Economic Activities and Regional Development Questions and Answers

Answer: A

The matching is a-iii, b-iv, c-ii, d-i. Indicative planning is used for the private sector, where the plan only shows directions and does not command. Spatial planning belongs to town planning, since it deals with the use of space. Imperative planning is that of the public sector, where the state fixes and enforces targets. Perspective planning is long term planning, looking many years ahead. That order is iii, iv, ii, i, option A. The other options put imperative or indicative planning against the wrong sector.

Answer: A

Both the statements are correct, and the reason is the correct explanation of the assertion, in the key. Regions do change over time, as their spatial elements and the links among them change. Planned intervention can speed that change up within the frame of socio-economic activity, so it is one of the forces that makes regions change. Options C and D call one of the statements wrong, and option B denies the link. Option A is the keyed answer.

Answer: D

B.J.L. Berry used multiple factor analysis in his classic study of the functional regionalisation of the Indian economy. He took many variables of the economy, reduced them by factor analysis to a few basic dimensions, and grouped the districts or regions on the factor scores. A composite index, cluster analysis and regression analysis are other statistical techniques, but they are not the one he adopted for that study. Option D is correct.

Answer: C

The statements that are not major objectives of the Hill Area Development Programme are large scale industries and major irrigation projects, so (ii) and (iv) are the answer. The programme is meant for fragile hill regions, and its objectives are agro-forestry, horticulture, eco-preservation and small, suitable development. Large industries and major irrigation projects are not suited to the hills, because of the terrain and the risk to the environment. Option C is correct.

Answer: D

The person who applied the growth pole concept to geographic space, whereby growth poles came to be known as growth centres, is Boudeville. Francois Perroux first put forward the idea of the growth pole in economic space, as an industry that drives the growth of others. Boudeville then gave it a geographical form by locating it in a city or centre with the regions around it. Friedmann is known for the core-periphery model, and Frank for dependency theory. Option D is correct.

Answer: B

Balanced regional development was emphasised as one of the major objectives of the plan, with a full chapter in the plan document, in the Third Plan (1961 to 1966), as the key has it. That plan took up the removal of regional differences in the levels of development and the spread of industry to backward areas. The Second Plan stressed rapid industrialisation, and the Fourth and Fifth Plans gave other emphases, such as growth with stability and the removal of poverty. Option B is the keyed answer.

Answer: B

The city region is an example of a functional region. A functional or nodal region is organised around a centre, here the city, with which the surrounding area is joined by flows of people, goods and information, such as commuting and the supply of food. A formal region is uniform in some feature, a compage region is a complex of many features, and an ad hoc region is one made for a particular purpose. Option B is correct.

Answer: C

Both the statements are correct, and the reason is the correct explanation of the assertion. The task of preparing a reasonably sound district plan has not made much headway in the states, and a main reason is the lack of effective coordination at the district level between the various agencies involved in planning, which prevents a combined plan from being drawn. The reason therefore explains the assertion, so option C is correct. Options A and B call one of the statements wrong, and option D denies the link.

Answer: C

The statement that is generally not true of shifting cultivation is that the homesteads are more often than not not shifted. In shifting cultivation the people clear a patch, farm it for a few years and then move to another patch, and the homestead moves along with the fields.

The rotation of fields and the absence of draught animals are true of this system, and it fosters community life since the whole village clears and farms land together. So the third statement is the one that is not true.

Answer: A

Weber's theory of industrial location is the classical least cost approach. Alfred Weber argued that an industry is located at the point where the cost of transport and labour is least, with the agglomeration effects added.

Smith (the spatial margins approach), Isard (the general location theory) and Hoover (transfer cost) came after Weber and included other points, so they are not the classical least cost model.