Welcome to the Hindu News Analysis by Shankar Aayas Academy for the date 22nd of May 2019. Displayed at the list of news articles taken up for today's analysis along with the page numbers of Chennai, Bengaluru, Delhi and Thiruvananthapuram editions. The handwritten notes in PDF format and the time stamping of all the news articles taken up for today's discussion will be available in the description section below and also in the common section. Let us now start our discussion. The first article of the day is the editorial title, the IBSA Task List. This editorial appears in page number 9 of Chennai, Bengaluru and Thiruvananthapuram editions and in page 11 of Delhi edition. The analysis of this news article will be relevant in your prelims preparation under current events of international importance and in your mains preparation in general studies paper 2 under bilateral regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and or affecting India's interests and also under important international institutions, agencies and fora, their structure and mandate. The author of this editorial discusses about the need for revitalizing IBSA and has also given some suggestions here and there in this editorial on how IBSA should move forward. Before moving on to the editorial, let us see about IBSA. IBSA is the acronym for India-Brazil-South Africa Forum. This forum was formed by Brasilia declaration in the year 2003. If you see the members of this forum, all three countries are the large democracies and also major economies representing three different continents. So here India represents Asian continent, Brazil represents South American continent and South Africa represents African continent. Also, all these three countries have all these common features like all our developing countries and the population of these countries are pluralistic. That is many cultures and ethnic people exist. Also they speak many languages and follow different religious feats. Now IBSA is considered a champion of South-South cooperation. Here South-South cooperation means the cooperation between the developing and underdeveloped countries of the world. All these three countries of IBSA forum collectively represent all the developing and underdeveloped countries of the world. Enough, the sustainable development goals has to be met by all the countries of the world especially by the developing and the underdeveloped countries. So this IBSA always advocates for a coordinated response of all the developing nations. But if you see IBSA was very active since the year of its starting that is from the year 2003 one little 2011 where it was engaged in many initiatives. We shall now see some major initiatives shortly. In this time period around 5 IBSA summits were held. But from 2011 till now IBSA is largely inactive except for a few initiatives and the 6th summit of IBSA is yet to be held. If you see all the three members of IBSA which are India, Brazil and South Africa are also a member of BRICS. BRICS is now so active in the global scenario. The other two members of the BRICS that you need to know are China and Russia. Now if you see China and Russia are not democracies and they are agenda is becoming more important in BRICS forum. The author in this editorial tells that BRICS is largely overshadowing IBSA and the importance of IBSA as reduced at present. And the author also tells that the officials of all these three IBSA countries feel that only IBSA is the true voice of all the developing countries in the world. The author then notes that a series of events marking the 15th anniversary of IBSA was and is being held during 2018-19. This has given a new momentum to the importance of revitalizing IBSA. Now as a part of the 15th anniversary the IBSA academic forum was held in Kochi in the state of Kerala just before two weeks that is from May 3rd to 5th. If you see even this academic forum was held after a long gap of 7 years. In this forum the delegates from all the three countries exchanged their views on the continuing relevance of IBSA. They also stressed on the need for a strategy to secure the sustainable development goals and the need to strengthen South-South cooperation. Also they discussed on the need for expanding trade cooperation and enhancing academic collaboration in this academic forum. The author also tells that IBSA is strongly committed to the expansion of the UN Security Council. Next the author mentions about IBSA fund in this editorial. So we shall see about IBSA fund and also about the author's comments now. If you see IBSA fund is the short form of IBSA fund for poverty and hunger alleviation. This particular fund was formed in the year 2004 with an aim to help the other developing and least developed countries of the world. This particular IBSA fund is administered by United Nations Office for South-South cooperation. In short it is called as UNOSSE. The author notes that this funding mechanism by IBSA has succeeded in implementing some 31 development projects in many of the developing and least developed countries. They include countries like Burundi, Guinea-Bissau, the state of Palestine and also countries like Cambodia and Vietnam. Also till date this IBSA fund is the flagship program of IBSA. And also it is the only operational program of IBSA till date. We shall see about IBSA Visiting Fellows Program which the author has mentioned in