 Good evening aspirants. We are happy to inform you that we are starting the next pre-feed batch. This batch is titled pre-feed rapid. The entrance exam will be conducted on 20th March 2022. The entrance exam time will be from 2.30 pm to 4.30 pm. The entrance exam can be attempted in both online and offline modes. For people wishing to take the entrance exam offline, you can take the entrance exam in all Shankarayas Akademi centres. The program starts on 28th March 2022. In order to facilitate students, there are morning and evening batches in both online and offline formats. The course duration is from 28th March to 29th May. You will be having a total number of 45 tests. This includes 3 mock tests as well. The course fees for pre-feed general is Rs. 2499. This includes GST. And the course fees for pre-feed with scholarship based on performance in entrance exam is Rs. 1250 including GST. For more information and for registration for pre-feed rapid, please use the link given in the description. With this happy announcement, let us start the Hindu News Analysis Discussion session brought to you by Shankarayas Akademi for the date 18th March 2022. Displayed here are the news articles we will be discussing today. Now, let us get down to the discussion. Look at this editorial article. This editorial article is about the issues in the immunization program introduced in India for children under the age group of 12 to 14 years. The program uses a new vaccine called Corbvax. This is the crux of the editorial article. But for the exam perspective, let us see what is Corbvax and the science behind it. The syllabus regarding this discussion is highlighted here for your reference. Please go through it. Now, let us start our discussion. See, Corbvax is manufactured by a company called Biological E-Limited. In India, the vaccine has received the approval from the Drugs Controller General of India, that is DGCI. Here, note that Corbvax vaccine is India's first indigenously developed protein subunit vaccine against COVID-19. So, what is a protein subunit vaccine? To understand this, we have to brush the basics about vaccines first. See, first remember that all vaccines work by exposing our body to molecules from target pathogens. This exposure is to trigger an immune response in our body. But the method of exposure varies depending on the type of vaccine. Here, the type would mean approaches in designing a vaccine. And there are three main approaches as you can see here. The first approach is using the whole virus or bacterium in the vaccine. The second approach is using only the parts of the pathogens that trigger the immune response. The third approach is using the genetic material of the pathogen to induce the immune response. So, these are the three main approaches in making a vaccine. But our focus here is on the subunit approach, that is the second approach. It is also called a-cellular vaccines. It doesn't contain the whole microbe or doesn't use a safe virus as a vector. Remember, it only uses a very specific part of the virus or bacterium that the immune system needs to recognize. The specific parts are subunits. Remember, these subunits are the purified pieces of the pathogens. So, they are just harmless fragments and they are specifically selected for their ability to stimulate immune cells. Here, they are carefully studied to identify which combination of subunits are likely to produce a strong and effective immune response. Now, the subunits may be proteins or sugars. So, when the vaccines have isolated proteins from viral or bacterial pathogens, we call it protein subunit vaccine. On the other hand, when the vaccine contains chains of sugar molecules called polysaccharides, which are found in the cell walls of some bacterium, we call them polysaccharide vaccines. And note that only protein subunit vaccines are being developed against COVID-19 virus. And the subunit involved is the spike protein of COVID-19 virus. The spike protein of COVID-19 virus is known to trigger immune response in our body. That is why the spike protein is used. See, previously, the protein itself was a purified protein from a disease-causing pathogen. This was the scenario before the development of recombinant DNA technology. But after this, a recombinant protein is used in subunit vaccines. This recombinant protein is synthesized or it is produced in a possible heterologous host cells. So, what is a heterologous host cell? A heterologous host is a host which expresses the protein in the cell line where they are not supposed to be produced. E. coli cells, yeast cells and mammalian cells act as heterologous host cells. So, for example, a certain protein which is produced only in human cells can be expressed in the yeast and this expression can be later isolated. Here, heterologous host cells just act as a manufacturing cells for the specific human protein. So, when in a vaccine, if a recombinant protein is used, it will be called recombinant protein subunit vaccine. Now, let us see how they work. See, first to make a vaccine, a small piece of the viruses genetic code is inserted into another cell, which is the heterologous host and it could be a bacterial cell, a yeast cell or a mammalian cell like we already saw. The genetic code contains instructions for the cells to start building the virus protein. Then, the host cell that is the heterologous host cell starts building large quantities of the protein. This protein is extracted and then it is purified and finally, this is used as an active ingredient in the vaccine. So, when the vaccine enters the human body, our immune system recognizes that the protein doesn't belong in our body. And what does our body do? Our body starts making tea lymphocytes and antibodies. This means, if we ever get infected in the future, our memory cell will recognize the new virus and start an effective fight against the virus. Now, one