Lifeline of National Economy Questions | Class 10 | Social Science | Unit 2 | Chapter 7 2024

Last updated on July 14th, 2024 at 05:03 pm

Lifelines Of National Economy Questions 

Below are some of the very important NCERT Class 10 Social Science Unit 2 Chapter 7 Lifelines Of National Economy Questions. These Class 10 Lifelines of National Economy Questions have been prepared by expert teachers and subject experts based on the latest syllabus and pattern of term 2. Questions with Answers to help students understand the concept.

These Questions for Class 10 Social Science Lifelines of National Economy Questions with answers are very important for the latest CBSE term 2 pattern. These class 10 notes,  Q and A are very important for students who want to score high in CBSE Board.

We have put together these NCERT  Questions of Class 10 Social Science unit 2 chapter 7 Lifelines of National Economy Questions for practice on a regular basis to score high in exams. Refer to these Questions with Answers here along with a detailed explanation.

Short Answer (SA) Type Questions

1. How has the world been converted into a global village? Explain.

2. What has necessitated the need for transport? Is it  right to say that efficient means of transport are prerequisites for fast development? Justify.
Or
“Efficient means of transport are prerequisites for fast development of the country.” Support the statement with examples. 

3. State the ways by which means of transport and communication help the growth of industries in India.

4. “Roadways have an edge over Railways.” Support the statement with examples

5. “Distribution of roads is not uniform in India. Support the statement with examples. 

6. Why are metalled roads better than unmetalled roads? What is the role of border roads’ and national highways in transportation?
Or
Explain the importance of ‘Border Roads’ for India. 

7. “Rail transport suffers from certain problems in India. Support the statement with examples.  

8. Explain any two merits and two demerits of pipeline transport.

9. Explain briefly the advantages that result in using waterways as a mode of transport for heavy and bulky goods. 

10. Explain any four characteristics of Kandla sea port.

11. Distinguish between a major port and a minor port. 

12. Why is air transport more popular in the NorthEastern part of the country? Give three reasons.
Or
“Airways is the most preferred mode of transport in North-Eastern states of India.” Give three reasons to prove this preference. 

13. Explain any four merits and two demerits of air transport.  

14. Classify communication services into two categories? Explain main features of each communication services are classified into personal.

Short Answer Type Questions Answer

Ans. 1

The world has been converted into a village with help or efficient and fast moving transport and communication facilities in the following ways   

• Daily flights to different countries and improved technology to develop fast means of transportation has connected the countries.

• Computer and internet facilities supported by satellite services have made the world a small village where it and information can be reached at almost instantly 

• Every country is well-linked with the rest of the world through various means of transport and communication.   

• Means of transportation such as railways, airways, waterways and means of communication such as newspapers, radio, television, cinema, internet, etc have been contributing to its socio-economic progress in many ways. 

Ans. 2

The need for transport has been necessitated due to the need for movement of goods and services from their supply locations to demand locations or markets. 

Some  people are engaged in facilitating these movements. These are known to be traders who make the products come to  the consumers by transportation. 

Efficient means of transport are prerequisite for fast  development because more development of goods and  services are not enough. The goods need to be -transported from one place to another in proper time for their distribution and consumption.

Ans. 3

The ways by which means of transport and   communication help the growth of industries in India are   

• Transport facilities are required to transport raw materials from their source region to industrial locations.  
• Final products from industries also require transport facilities for their transportation to market.
• Communication lines supply required information about various industries.
• Means of transport and communication also help in reduction of regional imbalances resulting in balanced regional development 

Ans. 4

Roadways still have an edge over the railways in India  because

• Construction cost of roads is much lower than railway lines.
• Roads can be constructed more easily in hilly terrains and undulating topography than railways.
• Roadways act as a feeder to other modes of transport, as  they provide a link between railway stations, air and sea ports. 
• Road transport is economical in transportation of few persons and relatively smaller amount of goods over short distances. 
• Road transport provides door-to-door service thus, the cost of loading and unloading is much lower.  

Ans. 5

It is true that the distribution of roads is not uniform in India. For example,

• Density of roads (length of roads per 100 square km of area) varies from Jammu and Kashmir (UT), which has the lowest density of road to Kerala, which has the highest density of roads in the 

• The density of roads is high in most of the Northern states and major Southern states. It is low in the Himalayan region, North-Eastern region, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan due to their topography.  

• Nature of terrain and the level of economic development are the main determinants of the density of roads. Construction of roads is easy and cheaper in the plain areas while it is difficult and costly in hilly and   plateau areas. 

Ans. 6

Metalled roads are better than unmetalled roads because they have a waterproof coating on their upper surface, this makes them usable in all seasons. On the other hand, unmetalled roads are difficult to use in the rainy season, as their upper surface becomes uneven due to absorption of rain water. 