this editorial. Here visiting fellow means an academician who can be a professor or a lecturer or a research scholar from a foreign country who visits India for academic purposes. So this can be the other way round as well when an Indian academician visits the other countries for academic purposes. NAF as a part of IBSA, India is running the IBSA Visiting Fellows Program through RIS. Here RIS means Research and Information System for Developing Countries and it is a Delhi based think tank. This RIS helps in building the intellectual capital through this IBSA Visiting Fellows Program which is required for solving the issues faced by the developing countries in various fields. NAF, the author suggests that both Brazil and South Africa should initiate their own editions of this IBSA Visiting Fellows Program in order to help building even more intellectual capital. NAF, when you are studying about IBSA, also try to know about Ipsamar. You can roughly split this word into two as IBSA and MAR. So here MAR refers to the Maritime Exercise. So Ipsamar is a joint naval exercise that was launched for Trilateral Defense Cooperation. Know that the latest Ipsamar exercise was held in South Africa last year, that is on October 2018. NAF, the author has commented on the relevance of IBSA at the present. He tells that the idea of IBSA still remains valid. He also tells that there are some tasks that have to be exclusively implemented by the IBSA and that the special responsibilities of IBSA cannot be discharged by BRICS. The author tells that in fact strengthening IBSA could increase the effectiveness of BRICS and this intern would encourage Ipsar to follow a more balanced approach on key issues of interest to India, Brazil and South Africa in the BRICS forum. We saw that IBSA celebrating its 15th anniversary in a discussion. The author comments that all the present engagement of IBSA are well timed to infuse greater dynamism in IBSA. He means to tell that more of such engagements would make IBSA more active and relevant in the present scenario. Here present means the new governments, South Africa and Brazil as new governments in place if you see and also India is going to have its new government within a week from now. So the author has commented that an early convening of the next summit of IBSA should be the pressing priority of all these three new governments. With this we come to the end of the analysis of this editorial. So for a prelims preparation try to know about the members of IBSA and BRICS and also about different programs of IBSA like academic program, visiting fellows program, IBSA fund, IBSA, MAR, etc. And for a mains preparation try to know about the importance of IBSA, its past and present status and also the need for a stronger and active IBSA. Now have a look at the practice films and mains question we shall discuss at the end of the analysis session. Let us now move on to the next news article. The second news article of the day is titled West Nile Fever Cases in Koli Code Go Unnoticed. This article appears on Delhi edition in page number 8 and in Thiruvananthapuram edition on page number 1. This article is relevant in your prelims preparation under current events of national importance and also under general sense. This discussion could be linked to the syllabus of general studies paper 2 under issues relating to development and management of services relating to health. Now this article tells that the cases of West Nile fever in Koli code in the state of Kerala might not yet have been reported and this may still be unnoticed. This is because about 80% of people who are infected will not show any symptoms. Also because the presence of West Nile virus was identified from the mosquito and serum samples of the close contacts of the infected persons by a team from the National Center for Disease Control. Note that serum is a part of blood that doesn't clot. The article also mentions about integrated disease surveillance program of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Let us see about this program in brief before we move on to know about West Nile fever. This integrated disease surveillance program was launched in the year 2004. The main objective of this program is to strengthen and maintain decentralized lab-based IT-enabled disease surveillance system especially for the epidemic prone diseases. The next objective is to monitor the disease trends. This program also aims to detect and respond to outbreaks in their early phase through rapid response teams or simply their main objective is to detect the epidemic prone diseases in the early phase and to respond to such diseases in the country. Now this program is called a decentralized program as there is one central surveillance unit at Delhi and state surveillance units are established at all states or union territory headquarters. Also district surveillance units are established at all districts in the country as well. Since the planning and decision making with respect to this program is not just with the central government but also with the state and district units this program is called a decentralized program. Now let us come to the West Nile fever. This virus and the disease were named after the district of Uganda where the virus was first isolated in the year 1937. This virus is dangerous as it can cause a fatal neurological disease called as West Nile