of the advantages of the subunit vaccine, mainly the recombinant subunit vaccine is they are relatively cheap and very easy to produce. One of the major disadvantage of this approach is that although it will definitely trigger a host immune system, it could be a very weaker immune response. This is because the subunits chosen lack the molecular structure. These molecular structures are the one read by our immune cells and recognized as danger signals, which then triggers the full-blown immune response. So, to put it simply, the recombinant subunit vaccine produce a weak immune response. So, how to overcome that? See, this can be overcome by using adjuvants. What are adjuvants? Adjuvants are substances that stimulate the immune system and help the vaccine in making a stronger and long lasting immune response. Now, the substance used as adjuvants could be tiny amount of aluminum salts like aluminum phosphate. Now, let us see how mRNA vaccine is different from recombinant protein subunit vaccine. See, mRNA vaccine is a famous vaccine against COVID-19. mRNA vaccine is a nucleic acid vaccine. Here, that is in the mRNA vaccine, the genetically engineered mRNA is used to give instruction to the cells on how to make spike protein. So, when mRNA vaccine is injected in our body, our body starts making the spike protein and mimics the pathogen. This spike protein that is produced by our body will trigger the immune response. This is the case with respect to mRNA vaccine. Now, coming to recombinant protein subunit vaccine. See, we saw that in mRNA vaccine, the mRNA injected in our body will make our body produce the spike protein. But in this case, it is the spike protein that is injected in our body. This spike protein produces the immune response. So, that is the difference between mRNA vaccine and the recombinant protein subunit vaccine. So, to simplify, in case of mRNA vaccine, it is our body that will produce the spike protein. But in case of recombinant protein subunit vaccine, the spike protein which is produced outside is injected in our body. That is the main difference. Now, coming back to corb wax. See, corb wax is a recombinant protein subunit vaccine. Here, the adjuvant. We already saw what adjuvant is right. Adjuvants are substances that stimulate immune response and help the vaccine in making a stronger and longer lasting immune response. Here, the adjuvant in case of corb wax is Dyna wax is CPG1018. This is combined with alum and it is used as a adjuvant. So, what is the advantage of using corb wax? See, this vaccine that is the corb wax is low cost. So, it will be affordable and it will provide sustainable access to vaccines in lower and middle income countries. This is all regarding this discussion. In this segment, we saw some points about corb wax. Then we saw what is protein subunit vaccine. Then we saw how the recombinant protein subunit vaccine is produced. Then we saw the working of the recombinant protein subunit vaccine. And finally, we saw how it is different from mRNA vaccine. With this, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Take a look at this article from the text and context page. This article is about whether the International Court of Justice could mandate a ruling on the current crisis that is happening in the Eastern Europe. Here, by saying current crisis happening in the Eastern Europe, we are talking about the recent Ukraine-Russia conflict. So, in this context, let us quickly go through some important points about the International Court of Justice and some of the important points mentioned in this article. Before that, the syllabus relevant to this article is highlighted here for your reference. You can go through it. Now, let us start the discussion. Firstly, what is this International Court of Justice? See, the International Court of Justice, which is sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. To be specific, it is the only principal judicial organ of the United Nations. Actually, its origin is quite interesting. International Court of Justice is the successor to the Permanent Court of International Justice, which was established in 1920 by the League of Nations. As you know, the League of Nations was founded on January 1920. It was the first worldwide inter-governmental organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace during that time. But after the World War II, both League of Nations and the Permanent Court of International Justice were replaced. The League of Nations was replaced by the United Nations. And the Permanent Court of International Justice was replaced by the International Court of Justice. Even though International Court of Justice was established in June 1945 by the Charter of the United Nations, and it began work in April 1946, the statute of the International Court of Justice, which establishes its purpose and its structure are heavily influenced by the predecessor, that is, Permanent Court of International Justice. In addition to this, the judgments given by the Permanent Court of International Justice are still binding. The International Court of Justice statute applies to all UN members and allows them to initiate contentious cases. If such cases arise, the court's role is to settle the dispute in accordance with international law. And as I already said, the judgment given by the International Court of Justice is final. And it is binding on the parties to the case and they are not provided with any provision for further appeal. But, however, advisory proceedings on legal questions can be initiated by specified UN authorities and agencies. So, note this also. See, the court is composed of 15 judges. How are they elected? These 15 judges are elected by the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council for a term of 9 years. The International Court of Justice is assisted by a registry. This registry is the administrative organ of the