Importance of border roads are

• They have improved accessibility in areas of difficult  terrain. 
• These roads help in the economic development of the border areas of the country.     

Role of National Highways is

• National highways link important parts of the country like state capitals and commercial centers.
• They enable fast and efficient movement of goods in areas connected to them. 

Ans. 7

Rail transport suffers from certain problems which are:    

The infrastructure of railways is poor. For example, the  tracks are old and outdated which cause many serious railway accidents. This also leads to speed reduction and causes delays in the arrival of trains at stations.

Another major problem that is being faced in India is that a large number of passengers travel without purchasing tickets. Indian railways have to bear a huge loss on account of traveling without tickets.

The incidence of railway accidents in our country is greater as compared to other countries of the world. Accidents occur due to the errors and negligence of the employees. 

Ans. 8

Merits of pipelines transport are

(i) There are no trans-shipment losses or delays in transportation of materials.

(ii) Their construction has made inland locations of refineries like Barauni and Mathura and gas based fertilizer plants viable.

Demerits of pipelines transport are

(i) Initial costs of laying pipelines are very high, particularly oil and gas pipelines which have to be laid underground.

(ii) Leakage in pipes or damage to the pipeline might pollute soil and contaminate groundwater, damaging the environment. 

Ans. 9

Advantages/features of using waterways as mode of transport for heavy and bulky goods are 

• Waterways are the cheapest means of transport and most suitable for carrying heavy and bulky goods.  
• They are fuel-efficient and environment-friendly modes of transport.
• Heavy and bulky goods being exported or imported are easier for trans-shipment from waterways to ships on the coast, as the waterways lead to ports. 

Ans. 10

The four characteristics of Kandla sea port are  

(i) It was the first port developed soon after independence. 

(ii) It was developed to reduce the volume of traffic on Mumbai port.

(iii) It is a tidal port.

(iv) It caters to the convenient handling of exports and imports of highly     granary and

industrialized belts including Jammu and Kashmir Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat.

Ans. 11

Difference between minor port and a major port are:-

Ans. 12

Air transport of airways is the most preferred mode of transport in the North-Eastern states in India because

(i) Big and wide rivers are present in the North Eastern states, due to which rail or road bridges over them are difficult and costly to construct.

(ii) This area has dissected relief features, preventing durable construction of rail and road links.

(iii) Dense forests in this region create many difficulties in construction of railway lines and roads.

Ans. 13

Merits of air transport are

(i) Air transport is the fastest, most comfortable and prestigious mode of transport.

(ii) It can cover very difficult terrains with great ease. 

(iii) It makes access to far-flung and remote or otherwise inaccessible areas easier and quicker.

(iv) It provides transport services to offshore oil and gas exploration activities.

Demerits of air transport are

(i) Air transport is a very costly means of transportation

(ii) Places not having airports or helipads are not covered by it.

Ans. 14

Communication services are classified into personal communication and mass communication  

Features of Personal connmunicalion are

• In personal conununicalion, people can express their thoughts and share with others.

• Letters, e-mails, SMS, telephone and mobile phone facilities including STD and ISD services are examples of personal communication.

Features of mass communication are

• Mass communication provides entertainment and creates awareness among people about various national programmes and policies. 
• It includes radio, television, newspapers, magazines, books and films. 

Long Answer (LA) Type Questions 

1. Explain the importance of means of transport as a  prerequisite for the development of a country.

2. Explain the importance of roadways as a means of transport. 

3. Classily the roads according to their capacity and describe the role of each.

4. Explain the importance of railways as a means of transport. 

5. Classify any five ports India according to their types and main purpose,

6. Describe any five points of importance of mass communication.
Or
Write any three importance of means of mass communication.

7. “International trade is considered the economic  barometer of a country.” Justify the statement with arguments.

8. The pace of change in the communication sector has  been rapid in modern times.” Support the statement  with examples. 

Long Answer Type Questions Answer

Ans. 1

Efficient means of transport are prerequisite for fast development because more development of goods and services are not enough alone.

The importance of means of transport is

• Transportation offers numerous opportunities within the employment sector. Traffic control, pilots, captains, delivery services and drivers are some of the jobs that are provided through this indushy. Thus, it also helps the country to reduce the unemployment rate.

• High quality transport links ensure that communities can access basic services, facilities and employment  opportunities. The connectivity provided by such links promotes social inclusion. It can also reduce social  isolation and enhance quality of life. 

• Transport facilities are also required to transport raw  materials from their source region to industrial  locations such as transportation of coal to iron and steel industry.

