this criterion hides disparities in the distribution of income. A poor
country with more equitable distribution of income would be better off than
a richer country with unequal distribution of income.
● It takes into account only the economic aspect and does not consider the
qualitative aspects of life like health, literacy, mortality, life expectancy ,
sanitation etc.
8. Give three examples where an average is used for comparing situations.
● An average is used to compare the climate of two places.
● An average is used to analyze the productivity of workers.
● An average is used for comparing the performance of students’ .Average
marks in Economics of the students in section B with average marks in
Economics of the students in section C.
● Average salary of employees in HSBC compared with average salary of
employees of ICICI.

9. Why do you think average income is an important criterion for development?

For the measurement of development average income is an important criterion

when compared to total income.
● Average income indicates what a person is likely to earn.
● It considers total income in relation to the population of the state.

● No other measure can give you an overall view of the economy of the
country .Hence it is an important criterion for development.

10.Besides the size of per capita income ,what other property of income is
important in comparing two or more societies?

The distribution of income among its people should be considered. If the national
income is widely distributed among its people, it shows a better distribution of
income .High per capita income with better distribution of income is a sign of
development of the nation

11. Suppose records show that the average income in a country has been increasing
over a period of time .From this, can we conclude that all sections of the economy
have become better?
Not necessarily .If the additional income is distributed widely among all sections
of population, we can conclude that all sections of the economy have become
better.

Conversely, with all the additional income being only in the hands of the rich the
gap between the rich and the poor will increase which is not good for the economy
of the nation.

12. In what respect is the criterion used by UNDP different from the criterion used
by the World Bank for measuring development?
● The measure used by World Bank is per capita income or average income
whereas UNDP measures the development of a region on the basis of human
development index (HDI)
● HDI is a better measure than per capita income as it considers both
quantitative factors such as average income and qualitative factors such as
health ,education etc in measuring development.
13. Give three examples where collective provisions of goods and services are
cheaper than individual provisions.
● The use of public transport instead of private vehicles, schools, places of
work etc.
● A security guard for the entire apartments instead of having a security guard
for each household.
● Use the library to read books rather than buying all the books which might
cost a lot of money.
14. Why is groundwater overused?
● Increase in population has led to increase in demand for agricultural and
industrial products and water for domestic use.
● The modern methods of agriculture, involving use of HYV seeds require
more water.
● Industries need more water to meet the increasing demand.
● The use of water for domestic purposes has also increased in recent times.
● Increase in hospitality services has also led to an increase in demand for
water.
● Water obtained through various other means isn’t sufficient to meet the
demands. Thus groundwater is relied upon to satisfy water requirements.
15. Is crude oil essential for the development of a country? If so, why?
● Petrol, diesel obtained from crude oil is used as fuel to run vehicles.
● Most of the industries require petrol or diesel to run their factories.
● It is used in the production of synthetic fibers, rubber, plastics, cosmetics etc.
● Primary and secondary activities cannot be carried out without crude oil.

16. Can there be development without overuse of groundwater?

● Overuse of groundwater can be prevented if crops are scientifically planned.
● Those crops that require less water should be promoted in areas of less
rainfall.
● Ground water can be replenished by adopting various water harvesting
techniques
● Other sources of irrigation, such as canals and lakes, need to be developed.

17. Kerala with a lower per capita income has a better human development ranking
than Maharashtra. Hence the per capita income is not a useful criterion at all and
should not be used to compare states .Do you agree? Discuss.

Per capita income is one of the most important components of development.

● Increasing the national income and per capita income is the main goal of all
developing as well as developed nations.
● However, per capita income alone cannot be the only measure of the level
of development of a nation.
● The human development index which takes into account qualitative
development in terms of education, health etc is also equally important.
● Hence, the per capita and human development indexes together give an
adequate measure of national development.

18. India has to import crude oil. What problems do you anticipate for India when
global oil reserves are depleting.

● The value of rupee will fall

● The cost of manufactured products will increase
● The cost of agricultural commodities will increase
● The cost of transportation will increase leading to an increase in the cost of
commodities.

19. Why is the issue of sustainable development important?

● Sustainable development prevents degradation of the environment.

● It promotes efficient use of resources.
● It improves quality of life and takes care of the future generation.

20. List a few examples of environmental degradation that you may have observed
around you.

● Overuse of groundwater
● Discharge of effluents into rivers
● Destroying of mangroves in coastal areas leading to floods ( any other
relevant points)

21. Highlight any three advantages of public facilities

● Public facilities are the cheapest way to provide basic services.

● The poor population survives only because of public services.
● Services like transport, water facility, education, health , police etc. become
affordable only if they are a part of public services.
● Public facilities reduce environmental pollution and the exploitation of
non-renewable resources.

22 .Why do we use averages? What are the limitations of using average to compare
development? Explain with an example.

Averages are used to compare different countries, scores, marks and various other
data.

Averages ( Per Capita Income) have many limitations such as :

● They don’t give us a true picture regarding distribution of income.

● Averages don’t give us information regarding non materialistic goods and
services like the condition of health and education of the people.
 COMPARISON OF TWO COUNTRIES
Country Monthly income of citizens in 2007 (Rs)
I II III IV V Average
Country A 9500 10,500 9800 10,000 10,200 10,000
Country B 500 500 500 500 48,000 10,000

● For example let us consider two countries A and B. For the sake of
simplicity, we have assumed that they have only 5 citizens each.
● Even though both the countries have identical average income, country A is
preferred because it has more equitable distribution.
● On the other hand most citizens in Country B are poor and one person is
extremely rich.
● Hence although the per capita income of both the countries is the same but
the condition of the people is not the same. So while average income is
useful for comparisons it does not tell us how this income is distributed
among people.

23. “Sustainability of development is a matter of concern for the scientists of

present century”. Why?

Or

Why is the issue of sustainability important for development?

● Resources on which the development of our country depends are limited.

● If we use them recklessly, then their availability will deplete and a time will
come when it may completely get over.
● So to hand over a similar type of development to our future generation, we
need to make judicious use of the resources and need to find out alternatives
to renewable resources also.

24.“ Money in your pocket cannot buy all the goods and services that you may
need to live well”. Justify the statement with examples.

● Money cannot buy you a pollution free environment.

● It cannot assure you to get unadulterated medicine.
 ● Money may also not be able to protect you from infectious diseases, unless
your whole community takes preventive steps.
● Money cannot buy you a corruption free society.

25. What is BMI? How is it calculated? What is its significance?

● BMI means body mass index. It is calculated by dividing the weight of a

person (in kg) with his/her height (in meter)
● For example if the weight of a person is 70kg and his height is 2 meters ,
then BMI = 70/4 = 17.5
● If BMI is more than 25 then the person is overweight.
● If BHI is less than 18.5 then the person would be considered as
undernourished.
● Remember that this criterion is not applicable to growing children.

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Notes are only for reference.