International Court of Justice. There are two official languages to the International Court of Justice. What are they? They are English and French. See, having seen about the International Court of Justice, now the question here is whether this court could mandate a ruling in the current crisis that is happening in Eastern Europe or not. As you know, the current conflict between Ukraine and Russia has entered its fourth week. This has led to one of the most severe humanitarian crisis in Europe since World War II. On one hand, Russia is justifying its special military operation as a response to the alleged act of genocide of the Russian speaking people in the territories of Don Steck and Luhansk. While on the other hand, Ukraine on February 26 approached the International Court of Justice. Among other things, Ukraine asked the International Court of Justice to rule that Ukraine committed no such crimes of genocide as defined under the Genocide Convention 1948 in Don Steck and Luhansk as claimed by the Russian officials. Additionally, Ukraine also requested the court that is the International Court of Justice to indicate certain provisional measures like directing the Russian Federation to immediately suspend military operations in Ukraine. And Ukraine also asked the court to ensure that Russia will not aggravate or extend the current dispute. In response to this, the International Court of Justice on March 16 issued an order directing the Russian Federation to immediately stop all military actions in Ukraine. So, this is the story so far. Here, there are two questions. First is, can Ukraine take the issue to the International Court of Justice? Second question is, is it possible for the International Court of Justice to specify such provisional measures? To answer the first question, according to Article 36 Class I of the International Court of Justice Statute, the court has jurisdiction over all matters relating to the UN Charter as well as other treaties or convention in force. One such convention is the Genocide Convention of 1948. As you know, it is an international treaty that criminalizes genocide and obligates the state parties to enforce its prohibition. This convention, that is, the Genocide Convention under Article 9 states that if any dispute arises between states relating to the interpretation, application or implementation of the Genocide Convention as well as if the dispute arises relating to the responsibility of a state for genocide, then it shall be submitted to the International Court of Justice at the request of any of the parties to the dispute. See, Russia and Ukraine are both parties to the Genocide Convention of 1948. So, once the dispute is raised by Ukraine in International Court of Justice, the court ruled that there is a clear and convincing disagreement between Ukraine and Russia over whether genocide occurred in Ukraine or not. So, clearly, International Court of Justice has jurisdiction over this issue. So, Ukraine bringing the issue to International Court of Justice is correct. Now, to answer the second question, that is, is it possible for the International Court of Justice to specify such provisional measures? See, here provisional measures are essentially interim orders by the International Court of Justice that is passed while the main case is still being heard. Under Article 41 of the statute of the International Court of Justice, the court is empowered to indicate provisional measures in any case before it in order to preserve the rights of the parties involved. When the International Court of Justice indicates such provisional measures, the parties to the dispute and the United Nations Security Council have to be notified. See, until 2001, there was uncertainty as to whether the provisional measures indicated by the International Court of Justice were binding or not. However, in the Le Grand case of 2001, it was made clear that the provisional measures announced by the International Court of Justice are binding in character and they create international legal obligations. Apart from this, remember, provisional measures may be indicated by the International Court of Justice either on request of the state parties or by pro prio moto, that is, on its own motion. Also, the absence of one of the parties involved cannot be a barrier for the issuance of provisional measures by the International Court of Justice. See, in the present case, regardless of the fact that International Court of Justice decided to proceed with the case, Russian Federation chose not to appear in the oral proceedings before the court. So, even if Russia is not present during the proceedings, the International Court of Justice can still issue provisional measures. And as we saw earlier, provisional measures are binding and they create international legal obligations. Now what lies ahead? The provisional measures indicated by the International Court of Justice are binding and failure to comply constitute a violation of international legal obligation. However, the International Court of Justice does not have the means or the mechanism to ensure the enforcement of the judgment that it has provided. But still, the United Nations Security Council may take measures necessary to give effects to the judgment. Unfortunately, considering Russia's veto power in the United Nations Security Council, the probability in the current scenario appears very dim. So, even though International Court of Justice has announced the provisional measures, the implementation or the enforcement of the measure is very difficult. See, currently, Russia's non-participation in the oral proceedings has already reflected its disrespect for the International Law and International Institution. As per the author of this article, if Russia does not comply with the provisional measures of the International Court of Justice, the reputational harm to its regime could be very