neuroinvasive disease in humans. This virus belongs to the genus Flavivirus. Also know that the Japanese encephalities virus belongs to this same family as well. If you see about 20% of West Nile virus infections in humans may cause West Nile fever and less than 1% of this infection may cause West Nile neuroinvasive disease. According to the transmission of this disease the birds are the natural hosts or the natural carrier of this particular virus. When the mosquitoes feed on these infected birds they become infected and when these infected mosquitoes bite the humans the virus actually gets transmitted to the humans. Now the transmission to human being is mainly by Qlex mosquitoes. The disease can also spread through contact with other infected animals like their blood or their tissues. The documented information about sexual transmission of this virus is very less. Also there is no possibility of human to human transmission when they come into casual contact. This has been documented. So here casual contact refers to contact between people without the sharing of blood or any body fluids like your shaking of hands, hugging, touching, etc. Now let us see the symptoms of this West Nile fever. This fever is characterized by a sudden onset of symptoms such as headache, malaise or uneasiness, fever, then myalgia or muscle pain, vomiting, then rashes which are basically a lot of small red spots in the skin. Also fatigue which is extreme tiredness and eye pain can be seen in a person suffering from West Nile fever. The severity of the symptom ranges from a mild illness for a week to a protracted or prolonged weakening disease which lasts for months. West Nile neuroinvasive disease involves symptoms that affect the central nervous system and this leads to conditions such as meningitis, encephalities and acute plazid paralysis. Now the most important thing that you should know is that about 80% of the people who are infected will not show any symptoms of infection. So there is a lot of chances that this disease may go unnoticed. The same issue has been highlighted in this article as well. Now one way to detect the presence of this virus in a region is by tracking the bird deaths and also the deaths of horses. The infected birds die due to the illness and hence bird deaths acts as markers for the transmission. Such incidents need to be detected and investigated for the timely containment of this disease. Outbreaks in birds or animals precede human cases therefore the establishment of an active animal health surveillance system in order to detect new cases in birds and horses is very much essential. This was done by the team from the National Center for Disease Control and we also have the Integrated Disease Surveillance Program. Note that there is no vaccine available for curing the human beings suffering from West Nile fever. This means that all human beings are vulnerable to this disease if the virus spreads to their residential areas and also to the areas where they travel or move. The third news article of the day is titled This World Turtle Day Spotlight on Freshwater Turtles. This article has appeared on page number four in the Chennai edition monthly. The discussion based on this article will be relevant in your prelims preparation under current events of national and international importance and next under general issues on biodiversity. The discussion will also be relevant in your mains preparation in general studies paper three under the area conservation. World Turtle Day celebrated on 23rd of May every year. The American Tortoise Rescue which is a non-profit organization working for the protection of all species of tortoise and turtle spawns as the World Turtle Day on May 23rd. This day is celebrated by people to protect turtles and tortoises and their disappearing habitats around the world. To celebrate this day the India Biodiversity Portal has initiated a turtle spotting week. This has been initiated as a part of unique exercise to document these creatures across India and it has created a public attention on the freshwater turtles. Here know that India Biodiversity Portal is a unique repository of information on India's biodiversity. This portal aims to provide open and free access to biodiversity information of India. Normally we have confusion among tortoises and turtles. These are often interchangeably used by us when we refer them but know that both these are different. Now let us see the difference between these two. Both tortoises and turtles are reptiles of the order testudines. Only some key basic differences distinguish one from the other. Now look at this picture the one on the left is a tortoise and the one on the right is a turtle. As you can see in the picture the primary distinguishing feature between the tortoise and the turtle is where they live. Tortoise ordinarily lives on land while turtles live in the water for a part of their life. This means that turtles can be aquatic semi-aquatic or mostly terrestrial. Sea turtles are adapted to aquatic life and they hardly leave the ocean water except for the females who visit the shores to lay eggs. Green sea turtles leave the sea one day to lie exposed to sun on the reefs and beaches. Some turtles live in freshwater lakes and rivers or ponds as well. The bodies of both the turtle and the tortoise are covered with a shell known as a carapace. The tortoise is larger