• Final products from industries also require transport facilities for their transportation to market so that  consumers are able to buy them. 

• Availability of transport services i.e. roadways, railways and waterways (wherever there is scope) help in  increasing trade, connect the areas and facilitate movement of people. This helps in the development of a country.

Ans. 2

The importance of roadways as a means of transport is

• Road transport is economical in transportation of few Persons and relatively smaller amounts of goods over short distances.
• Road transport also provides door-to-door service, thus, the cost of loading and unloading is much lower. 
• Road transport links other forms of transport like between railway stations, air and sea ports.  
• National and state highways help in linking    extreme parts of the state and country. Through roads the entire country is connected. 
• People can go from one place to another in search of jobs, businesses, tourism etc goods can be transported due to proper linking of roads. Thus, roadways are very important.

Ans. 3

In India, roads are classified in six classes according to their capacity as

Golden Quadrilateral Super Highways. This super  highway links India’s four largest metropolitan cities,

 i.e. Delhi-Kolkata- Chennai-Mumbai.

The North-South and East-West corridors are part of this.  These highways reduce time and distance between  mega cities. 

National Highways. These are primary road systems  that link important parts of the country.

State Highways. These roads link a state capital with  its district headquarters. These are constructed by the State Public Works Department.

District Roads.  These roads connect the district headquarters with other places of the district.

Rural Roads. These roads, also known as other roads, link rural areas and villages with towns.

Border Roads. These roads are constructed along the international border of India by the Border Road Organization. It has improved accessibility in areas of difficult terrain.

Ans. 4

The importance of Indian Railways as a means of  transport is 

• Railways are considered as the principal mode of  transportation for freight and passengers in India. Daily a lot of commuters and office goers travel through railways.  

• Railways provide a cheap mode of transport to all. It is cheaper as compared to other modes of transport like airways.

• Railways help to conduct various activities, viz, business, sightseeing, pilgrimage, transportation of goods over long distances etc. Through these activities railways add more revenue to the economy of a country.   

• Railways bind the economic life of our country by accelerating the development of industry and agriculture.

• The Indian Railways is the largest public sector undertaking in the country which is the biggest employer in India.

Ans. 5

The ports of India according to their types and main purpose are

(i) Chennai Port (Tamil Nadu)

• Type of Port: It is one of’ oldest artificial ports in India.
• Purpose. It is made up for trade and cargo

(ii) Haldia Port (West Bengal)

• Type of Port It is a subsidiary port to relieve pressure on port,
• Purpose. It is made for decongesting Kolkata port.

(iii) Jawaharlal Nehru Port (Maharashtra)  

• Type of Port. It is specialized in handling   container shipments.
• Purpose. It is made for decongesting Mumbai port and serves as a hub for the region. 

(iv) Kandla Port (Gujarat) 

• Type of Port. It is a tidal port. 
• Purpose. It was developed after independence to ease the volume of trade on Mumbai port. 

(v) Kochi Port (Kerala) 

• Type of Port. It is a natural port located at the entrance of a lagoon. 
• Purpose. It specialized in handling container shipments.

Ans. 6

Importance of mass communication is :

(i) Mass communication is required to spread the flow of information up to the grassroot level. Therefore,  the government has made a special provision to extend 24 hours STD facility to every village in the country.

(ii) All India Radio (Akashwani) broadcasts a variety of programmes in national, regional and local languages for various categories of people spread over different parts of the country.  

(iii) Doordarshan broadcasts a variety of programmes for entertainment, educational programmes to sports, etc. for people of different age groups.

(iv) India publishes a large number of newspapers and periodicals annually for providing information.

(v) India is the largest producer of feature films in the world. It produces short films, video feature films and video short films for entertainment. 

Ans. 7

International trade is considered the economic barometer of a country because

• As the resources are linnitecl no cot.jn try can survive without international trade.
• Goods or resources possessed by one coun are required by other anci vice-versa, these differences create conditions for international trade, 
• Foreign trade has helped India to improve its productivity of manufactured goods. International trade contributes to India’s economic growth, raising income levels of people.
• In recent years, exchange of information has benefitted in greater exchange goods across states and countries.
• India has emerged as. a software giant at the international level and it is earning large foreign exchange through the export of information technology. 

Ans. 8

The pace of change in the communication sector has been rapid in modern times as a result of which long distance communication has become easier without physical  movement of the communicator or receiver. For example,  

• The advanced communication meant to save our time and   money as well. Personal communication and mass communication including television, radio, press, films etc, are the major means of communication.

• The Indian postal network handles parcels as well as personal written communication. It also deals with first   class mail (e.g. cards, envelopes) and second-class mail  (e.g. books, packets, periodicals, registered newspapers) which are carried by different means of transport. 