high. Here, failure to comply with the provisional measures will also legitimize and justify counter-actions against Russia. See, unsurprisingly, Russia has been kicked out of the Council of Europe with immediate effect on the same day as International Court of Justice provisional measures were indicated. So, let's wait and watch how the event progresses further. That's all regarding this article. In this discussion, first we saw some important points about International Court of Justice. Then we saw the answer to two questions. First question is, can Ukraine take the issue to the International Court of Justice? The second is, is it possible for the International Court of Justice to specify provisional measures? In the discussion, we saw that yes, Ukraine can take the issue to the International Court of Justice and indeed the court has the power to issue provisional measures. This is all regarding this discussion. With this, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Look at this editorial article here. It talks about how Russia's invasion of Ukraine is countered by other developed countries. See, the author says such actions are not mentioned in international law. Also, he mentions that these kinds of actions, mainly the economic sanctions against Russia might look like a retaliation against Russia. In this context, let us see few economic sanctions imposed by other countries on Russia. Mainly, we will see in detail about the trade sanctions put by Canada, which is also a type of economic sanction. Finally, let us see how the author justifies that all these sanctions are a kind of retaliation against Russia. Before getting into the discussion, I have highlighted here the syllabus regarding this discussion. You can go through it. Now, let us start our discussion. First, what are sanctions? See, sanctions are penalties imposed by one country on another. Why are sanctions imposed? Sanctions are imposed to stop the country from acting aggressively and prevent the country from breaking international law. See, they are among the toughest actions one nation can take on another before going to war. So, this is regarding sanctions. Now, let us see few economic sanctions that are imposed on Russia so far. The United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom as well as the European Union had imposed many economic sanctions on Russia. See, this is done mainly because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. United Kingdom and the European Union had banned sending luxury goods to Russia including vehicles, high-end fashion and art. Also, the United Kingdom planned to put 35% tax on some imports from Russia including vodka. Then, the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union and the Canadian airspace had banned all Russian fleets. In addition to this, the United Kingdom also banned private jets chartered by Russians. Next, the most important economic sanction it is the trade sanction. The trade sanction we are going to see here is put by Canada. In addition to this, other G7 countries that is France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States and even the European Union jointly announced their intention to do the same thing that Canada is proposing to do. What was the sanction put by Canada? See, Canada suspended the most favored nation status of Russia. Because of this, Russia will lose many trading benefits. Now, let me tell you what is meant by most favored nation status and some of the benefits associated with it. A country providing a trade constitution to one trading partner has to extend the same treatment to all other countries. This is called as most favored nation status. That is, the most favored nation class requires a country to extend the same trade terms to all its trading partners. To put in simple words, in international trade most favored nation treatment is synonymous with non-discriminatory trade policy. For example, take a situation where a country belonging to WTO that is the World Trade Organization reduces or eliminates a tariff on a particular product for one trading partner. At this time, according to the WTO treaty the country is obligated to extend the same treatment to all the members it is trading with. But also note here that there is an exception in the most favored nation class. See, when most favored nation status is granted to a developing country the developing country can get some extra perks that is not provided to other countries. So, this is regarding most favored nation status. So, what are the benefits associated with the most favored nation status? See, as a result of this most favored nation status the recipient countries receives favorable treatments for trade benefits, low tariffs, high import quotas free trade agreements and customs union. We saw earlier that Canada revoked the most favored nation status given to Russia, right? So, what is the justification given by Canada for revoking Russia's most favored nation status? Canada said those who do not support the rule-based international order cannot benefit from it. So, Canada has decided to revoke the most favored nation status given to Russia. Not only this, Russia's participation in the developed country's coordinating group is also suspended. See, developed country's coordinating group is an informal group at the World Trade Organization. This suspension is due to Russia's violation of international law, the UN Charter and the fundamental principles of international peace and security. See, economic sanctions may be attractive policy tools for governments wanting to express discontent with the country's behavior. But it is arguable whether this kind of economic sanctions mainly trade sanctions can achieve the change for which these punitive actions are taken. That is, whether trade sanctions can have effective changes on growth reality. The effectiveness of the trade sanctions in