than turtle and has a dome shaped shell while the turtles generally have flat and streamlined shells. The shells of the tortoise are bigger and heavier as opposed to the turtles whose shells are lightweight. As you can see in the picture the tortoises small and sturdy feet and their legs are bent while the turtles have a webbed feet with long claws which helps in swimming. Then to know that the tortoises had be wore while the turtle is mostly omnivore which eats leafy vegetation fruits and also meat. This meat is from the small animals like fish, insect or larvae. Next turtles come to land only to lay eggs and the mother will leave soon after to the sea immediately. The hatchlings will stain their nest for 90 to 120 days all on their own. Unlike the turtles the mother tortoise will provide protection for the young ones for almost 80 days after hatching. So this is the basic difference between these two. Now also know that in India at least 28 species of freshwater turtles can be spotted across the country. Turtle spotting week initiative is hosted by freshwater turtles and tortoises of India group. This group aims to promote research and conservation of both these species. The news article also states that among the turtles sighted in Tamil Nadu state extremely rare species were spotted which includes the kuchin forest cane turtle, late soft shell turtle, star tortoise, blackpond turtle and the Indian flap shell turtle. Now let us see some facts about these turtles which will be important in prelims perspective. Firstly we shall see about kuchin forest cane turtle. It is the smallest turtle species in India. It is a freshwater turtle and it is mostly omnivorous. So its diet include insects, molests, earthworms, millipedes and also fruits. It is endemic to India and it is found in the western guards of south-western coastal India only in the states of Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu as you can see in this map. The major threats to the species are habitat loss and subsistence hunting. Now subsistence hunting means hunting for the purpose of food only by the forest dwellers. This particular turtle species is protected under the Schedule 1 of Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 and most importantly it is listed as endangered by the IUCN Red List of the threatened species. Then it is also mentioned under appendix 2 of sites. Next let us see about the late soft shell turtle. This particular turtle species is a very large one as you can see in this picture. It is known to attain at least 720 millimeter in carapace that is the shell length to possibly as much as 1000 millimeter of their shell length. This species lives in the rivers and reservoirs of southern penangular India. This particular turtle species is apparently rare within its range even within the protected areas at present because of the over hunting of these animals in the past. The diet of this turtle species include fish, crabs, freshwater mollusks and mosquito larvae. This turtle is found in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Tamil Nadu. If you see they are mostly found on the rivers of Kaveri, Thungabadra, Ghataprabha, Bhavani and also in river Godavari. Now the threats to this turtle species include these like the river in development projects, aquatic pollution, sand mining, construction of hydroelectric projects and exploitation of the adults and eggs. This light soft shell turtle is protected under schedule 4 of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. The species is currently listed on the IUCN Red List as vulnerable. The species has also been listed on appendix 2 of sites in order to monitor and regulate its international trade. Next, let us see about the Indian Star Tortoise. It is a medium sized tortoise which is endemic to the Indian subcontinent. So it is found in the countries of India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. This species occurs in scrub forests, grasslands and some coastal scrublands of arid and semi arid regions throughout its range. But it also commonly inhabits human dominated landscapes including agricultural fields, hedge rows and plantations. The species is largely herbivorous feeding on various grasses, herbaceous succulent vegetation, fruits and fallen flowers. It is also known to scavenge on animal matter which includes centipedes, insects, slugs, snails, excrete of dogs and birds etc. Now the main current threats to this survival is illegal collection, habitat loss and accidental killings including road mortality. This tortoise species are also kept as pets in many homes because the owners believe that they bring good luck and fortune to them. And the illegal collection for the international wildlife trade is the most serious concern for this species. Numerically, Indian Star Tortoise is the single most confiscated species of tortoise or freshwater turtle in the global illegal wildlife trade. In India, this species is placed in the Schedule 4 of the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. And for over 40 years, it has been illegal to possess and commercially trade the species either within India or from India. Then, this tortoise species is also been listed as vulnerable by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and it is also been included on sites appendix 2 since 1975, allowing international trade, one day if the