Economics Test - 16

The correct answer is NITI Aayog.

Key Points

• The "NITI Aayog" an agency of the Government of India, has been entrusted with the task of implementing and overseeing the Sustainable Development Goals.
• NITI Aayog has identified sustainable development goals and plans related to its objectives.
• Many major government programs, such as 'Swachh Bharat', 'Make in India', 'Skill India' and 'Digital India', are at the core of the Sustainable Development Goals.
• The United Nations in India these days is helping state governments to achieve sustainable development goals.
• So that the major challenges of development at the state level can be resolved.

• The concept of “sustainable development” came into general usage after the Brundtland Commission Report (1987).
• The concept of sustainable development was emphasised by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED).

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Sustainable Development (SD):

• Brundtland stated that "sustainable development is the development that meets the needs of the present generation, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.
• SD enables the present generation to use natural resources judiciously so that their availability is ensured for future generations too.
• The United Nations 2005 World Summit outcome document refers to three "interdependent and mutually reinforcing pillars" of sustainable development

Three Pillars of Sustainability

• The three pillars of sustainability are a powerful tool for defining the Sustainable Development problem.
• This consists of three parameters: Economic, Social, and Environmental pillars.
• If anyone pillar is weak then the system as a whole is unsustainable.
• Two popular ways to visualize the three pillars are shown in the figure below:

Social Sustainability

• Social Sustainability focuses on social systems, such as a country, family, or organization.
•  It requires them to function at a defined level of social well-being and harmony indefinitely.
• Problems like war, endemic poverty, widespread injustice, and low education rate are symptoms of a system that is socially unsustainable.

Environmental Sustainability

• Environmental Sustainability is the ability of the environment to support a defined level of environmental quality and natural resource extraction rates indefinitely.
• This is the world's biggest actual problem.
• This problem receives too low a priority to be solved and is consequently delayed.

Economic Sustainability

• Economic Sustainability is the ability of an economy to support a defined level of economic production indefinitely.
• Since the Great Recession of 2008, this is the world's biggest apparent problem that endangers the progress of environmental sustainability.

Thus, the three pillars of sustainable development are Social, Environmental and Economic.

The correct answer is Using public transport.

• Sustainable Development: Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

• Using non-renewable sources of energy: Using non-renewable energy sources like coal and fossil fuel leads to its exhaustion, it making it unavailable to future generations.
• Leaving lights and fans on while unattended: Leaving lights and fans on while unattended results in wastage of electricity which in turn leads to an increase in carbon footprint.
• Using public transport: Using public transport as opposed to personal transport leads to decreased emission and fuel uptake per capita.
• Leaving the tap on: Leaving the tap on results in water shortage and scarcity.

​Thus, using public transport is an environmentally sustainable practice.

The correct answer is To manage tourism and environment while maintaining cultural integrity and ecological processes.

Key Points

• The main objective of sustainable tourism is to manage tourism and the environment while maintaining cultural integrity and ecological processes.
• Sustainable tourism means it takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and host communities.
• But today, it is most important challenge of mankind to have tourism which is sustainable as well as a tool for development.
• In development terms, tourism contributes 10.2% GDP of the world and for the minimum amount of Rs.10 lakh investments, 90 jobs in the world for tourism is generated.

The correct answer is Energy.

Key Points

• National Infrastructure Pipeline:
  • NIP is launched in August 2020, for the period of five years 2020-2025.
  • the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) is a first-of-its-kind, whole-of-government exercise to provide world-class infrastructure across India, 
  • It will improve the quality of life for all citizens. 
  • It aims to showcase investment opportunities in India's infrastructure sector, improve project preparation and attract investments into India.
  • The NIP aims to capture key greenfield and brownfield projects for investments across all economic and social infrastructure sub-sectors on a best-effort basis
  • NIP is a collection of projects and programs totalling INR 102 lakh crore in infrastructure development over the next five years. 
  • It follows the government's goal of making India a $5 trillion economy by 2024-25. 
  • NIP covers economic and social infrastructure projects in sectors such as Energy (24%), Roads (19%), Urban (16%), and Railways (13%) that account for almost 70% of India's expected infrastructure capital spending.

The correct answer is Chennai.

Key Points

• GDFC stands for Golden Quadrilateral Freight Corridor.
• The total route length of the corridor is 10,122 Km.
• It carries more than 52%  of passenger traffic and 58% of revenue earning freight traffic.
• It connects four major metropolitan cities namely -

1. Delhi
2. Mumbai
3. Chennai
4. Kolkata

• It also connects two diagonals namely -

1. Delhi - Chennai
2. Kolkata - Mumbai

The correct answer is Jawaharlal Nehru Port.

Key Points

• Jawaharlal Nehru Port is also known as JNPT, and Nhava Sheva.
• It was established in 1989.
• It is India's largest container port.
• The port is located in Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra.
• This port is also the terminal of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor.
• The port handles merchandise traffic largely originating from or destined for Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, and most of North India.

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The correct answer is Ministry of Education.

• Under the National Education Policy 2020, the name of the Ministry of Human Resource Development has been changed to Ministry of Education.

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• NEP 2020
  • Union Cabinet has approved the new National Education Policy (NEP), 2020 with an aim to introduce several changes in the Indian education system - from the school to the college level.
  • The NEP 2020 aims at making “India a global knowledge superpower”.
  • The two earlier education policies were brought in 1968 and 1986.
  • The current 10+2 system to be replaced by a new 5+3+3+4 curricular structure corresponding to ages 3-8, 8-11, 11-14, and 14-18 years respectively.
  • National Assessment Centre- 'PARAKH' has been created to assess the students.
  • M.Phil courses will be discontinued and all the courses at undergraduate, postgraduate, and Ph.D. level will now be interdisciplinary.

The correct answer is 6%.

Important points about National Education Policy 2020:-

• ​The new education policy has emphasized the integration of technology in all levels of learning.
• Ministry of Human Resources Development to be renamed the Ministry of Education.
• Public spending on education by states centers to be raised to 6% of GDP.
• Separate technology to develop digital education resources.
• With the new policy, India's educational system gets overhauled after 34 years.
• This is the third NEP after the policies of 1968 and 1986. However, the government amended the 1986 policy in 1992.

Additional Information

•  Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
  • Gross domestic product (GDP) is the total monetary or market value of all finished goods and services produced within the boundaries of a country in a specific period.
  • As a comprehensive measure of overall domestic production, it serves as a comprehensive scorecard of the economic health of a given country.

The correct answer is Both 1 and 2.

• India has about 17 percent of the world’s population but it bears a frightening 20 percent of the global burden of diseases (GBD).
• GBD is an indicator used by experts to gauge the number of people dying prematurely due to a particular disease as well as the number of years spent by them in a state of ‘disability’ owing to the disease.
• In India, more than half of GBD is accounted for by communicable diseases such as diarrhea, malaria, and tuberculosis. Every year around five lakh children die of water-borne diseases.

Additional Information

•  Researches of the World Bank and WHO did a collaborative step to study the Global Burden of Disease Study.
• The GBD report warned that the LMICs (Low and Middle-Income Countries) health systems are not well equipped to address the growing disease burden caused by NCDs (Non-Communicable Diseases).