curtailing a country's action is not fully established. But see how this kind of economic sanction is violating international law. See, under the World Trade Organization regime, the rights of the country to impose trade sanctions such as suspending most favored nation on security grounds is regulated by Article 21 of the General Trade on Tariffs and Trade. That is, GET. Note that Article 21 is the only provision governing trade and security linkages in the WTO. So, it empowers a member country to adopt measures which it considers necessary for protection of its own essential security interest. Remember, this measure is taken only at the time of war or in emergency international situations. Since Canada revoked the most favored nation status given to Russia, the author says Russia can challenge the Canadian suspension of most favored nation status before the WTO's trade settlement body. If Russia does that, then Canada will have to show that its actions are backed by Article 21. Considering all this, the author concludes that countering Russia's illegality with measures not basically ingrained in international law is kind of a retaliation. Also, he says that if every country starts taking law into their own hand, then the legitimacy of rule-based international order will become even more worse. So, that's all regarding this editorial article. See, here, that is in this segment, we first saw few economic sanctions imposed by other countries on Russia. Mainly, we saw in detail about the trade sanctions put by Canada on Russia. Finally, we discussed how author justified that all these sanctions can be seen as a retaliation against Russia. So, with this, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Look at this news article. This news article talks about the estimation of OECD or Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. According to the OECD estimation, the Ukraine war could reduce global growth by one percentage. Also, it is estimated that the Ukraine issue could add two-and-a-half percentage points to inflation. So, OECD says that a well-targeted increase in government spending by OECD countries could reduce the war's economic impact by half. This is regarding the news article. In this backdrop, let us have a brief look about Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. That is OECD. See, it is an international organization. It works to build better policies for better lives. Its goal is to shape policies that provide prosperity, equality, opportunity and well-being for all. OECD works together with governments, policy makers and citizens. OECD works on establishing evidence-based international standards and finding solutions to a range of social, economical and environmental challenges. See, it is a unique form. Why? Firstly, it is a knowledge hub for data and analysis. Secondly, OECD provides a space for exchange of experiences and exchange of best practices. Thirdly and finally, it provides advice on public policies and international standard setting. See, these are done for providing many benefits. The benefits are, first, it helps in improving economic performance. Second, it helps in creating jobs. Then it helps to foster strong education. Lastly, it helps even to fight against international tax evasion. Now, having seen the objectives and the many benefits provided by OECD, we will see the member countries of OECD. Just have a look here. These are the 38 OECD member countries. These countries are from all over the globe, from North and South America to Europe and Asia-Pacific. Note that OECD works closely with some of the world's largest economies like Brazil, China, India, Indonesia and South Africa. These countries are called OECD's key partners. They participate in OECD's daily work and bring useful perspective thereby increasing the relevance of the policy debates. One more important point to add here is that the European Commission participates in OECD's works, but the European Commission does not have the right to vote in OECD's proceedings. That's all regarding this discussion. In this segment, we revised some important points about organization for economic cooperation and development. With this, let us conclude this discussion and take up the last article for today's discussion. Take a look at this news article. See, the University Grants Commission has proposed to allow students who have completed a four-year undergraduate program to directly enroll in PhD programs without having to first complete a master's degree. This applies to students who have completed a research component and have a total GPA of 7.5 as well. This new measure was a part of draft University Grants Commission Regulation 2022 released yesterday. The commission also released the draft curriculum framework and credit system for the four-year program as proposed by the National Education Policy 2020. Several prominent universities, including the University of Delhi, plans to implement the four-year program from the coming academic year, 2022-23. So, taking this as an opportunity, let us quickly go through some of the important provisions of the National Education Policy 2020. See, the National Education Policy was first framed in 1986 and it was modified in 1992. It has been more than three decades since the previous policy was implemented. Numerous changes have occurred in our country since then, mainly in the society, economy, and the world at large. And it is in this context that education sector needed to be updated. So, in order to meet the demands of the 21st century and the needs of the people in the country, an update is required for sure. So, this is why the National Education Policy 2020 was proposed. Now, we will see some of the major provisions of the National Education Policy 2020. The current 10 plus 2 structure in school education will be modified with the new curricular restructuring of 5 plus 3 plus 3 plus 