export permits are issued by the country of origin. In this case, it is India. Next is this spotted pond turtle which you will see. It is a medium-sized freshwater turtle which is found in the northern and northeastern Indian subcontinent. This species is primarily carnivorous and it feeds on snails and insect larvae. Now the drainage of standing water bodies for agriculture and urbanization and capture for food are the factors that threaten the wild population of this particular turtle species. These turtles are found in Pakistan, India, Nepal and Bangladesh. They are distributed from eastern Pakistan through the Ganga basin of northern India to Bangladesh and northeastern India as you can see in this picture. This species is covered under Schedule 1 of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. It is also listed as endangered by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and then it is also listed in appendix 1 of sites. The fourth news article is titled as Human Lovers India's Financial Year 20 GDP Growth Forecast. This article has appeared on page number 13 in Chennai, Bengaluru and Thiruvananthapuram editions and on page 15 of Delhi edition. The discussion based on this article will be relevant in your prelims preparation under current events of national and international importance and then under economic development, sustainable development in particular. This discussion can also be linked to your general studies paper 3 under the area Indian economy and issues relating to growth and development for your mains preparation as well. This news article discusses about the recent UN report and the projections mentioned for India. The world economic situation and prospects as of mid 2019 report is published by United Nations. According to the report, the global economy is experiencing a broad based growth slowdown. The report states that the broad based growth slowdown is happening in the middle of undisolved trade tensions, high international policy uncertainty and softening business confidence. Here, note that according to World Bank, broad based growth indicates the growth that involves a range of sectors across the country's economy. For India, United Nations has lowered its forecast on India's GDP growth in financial year 2019 to 2020 to 7.1 percentage from 7.5 percentage. This 7.5% figure was estimated in January 2019. This is because of an overall slowdown in economic growth as we saw earlier. The report noted that the Indian economy which generates two thirds of the regional output expanded by 7.2 percentage in the year 2018. Further, strong domestic consumption and investment will continue to support growth in India which is projected at 7% in the year 2019 and 7.1% in the year 2020. However, the estimates for India reflect a downward revision from the projections that were made in January. Now, it must be noted that despite the downward revisions, India remains the fastest growing major economy in the world ahead of China. The report also states that India's exports remain more robust. This is because of the nature of India's export destinations as around half exports of India are designed for faster growing Asian markets. Let us now see some more information provided in this particular report. First, it is to be noted that the forecast for weaker global growth will have negative effects on the efforts to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, nothing but the Sustainable Development Goals. We know that the 2030 Agenda has set universal goals for eliminating poverty and promoting prosperity and social well-being while also protecting the environment. Moreover, a weaker economic growth puts at risk the essential investments in areas such as education, health, climate change, adaptation and also sustainable infrastructure. According to the report, the growth outlook in all major developed economies and most developing regions has weakened due to a confluence or merging of both domestic and external factors. This report identifies several downside risks that could trigger a sharper or a more prolonged growth slowdown in the world economy and it may potentially cause significant damage on the development progress. These risks include a further escalation in trade tensions, a sudden deterioration in financial conditions and the accelerating effects of climate change. First, the persistent high trade tensions are a threat to global growth. Amidst the unresolved trade disputes and higher tariffs, the projected growth of world trade has been revised downwards to 2.7% in the year 2019. This report also wants that a spiral of additional tariffs and retaliatory tariffs could have significant spillovers on the developing countries, particularly those with a high export exposure to the impacted economies. A more prolonged period of weak international trade activity could also harm the investment prospects and it can adversely affect the productivity growth across the world. Now, if you see, in response to this slowing growth and subdued inflation, the major central banks of all the countries in the world have eased their monetary policy stances. These recent monetary policy shifts have helped to stabilize the global financial markets and capital flows to the emerging economies. However, this report cautions that the more prolonged period of monetary accommodation could aggravate financial