Economics Test - 17

The correct answer is 2015.

Key Points

• In 2000, 189 nations made a promise to free people from extreme poverty and multiple deprivations. This pledge became the eight Millennium Development Goals to be achieved in 2015.
• The United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are 8 goals that UN Member States have agreed to try to achieve by the year 2015.
• The United Nations Millennium Declaration, signed in September 2000, commits world leaders to combat poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation, and discrimination against women.

  The MDGs are derived from this Declaration. Each MDG has targets set for 2015 and indicators to monitor progress from 1990 levels. Several of these relate directly to health.

The correct answer is the Tendulkar Taskforce.

Key Points

• The conventional approach to measuring poverty is to specify a minimum expenditure (or income) required to purchase a basket of goods and services necessary to satisfy basic human needs. This minimum expenditure is called the poverty line.
• The basket of goods and services necessary to satisfy basic human needs is the poverty line basket or PLB.
• The proportion of the population below the poverty line is called the poverty ratio or headcount ratio (HCR). 
• The current methodology for poverty estimation includes education and health in the Poverty line basket along with food is based on the recommendations of an expert group to review the methodology for Estimation of Poverty i.e. the Tendulkar Committee established in 2005. 
• The Tendulkar poverty line remains the official poverty line and is the basis of the current official poverty estimates in 1993-94, 2004-05, and 2011-12. 

Additional Information

•  Global Multidimensional Poverty Index is an international measure of acute multidimensional poverty.
  • It complements traditional monetary poverty measures by capturing the acute deprivations in health, education, and living standards that a person faces simultaneously.
  • It is published by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative, University of Oxford.
  • According to Global MPI 2020, India is 62nd among 107 countries with an MPI score of 0.123 and 27.91% headcount ratio, based on the NFHS 4 (2015/16) data.
  • Dimensions :

The correct answer is It indicates a total income shortfall that needs to be corrected to remove absolute poverty.

Key Points

•  Poverty:
  • Poverty is the social phenomenon in which a section of society is unable to fulfill its basic necessities of life.
  • There are two types of Poverty. one is absolute poverty and the other is relative poverty.
    • Absolute poverty 
      • In this type minimum commodities required for basic needs are identified and calculated in monetary terms.
      • Then population whose level of income is less than this monetary value will be below the poverty line and hence poor. 
      • It is expressed as a number of poor people as a proportion of the population. This measure is also called the Headcount Ratio.
    • Relative poverty:
      • This measure of Poverty is the relative measure of the top 5-10% population with the bottom 5-10% of the population.
      • It reflects the relative standards of poverty
      • It also calculates the inequality in society.
  • Poverty Gap:
    • It is the mean shortfall from the poverty line, given as a percentage of the poverty line.
    • It measures the intensity of poverty. 
    • It shows the extent to which individuals on average fall below the poverty line.
    • It indicates the total income shortfall that needs to be corrected to remove absolute poverty. Hence, option 3 is correct

The correct answer is ​Odisha.

Key Points

• The proportion of poor in India during 1973-2012 has come down from 55 to 22 percent.
• Six states - Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, and Orissa - contained a large section of poor in 1973-74.
• During 1973-2012, many Indian states reduced the poverty levels to a considerable extent.
• Since 1973, many Indian states have made significant efforts to reduce the level of poverty and have had success in it.
• Yet the level of poverty in the four states - Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh, is above the national poverty level. Hence, Option 2 is correct.
• Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, West Bengal, and Tamil Nadu reduced the poverty level much better than other states.
• During 1973-74, about half the population in most of these large states was living below the poverty line.
• In 1999-2000, only two states - Bihar and Orissa - were left near that same level.
• Though they also reduced their share of poor, compared to other states, their success is marginal.

The correct answer is option 2.

Key Point

• There are multiple ways to describe poverty-stricken people.
• Chronic poor: People who are leading constant lives of poverty and who are normally poor but may have a small amount of money with them (for example, casual workers) are classified collectively as the chronic poor.
• Churning poor: The churning poor are the people who go in and out of poverty (example, small farmers and seasonal workers). Hence option 2 is correct.
• Transient poor: The poor who are well off most of the time but may be subject to bad luck or difficult times at times. They are known as the transient poor.

Common characteristics

• Lack of basic amenities
• Starvation and hunger
• Malnutrition
• Larger family size
• Limited economic opportunities
• Debt trap

The correct answer is Option.

Key Points

• Japan has the maximum life expectancy which is at 83.7 years. Life expectancy refers to the number of the years the person is likely to live from his/her birth.
• After japan, it is Switzerland, where life expectancy is 83.4 year. In case of India it is 68.3 years.
• India lags behind China on several key health indicators.
• Differential rates of mortality decline during 1960-2009 have led to a widening health gap between China and India.
• In 2009 the infant mortality rate in India was 50 deaths per 1,000 live births, 3 times greater than the rate for China. Sixty-six out of 1,000 Indian children died before reaching their 5th birthday, compared with 19 children in China.
• China’s life expectancy is 9 years longer than India’s. Life expectancy at birth in India increased from 42 years in 1960 to 65 years in 2009, while life expectancy in China increased from 47 years in 1960 to 74 years in 2009.

