UPPSC 2019 Prelims GS Paper-I · Question 115 of 150

Correct — A, 100th. The Global Hunger Index 2017, released on 12 October 2017 by the International Food Policy Research Institute along with Welthungerhilfe and Concern Worldwide, ranked India 100th out of the 119 countries scored that year, with a GHI score of 31.4. On the GHI's 100-point scale, where 0 means no hunger and a higher score is worse, 31.4 falls in the 'serious' band. That combination — rank 100 of 119, score 31.4, category serious — is what the 2017 edition reported, and it is the figure the question is testing. Because this is a report-specific number, read the year in the stem first: the answer belongs to the 2017 edition and to no other.

• (b)101th — Off by one from the published position. The 2017 edition put India at 100 among 119 countries; no part of that report places India at 101.
• (c)104th — Not India's rank in the 2017 report. Numbers in the low hundreds are easy to mix up because India's rank moves from edition to edition and the number of countries covered also changes — but the publishers themselves caution that ranks from different editions are not comparable, so a figure remembered from another year cannot be carried over to 2017.
• (d)105th — Also not the 2017 figure. The safe anchor for this question is the pair 100 and 119 — rank 100 out of 119 countries, with a score of 31.4.

The Global Hunger Index is a composite measure of hunger built from four indicators: the prevalence of undernourishment in the whole population, and three child-focused measures — child stunting (low height for age, reflecting chronic undernutrition), child wasting (low weight for height, reflecting acute undernutrition) and under-five mortality. Undernourishment and child mortality carry one-third of the weight each, while stunting and wasting share the remaining third. Scores are placed on a 100-point scale on which 0 is the best possible outcome, and the severity bands run: 9.9 or below low, 10.0 to 19.9 moderate, 20.0 to 34.9 serious, 35.0 to 49.9 alarming, and 50 or above extremely alarming. Because three of the four indicators concern children, a country's score is driven heavily by child nutrition — which is why India's stunting and wasting numbers matter so much to its position.

For index questions the examiner is testing one specific edition, so tie the number to the year: for the GHI 2017 remember 100 out of 119, score 31.4, 'serious'. Do not try to reason your way there from a rank you remember from a later report. The GHI's own documentation states that scores and ranks from different editions are not comparable, because the underlying data are revised and the set of countries covered changes from year to year; the publishers therefore provide back-calculated comparison years within a single report rather than inviting a comparison across reports. Treat every GHI rank as a fact attached to its edition. As of the December 2019 exam this was recent current affairs; the index has continued to appear annually since, and India's position in later editions is different — which is precisely why the year in the stem, not the freshest number you have read, decides the answer.

• Global Hunger Index 2017: India ranked 100th of 119 countries, with a score of 31.4, in the 'serious' category
• The 2017 edition was released on 12 October 2017 by the International Food Policy Research Institute with Welthungerhilfe and Concern Worldwide
• Four indicators: undernourishment, child stunting, child wasting and under-five mortality
• Scale of 0 to 100, higher is worse; bands are low (up to 9.9), moderate (10.0-19.9), serious (20.0-34.9), alarming (35.0-49.9) and extremely alarming (50 and above)
• The GHI states that scores and ranks are not comparable across editions, since data are revised and country coverage changes

• Carrying a rank across editions; GHI ranks from different years are not comparable and the denominator of countries also changes
• Quoting the rank without the denominator — 100 out of 119 is the complete fact
• Confusing the GHI with the FAO's State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report or with the Global Food Security Index, which are separate publications

UPPSC asks for the rank or the score in a named year, whereas UPSC asks which indicators go into the index and which agency compiles it — so learn both the number for the year and the four-indicator structure behind it.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which of the following is NOT one of the four indicators used to calculate the Global Hunger Index?

  • (a)Undernourishment
  • (b)Child stunting
  • (c)Child wasting
  • (d)Adult literacy

  Answer(d) adult literacy — the fourth indicator alongside undernourishment, stunting and wasting is under-five mortality.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  On the Global Hunger Index's 100-point scale, a score between 20.0 and 34.9 is classified as:

  • (a)Low
  • (b)Moderate
  • (c)Serious
  • (d)Alarming

  Answer(c) serious — the bands are low up to 9.9, moderate 10.0-19.9, serious 20.0-34.9, alarming 35.0-49.9 and extremely alarming 50 and above.