imbalances, which also includes a fuelling debt accumulation and raising medium-term risks to financial stability. Because of the deep-rooted structural weaknesses, several large developing countries are struggling to recover from recession or remain trapped on a lower growth path. The report highlights that per capita income growth in several parts of Africa, Western Asia and Latin America and also in the Caribbean is expected to remain very weak in the outlook period. This poses additional challenges for the sustainable development goals, including the goal to universally eradicate poverty by the year 2030. The report further notes that while poverty remains predominantly rural, further progress on poverty reduction also depends on the effective management of ongoing urbanization. This is particularly relevant for Africa and South Asia, the two regions with the highest number of people in poverty, which are expected to also experience the most rapid pace of urbanization in the next two decades. Next, the increase in frequency and intensity of natural disasters highlight the rising threats from climate change. This is particularly for the most vulnerable economies. The report calls for a stronger and more coordinated multilateral approach to global climate policy, which also includes the use of carbon pricing mechanisms. A price on carbon compels economic decision makers to internalize, that is incorporate costs of environmental laws as a part of their pricing structure. The report had documented that there is an increase in use of internal carbon dioxide prices by the private sector. This not only results in higher energy efficiency and cost savings, but also leaves the firms better prepared for expected policy changes. Here, note that an internal carbon price is a value that companies voluntarily set for themselves in order to internalize the economic cost of the greenhouse gas emissions. It can be used both as a risk management tool and also as a part of companies decarbonization strategy. An internal carbon price can help companies enhance their global strategies to become more resilient to regulatory climate policies and more favorable to emission reductions. With this, we come to the end of the analysis of this news article. The final news article is titled as, After 12 deaths, Andhra Pradesh issues heat wave warning from May 25th. This news article has appeared on page number 6 in Chennai, Bengaluru and Thiruvananthapuram editions and on page number 8 in Delhi edition. The discussion based on this news article will be relevant in your prelims preparation under current events of national importance and also under general issues on climate change. The discussion can also be linked to your general cities paper one under the area, important geophysical phenomenon and effects of such changes for a mains preparation. The news is that the weather agencies have forecasted another spell of heat wave across Andhra Pradesh. This will start from 25th of May. This is because several stations across the state have recorded a maximum temperature of above 45 degree Celsius on Tuesday. So far 12 deaths and 840 cases of hospitalization due to heat stroke have been reported in Andhra Pradesh. So far the Andhra Pradesh weather forecasting and early disaster warning center has issued a 5 day warning. During this time the temperature would be between 45 degree Celsius and 48 degree Celsius in various districts of Andhra Pradesh. The Indian Meteorological Department has also issued heat wave warning for Arayalasima region from May 25th. The heat wave will cause dip in the humidity and this will in turn cause sweltering meaning uncomfortably hot weather and heat wave conditions. Now in this context let us understand what a heat wave is. A heat wave is a period of abnormally high temperatures. This high temperature is more than the normal maximum temperature that occurs during the summer season in various parts of India. In other words the normal temperature of a place is less than or more than 40 degree Celsius then any increase about this normal temperature is called as heat wave. An increase of 5 to 6 degree Celsius is called as a moderate heat wave and an increase of up to 7 degree Celsius or even more than that is called as a severe heat wave. Then if the maximum temperature of any place if it continues to be 45 degree Celsius consecutively for two days it is also called as a heat wave condition. Now heat waves typically occur between March and June months and in some rare cases it even extends till the July month. The extreme temperatures and the resultant atmospheric conditions adversely affect people living in the regions having heat waves. They cause physiological stress and sometime it results in death as well. Higher daily peak temperatures and longer more intense heat waves are becoming increasingly frequent globally. This is due to climate change. India too is feeling the impact of this climate change in terms of increased instances of heat waves which are becoming more intense in nature with every passing year. Now these heat waves have a devastating impact on human health and because of this the number of heat wave casualties are also increasing. Now let us see what are the health impacts of heat waves. The health impacts of heat waves typically involve dehydration, heat cramps and then heat exhaustion. The signs for heat exhaustion are