The correct answer is University Teaching.

• University teaching is a specialized activity and forms part of the knowledge sector of the economy i.e. the quaternary sector.

Key Points

• On the basis of the nature of the economic activity, the Indian economy is classified as
  • Primary - Activities are undertaken by directly using natural resources. eg.- agriculture, mining fishing, forestry
  • Secondary - Industries where finished products are made from natural materials produced in the primary sector.
    • Also called the industrial sector.
    • People engaged are called blue-collar workers.
    • Eg. - Cotton mills, industrial production, etc. 
  • Tertiary Sector - Also called the service sector, activities in this sector itself do not produce any goods but aid in the development of primary and secondary sectors.
    • Jobs in this sector are called white-collar jobs., eg - transportation, insurance, finance, etc.
  • Quaternary Activities -
    • Specialized activities in the knowledge sector.
    • The intellectual aspect of the economy.
    • It enables entrepreneurs to innovate & improve the quality of services offered in the economy.
    • eg. - Elementary schools & university professors, doctor offices, accounting and brokerage firms, etc.
  • Quinary Activities - 
    • The sector of the economy where top-level decisions are made.
    • It includes a government that passes legislation.
    • Focus on operation, rearrangement & interpretation of new & existing ideas.
    • These are called gold collar professionals, officers, research scientists.

Additional Information

• University education in India is regulated by the University Grants Commission Act, 1956.
• UGC is a statutory body under the Ministry of Education.
• Objectives of UGC includes-
  • Coordinations, determination, and maintaining of standards of university education.
  • It recognizes universities in India and disburses funds for the same.
  • A new body HECI - Higher EducationCommission of India - will subsume functions of UGC and AICTE and would be the apex body to regulate affairs of higher education in India.

The correct answer is Quinary activities.

Key Points

• Primary - Activities are undertaken by directly using natural resources. eg.- agriculture, mining fishing, forestry
• Secondary - Industries where finished products are made from natural materials produced in the primary sector.
  • Also called the industrial sector.
  • People engaged are called blue-collar workers.
  • Eg. - Cotton mills, industrial production, etc. 
• Quaternary Activities -
  • Specialized activities in the knowledge sector.
  • The intellectual aspect of the economy.
  • It enables entrepreneurs to innovate & improve the quality of services offered in the economy.
  • eg. - Elementary schools & university professors, doctor offices, accounting and brokerage firms, etc.
• Quinary Activities - 
  • The sector of the economy where top-level decisions are made.
  • It includes a government that passes legislation.
  • Focus on operation, rearrangement & interpretation of new & existing ideas.
  • These are called gold collar professionals, officers, research scientists.

Additional Information

• There are 8 core industries in India that are used to calculate IIP - (Index of Industrial Production).
• 8 core industries products include - Electricity, Steel, Refinery products, Crude Oil, Coal, Cement, Natural Gas & Fertilisers.
• IIp is considered load indicators of monthly industrial performance. 

The number of pupils enrolled in a specific level of education, regardless of age, is expressed as a percentage of the official school-age population for that level of education.

Key Points

• A high GER generally indicates a high degree of participation in the education system whether the pupils belong to the official age group or not. 
• To demonstrate the overall level of involvement at a certain educational level.
• It represents the educational system's ability to enrol students of a specific age range.
• At each level of education, the GER should be calculated using total enrolment in all types of schools and educational institutions. 
• It is calculated by dividing the number of students enrolled in a given level of education regardless of age by the population of the age group which officially corresponds to the given level of education, and multiplying the result by 100.
• It can also be used as a supplement to the Net Enrolment Rate (NER) by indicating the extent of over-and under-age enrollment.

Thus, Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) is related to the eduaction sector. 

Additional Information

• The primary school net enrollment ratio (NER) is the percentage of children of official primary school age who are enrolled in primary school. 
• It cannot be greater than 100%.
• NER = Total number of enrolled children in the official school age group/ Enrolled children in the official school age group

• NABARD is a Bank.
• NABARD refers to the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development.
• NABARD was formed on the recommendation of the committee formed on 30 March 1979, under the Chairmanship of Shri B. Sivaraman.
• It came into existence on 12 July 1982 by transferring the agricultural credit functions of RBI and refinance functions of the then Agricultural Refinance and Development Corporation (ARDC).
• NABARD today is fully owned by the Government of India.
• NABARD Facts:-

• Founded	12 July 1982
  Headquarter	Mumbai, India
  Chairman	Dr. G.R. Chintala