10. Which organization publishes the annual global Human Development Report?
[CDS General Knowledge, 14 Feb 2016]
- A. World Trade Organization
- B. World Bank
- C. UNDP
- D. International Monetary Fund
Answer: C. UNDP
Explanation: The United Nations Development Programme publishes the Human Development Report. It includes the HDI and other indicators relating to human capabilities and inequality. WTO, IMF and World Bank issue different statistical and economic publications and are not its publisher.
9. Consider:
(1) The Club of Rome first proposed the SDGs in 1972.
(2) The SDGs are to be achieved by 2030.
Which is correct?
[UPSC CSE Prelims 2016, GS-I]
- A. Statement 1 only
- B. Statement 2 only
- C. Both
- D. Neither
Answer: B. Statement 2 only
Explanation: The SDGs were adopted by UN member states in 2015 for the period to 2030. The Club of Rome’s 1972 work concerned limits to growth and did not establish the SDGs. Consequently, the second statement alone is correct.
8. Which expert group proposed daily per-person poverty thresholds of roughly ₹32 rural and ₹47 urban?
[CGPSC Prelims General Studies 2016]
- A. Suresh Tendulkar Group
- B. C. Rangarajan Group
- C. Montek Singh Ahluwalia Group
- D. Bimal Jalan Group
Answer: B. C. Rangarajan Group
Explanation: The Rangarajan group’s 2014 report proposed higher 2011–12 poverty-line spending cutoffs than those under the Tendulkar method: about ₹32 daily in rural areas and ₹47 in urban areas. The figures refer to that historical estimation exercise.
7. For the Human Development Report 2015, consider:
India ranked 130/188;
HDI included longevity, education and income;
India ranked below the other BRICS states.
Which were correct?
[RPSC RAS Prelims 2016]
- A. First and second only
- B. Second and third only
- C. Second only
- D. All three
Answer: D. All three
Explanation: In the 2015 report, India was ranked 130 of 188. HDI involved health, knowledge and income, and India’s position was below the other BRICS members. Report-specific historical rankings should not be substituted with present-day figures.
6. What does “Rio+20 Conference” refer to?
[UPSC CSE Prelims 2015, GS-I]
- A. United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development
- B. WTO Ministerial Conference
- C. IPCC plenary conference
- D. Convention on Biological Diversity parties’ meeting
Answer: A. United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development
Explanation: Rio+20 was the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development held in Rio de Janeiro in 2012, twenty years after the 1992 Earth Summit. It addressed poverty reduction, green-economy pathways and international arrangements for sustainable development.
5. Which core dimensions form the basis of the Human Development Index?
[MPPSC State Service Prelims 2015]
- A. Health, education, employment and income
- B. Health, education and employment
- C. Health, education and standard of living
- D. Education, employment and living standards
Answer: C. Health, education and standard of living
Explanation: The HDI uses three dimensions: a long and healthy life, knowledge, and a decent standard of living. Employment affects development indirectly, but it is not a separate basic dimension within the HDI formula.
4. Which body was the nodal agency for estimating poverty at the Indian national and state levels?
[UPPSC Civil Services Prelims 2014, GS-I]
- A. Finance Commission
- B. Ministry of Rural Development
- C. Ministry of Home Affairs
- D. Planning Commission
Answer: D. Planning Commission
Explanation: The Planning Commission historically coordinated official poverty-line estimations using household consumption survey data and state-specific price adjustments. This responsibility existed before the commission was replaced by NITI Aayog, so the historical institutional context determines the answer.
3. Which trio formed the conventional core of the Human Development Index?
[RPSC RAS Prelims 2013]
- A. Nutrition, quality of life and output
- B. Poverty, lifespan and educational access
- C. Life expectancy, education and per-person income
- D. Inflation, unemployment and income
Answer: C. Life expectancy, education and per-person income
Explanation: HDI combines longevity, knowledge and material standard of living. Its proxies have evolved: current methodology uses GNI per capita and two schooling indicators. Employment, inflation and nutrition are relevant to development but are not the three principal dimensions.
2. Which dimensions are covered by the UNDP–OPHI Multidimensional Poverty Index:
(1) household deprivations in education, health and living conditions,
(2) national PPP,
(3) fiscal deficit and GDP growth?
[UPSC CSE Prelims 2012, GS-I]
- A. Statement 1 only
- B. Statements 2 and 3
- C. Statements 1 and 3
- D. All three
Answer: A. Statement 1 only
Explanation: The MPI measures overlapping household disadvantages in schooling, health and standard-of-living indicators such as sanitation, electricity and housing. Macro variables like government deficits or exchange-rate-adjusted national output do not constitute its deprivation components.
1. The idea of development meeting present needs without endangering future needs is inherently linked with which concept?
[UPSC CSE Prelims 2010, GS-I]
- A. Social empowerment alone
- B. Inclusive growth alone
- C. Globalisation
- D. Carrying capacity
Answer: D. Carrying capacity
Explanation: Carrying capacity describes the ability of natural systems to sustain resource use and absorb pressures. Sustainable development requires keeping human activity compatible with such ecological limits so that present choices do not destroy future options.