fatigue, weakness, dizziness, headache, nausea, vomiting, muscle cramps and sweating and also heat stroke. Now heat stroke happens when the body temperature is 40 degree Celsius or more along with delirium, seizures and coma. So heat stroke is a potential fatal condition. First question, which of the following countries are members of both IBSA and BRICS? The countries given here are number one Brazil, number two Russia, number three India, number four South Africa and number five Saudi Arabia and it is asked to choose the correct answer from the options given below. Now we saw that the members of IBSA are India, Brazil and South Africa. These three countries are also members of BRICS. In BRICS China and Russia are also the members. So this question is asked to choose the correct answer. The correct answer is option D, 1, 3 and 4 only. Moving on to the second question, consider the following statements with respect to vestinal fever. Statement one is the vestinal fever is mainly transmitted to human beings by the infected birds of the vestinal virus and statement two is most of the vestinal viral infections in humans are asymptomatic and this question is asked for the correct statements. So here the first statement says that vestinal fever is mainly transmitted to human beings by the birds infected with the vestinal virus. We know that birds are the natural carriers of this virus but they do not bite and transmit the virus to humans. Mosquitoes especially the culex mosquitoes that bites these infected birds transmit these virus to humans. Therefore, the first statement is wrong. Now come to the second statement. It says that most of the vestinal viral infections in humans are asymptomatic. This statement means that most of the infected persons do not show any symptoms. The term asymptomatic means not showing any symptoms. This statement is correct with respect to vestinal fever as 80 percentage of the infected persons do not show any symptoms. Therefore, the correct answer is option B2 only since this question is asked to choose correct statements. Moving on to the third question. Consider the following statements with reference to the Indian star tortoise. Statement one is it is endemic to the Indian subcontinent and statement two is it is illegal to possess and commercially trade the species either within or from India and statement three is it is protected by the schedule one of the Indian wildlife protection act of 1972. Now keep in mind that the question asked for the statements which are not correct based on the options given we can say that at least one statement is wrong. So, now if you look into the first statement it is correct. We already discussed this in our analysis that this particular tortoise species is endemic to the Indian subcontinent meaning it is native to India and it is also found in Pakistan and Sri Lanka. So, here we can eliminate option A and D as one is a correct statement. The second statement is also correct because we saw that it is illegal to possess and commercially trade the species either within or from India. So, this eliminates option B also. From this we can know that the correct answer to this question is option C3 only which means statement three is the only wrong statement. If you see we have arrived at this answer without even looking into the statement but you should also know that the Indian star tortoise is protected under schedule four of wildlife protection act of 1972 not under the schedule one. Moving on to the next question the world economic situation and prospects as of mid 2019 report which is recently seen in news is published by which among the following organization. Now this is a direct question the world economic situation and prospects or in short WESP is published by United Nations. So, here the correct answer is option D United Nations. Now also remember that global competitiveness report is published by World Economic Forum. It is global competitiveness report and next the world economic outlook is published by International Monetary Fund. World economic outlook, ease of doing business, world development report, global economic prospect report etc. are published by World Bank. Again I am repeating ease of doing business world development report global economic prospect report etc. are published by World Bank. Moving on to the next film's question with reference to heat wave consider the following statement. The statement one is a heat wave is a period of abnormally high temperatures more than the normal maximum temperature that occurs during the summer season in parts of India. Statement two is it occurs between the month of March and June in India and statement three is it is just a geophysical phenomenon and as it has no adverse effect on the human health and now this question is asked for the correct statements. So, from our discussion we know that the first statement is correct as a heat wave is a period of abnormally high temperatures more than the normal maximum temperature that occurs during the summer season in various parts of India and this particular heat wave occurs between the months of March and June in India. So, the second statement is also correct but the third statement here is wrong because we saw in our discussion that the heat waves can also lead to death. Other health impacts include dehydration, heat cramps, then heat exhaustion and also heat