Basic Concepts — PPSC previous year questions

The question asks which items are not secondary-sector activities. In India's national accounts the secondary sector is manufacturing (textiles included), construction, and electricity, gas and water supply. Mining and quarrying is primary and transport and storage is tertiary, so 1 and 3 are the odd ones out.

The trickle-down theory says growth first benefits the rich. Those benefits then 'trickle down' to the poorer sections. This happens chiefly through greater demand for labour as investment and production expand. Critics, including Amartya Sen, argue that growth alone does not ensure equitable development. That is why India paired growth with direct poverty-alleviation programmes from the Fifth Five Year Plan onward.

Economic growth is a quantitative concept — a sustained increase in real output (GDP/GNP). Economic development is broader and qualitative: it includes growth plus improvements in living standards, health, education and equity. This is why development is measured by composite indices like the Human Development Index (HDI, introduced by UNDP in 1990 by Mahbub ul Haq and Amartya Sen), not by GDP alone.

UNFPA defines the demographic dividend as the growth potential from a shift in a population's age structure. It comes when the working-age share (15-64 years) is larger than the dependent share. India has been in this window since about 2018 (median age about 28 years in 2021), and it is expected to last till the mid-2050s. The dividend is realised only with adequate investment in education, skills and employment.

UNDP has published the Human Development Index (HDI) since 1990. Mahbub ul Haq devised it with Amartya Sen. It has three dimensions. One is long, healthy life (life expectancy). One is knowledge (mean and expected years of schooling). One is a decent standard of living (GNI per capita). The Human Poverty Index measured deprivation. The Multidimensional Poverty Index replaced it.

The UNDP Human Development Index combines three dimensions: a long and healthy life (life expectancy), knowledge (mean and expected years of schooling) and a decent standard of living (GNI per capita, PPP). The dependency ratio is a demographic measure and is not part of the HDI. The index was introduced in 1990 by Mahbub ul Haq and Amartya Sen.

The MRTP Act of 1969 was replaced by the Competition Act, 2002, which set up the Competition Commission of India, so the change came in the 2000-10 decade.

After Independence India went ahead with a mixed economy. A large public sector and a regulated private sector were to work side by side. So statement 1 is correct. Nehru and the other planners offered this middle path as an alternative to the extreme versions of capitalism and of socialism. That is what statement 2 says. So statement 2 is correct too, and both together are right.

CSR stands for Corporate Social Responsibility. Section 135 of the Companies Act, 2013 makes it compulsory. It applies at net worth of Rs 500 crore or more. Or turnover of Rs 1,000 crore or more. Or net profit of Rs 5 crore or more. Such a company must spend at least 2% of its average net profit of the last three years. It must go to CSR activities in Schedule VII. India was the first country to make CSR spending a law.

The silver economy means the economic activity, products and services that serve the elderly — people aged about 60 and above. It also covers opportunities created by an ageing population. These run from healthcare and assisted living to pension and leisure services. India launched the SAGE (Seniorcare Ageing Growth Engine) initiative in 2021 to promote start-ups in this space.