To facilitate quick delivery of mail in large towns and cities, six mail channels namely Rajdhani Channel, Metro Channel, Green Channel, Business Channel, Bulk Mail Channel and Periodical Channel have been introduced recently. 

• The use of mobile phones has also provided a boost to the communication sector in modern times.  

Case-Study Based Questions 

1. Read the case/source given and answer the following questions. 

The distribution pattern of the Railway network in the country has been largely influenced by Physiographic, economic and administrative factors. The Northern plains with their vast level land, high population density and rich agricultural resources provided the most favorable condition for their growth. 

However, a large number of rivers requiring construction or bridges across their wide beds posed some obstacles.

In the hilly terrains of the peninsular region, railway tracks are laid through hills, gaps of tunnels. 

The Himalayan mountains region is unfavorable for the construction of railway lines due to high relief, sparsh population and lack of economic opportunities.

Likewise, it was difficult to lay railway lines on the sand plain    of western Rajasthan, swamps of Gujarat, forested tracks of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Jharkhand. The contiguous stretch Sahyadri could be crossed only through gaps passes (Ghats).

In recent times, the development of the Konkan railway along the west coast has facilitated the movement of passengers and goods in this most important economic region of India. It has also faced a number of problems such as sinking of track in some stretches and landslides.

(i) Which factors are largely responsible for influencing the railway network in India? Write any one merit of railways. 

(ii) Why is it difficult to construct railway lines in the Peninsular region and Himalayan region?  

(iii) Although the railways have become more important in our national economy, still this transport is facing a number of problems. Why? State any two reasons.

2. Read the cases/sources given and answer the following questions. 

Source A Golden Quadrilateral Super 

Highways  

The government has launched a major road development project linking Delhi-Kolkata-Chennai-Mumbai and Delhi by six lane superHighways the north-south corridor linking Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) and Kanyakumari (Tamil Nadu) and east west corridor containing Silchar (Assam) and Porbandar (Gujarat) are part of this project the major objective of the super Highways is to reduce the time and distance between the Mega cities of India this Highways projects are being implemented by the national highway Authority of India (NHAI).

(i) What is the Golden Quadrilateral? To what extent do you agree that Golden Quadrilateral Super  Highways are important for our country? Give only  one aspect.

Source B National Highways

National Highways link extreme parts of the country. These are the primary road systems and  are laid and maintained by the Central Public Works Department (CPWD). A number of major National Highways run in North-South and East—West directions. The historical Sher-Shah Suri Marg is called National Highway No. 1, between Delhi and Amritsar. 

(ii) To what extent do you agree that India needs a number of National Highways? Give only one reason. Discuss the role of National Highways. 

Source C State Highways

Roads linking a state capital with different district  headquarters are known as State Highways. These roads are constructed and maintained by the State Public Works Department (PWD) in State and Union Territories. 

(iii) Evaluate the importance of state highways.

Case-Study Type Questions Answer

Ans 1

(i) Factors which are largely responsible for influencing the railway network in India are physiographic, economic and administrative factors.

An advantage or merit of railways is that they make it possible to conduct many activities like business, sightseeing, pilgrimage along with transportation of goods over longer distances. 

(ii) It is difficult to construct railway lines in the Peninsular region and Himalayan region because

• The Peninsular region and the Himalayan region are  hilly and mountainous regions. Peninsular region has undulating topography were railway tracks are laid through low hills, gaps or tunnels.
• On the other hand the Himalayas have high relief,  sparse population and lack of economic opportunities.

(iii) It is true that railways have become more important in our national economy but still this transport is facmg a number of problems which are:-

• Many passengers travel by trains without tickets. This incurs heavy loss of rail budget. 

• People stop the trains, pull the chain unnecessarily and this causes heavy damage to the railway.

Ans. 2

(i)

Golden Quadrilateral comprises the National Highways connecting Delhi-Mumbai-Chennai- Kolkata by a 6-lane Super Highway. 

I agree that Golden Quadrilateral Super Highways are important for our country because these highways reduce time and distance between mega cities of India.

(ii)

I agree that India needs a number of National Highways because India is a vast country and National Highways link extreme parts of the country with each other. Role of National Highways is 

• National Highways link important parts of the country like state capitals and commercial sectors. 
• They enable fast and efficient movement of goods in areas connected to them. 

(iii)

Importance of state Highways is 

• State Highways are structured within a state to provide better connectivity of roads and places.
• These Highways link a state capital with different district headquarters

Final Words

From the above article, you have practiced Class 10 Social Science unit 2 chapter 7 Lifelines of National Economy Questions. We hope that the above-mentioned notes, Q & A for term 2 will surely help you in your exam. 

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