stroke. Moving on to the main question, the question is IBSA is widely viewed as a unique voice for the global south but the present decade has seen bricks overshadowing IBSA. Suggest some measures to rejuvenate IBSA in the current global scenario. Now, there are three statements here you can split this question into two parts. The first part is the first statement here and the second part is the next two statements. So, the first statement speaks about the importance of IBSA which is the India, Brazil, South Africa Forum in championing the South-South cooperation. Here global south refers to the developing and underdeveloped countries of the world. So, mention about the outcomes of IBSA fund in particular about how it is helping with development projects in the developing countries. Also, you can mention the relevance of IBSA in meeting the sustainable development goals. Moving on to the second part of the question, this part tells that IBSA is inactive that is it is overshadowed by bricks and it asks to suggest some measures for rejuvenation. For this you can refer our analysis of the editorial and include the authors comments that we have seen as suggestions. You can also include your relevant suggestions if any. With this we come to the end of the analysis of all the news articles taken up for today's discussion and also the practice questions discussion session. Please do like, comment and share our video and please subscribe to Shankar IAS Academy channel for latest videos and updates. Stay focused and motivated friends. Thank you.


I think when you come into this little corner of Brussels Square, you immediately get this feeling that there's something unusual going on. Whether it's the people sitting out in front, or whether it's the lines waiting for the free meal at lunchtime, or in the evenings there's this kind of pulse coming out of the building, there's something always going on. So us has probably made me more critical about pretty much everything. It's given me so much more of an international focus. It's helped me ground a lot of my idealism and make it more of a realistic possibility. People have different cultures, have different norms, different values, and it's opened my mind and thoughts about that as well. People from all over the world come and study here, and in conversation with different people, I've realised so much about myself and also about the world I live in. Overall, it's given me confidence in who I am and what I believe in. So us became this huge gateway to places I never thought I'd be part of. As students leave So us, as they graduate, as they stand on the threshold of going out into the world as more informed and more able citizens than before, I think the So us experience is one of those things that make this crossing of the threshold something which is doable and above all enjoyable. Range of things that you can do outside of your studies. Last year I went to Ghana with the radio station. It's a really nice environment to express your interest and your passion for your discipline. So it's really, really diverse and not always just focused on the West. I remember wearing that silly hat. I remember wearing a suit which was too big for me. I remember my dad feeling very awkward but I remember it with an immense amount of fondness. It was really exciting to see everybody again after a few months. And we all knew that we looked slightly ridiculous but we all felt for some reason totally at home. It was also a bit of a sad feeling of course because as life goes on people can drift apart but the connections you make there will always remain. Inside of the library. The constant barrage of new and interesting information are year abroad in Beijing. I'd like to say all the cases and facts and case law that I've learnt but really it's going to be the people that I've met. I think I'll just remember the people. Mostly the people I've met. People. I'll say the people. To fulfil all the clichés, the people as well. Seeing the same familiar faces and you're together on this journey. You always have an affinity with other sources of them now. If you meet them wherever it is around here or elsewhere in the world you kind of just like get it. Our students have gone on to great things as presidents, prime ministers, ministers but also community, public intellectuals. Figures of authority and respect and learning who bring to their idealism an informed consciousness of what the world not only locally but internationally is really like. Ten years. Doing. To be a teacher. I'd like to be working or living abroad. I don't know. I'd like to go back to Indonesia and work there and be near to my family and friends. So if it's doing voluntary work or being involved in social work I really want to just give back and help those who are less fortunate than I am. I'd love to live in Senegal. The great thing about Sours is you could go anywhere because it does open so many doors in every different continent. My message to those graduating today would be that the world is a very big place so get out there and try and see as much of it as you can. Sours provides you with unique qualities unlike anywhere else. It makes you feel different, it makes you want to travel it makes you want to explore and discover the rest of the world.  Just make sure you stay in contact like join the alumni, get involved, come back and visit.