4, covering ages 3 to 18 as shown in this figure. See, it consists of a foundational stage in two parts. That is, 3 years of Anganwadi or preschool plus 2 years in primary schools in grade 1 and 2. Both together, covering ages 3 to 8. Then comes the preparatory stage. That is, grades 3 to 5, covering ages 8 to 11. Then comes the middle stage, covering grades 6 to 8, that is, ages 11 to 14. And finally, the secondary stage. See, it has two phases. In the first phases comes the grades 9 to 10. And in the second phases comes the grades 11 and 12, covering ages 14 to 18. Next is that the National Education Policy recognizes the foundational literacy and numeracy as the urgent and necessary prerequisite to learning. So, it aims to set up national mission on foundational literacy and numeracy. With reference to this, the states will prepare an implementation plan for attaining universal foundational literacy and numeracy in all primary schools for all learners by grade 3. This universal foundational literacy and numeracy is to be achieved by 2025. So, note that. Then the policy emphasizes that the medium of instruction is to be in the mother tongue or local language or regional language at least till grade 5 and preferably till grade 8 and beyond. In addition to this, the policy says that there will be three language formula. But there will be a greater flexibility as the three languages to be learned by the children will be the choice of the states, region and the students themselves. And no language will be imposed by any state. This will be the case as long as at least two of the three languages are native to India. This is a refined from what was earlier made in the draft national education policy released in 2019. At that time, in the draft policy, it was reported that one of the three languages must be Hindi. Now the stand is that no language will be imposed by any state. Just an additional point here. The draft national education policy was drafted by the committee chaired by the former chairperson of ISRO, Dr. Kasturi Rangan. Lastly the national education policy proposes major changes to the school curriculum. Here reforms refers to reduction in curricular content so as to enhance essential learning, critical thinking and to give greater focus on experimental learning. See here, students will have increased flexibility and choice of subjects. At the school level, there will be no rigid separation between arts and sciences, between curricular extracurricular activities and between vocational and academic team. More importantly, vocational education will start in the school level from the sixth grade onwards and this will include internships as well. See these are some important provisions regarding national education policy 2020. With this, let us conclude the news analysis discussion and take up the practice prelims questions. We have three practice prelims questions today. Let us see them one by one. Let us take up the first question. This is a pair based question. We have to find which of the given pairs are correctly matched. Here, types of vaccine and the virus that is used in the vaccine is given we have to match the pairs. Let us take the first pair. See pair one is correct because live attenuated vaccine is a whole microbe approach which is also called whole virus vaccines. This approach uses a whole virus or bacterium and there are two main types of whole virus vaccines. They are live attenuated vaccines and inactivated vaccines. See live attenuated vaccines use a weakened form of virus which can still grow and replicate but does not cause illness. And in inactivated vaccines, viruses whose genetic material have been destroyed by heat, chemicals or radiations are used. So these viruses cannot infect cells and replicate but they can still trigger an immune response. So pair one is correct. There is also another type here which is viral vector vaccine. See, this type of vaccine use a whole virus but a different safe virus which is called the vector to deliver specific sub parts called proteins of the pathogens. This protein triggers an immune response without causing diseases. So, the safe virus is used in viral vector vaccine and not mRNA vaccine. So, pair three is incorrect. Now from the discussion we know that protein subunit vaccine uses fragments of the virus and purifies it and not just the genetic material. So, pair two is also incorrect. But the genetic material is used in the approach called genetic approach or nucleic acid vaccine. Under this only we have mRNA vaccines. So, pair one is correct, pair two is incorrect and pair three is incorrect. So, the correct answer here is option A one only. Now let us take up the second practice brilliant question. Here two statements regarding organization for economic cooperation and development that is OECD is given we have to find the correct statement. Let us take up the first statement. Its member countries consist only of the South Asian countries. See, this statement is incorrect because we saw in the discussion that OECD consist of countries from Northern South America, Europe and Asia Pacific. For example USA, UK, Italy, Japan etc. So, statement one is incorrect. Now let us take up the second statement. It is a unique forum helping to create more jobs and thereby improving the economic performance of its members. See, this statement is correct. Yes, OECD is a unique forum helping to create more jobs and thereby improving the economic performance of its members. So, OECD serves as a knowledge hub provides a space for sharing best practices and experiences. Then it advices on public policies and international standard stating. This is why it is called a unique forum. So, since statement one is incorrect and statement two is correct the correct answer here is option B two only. Now let us take up the last practice prelims question. Here, two statements regarding national testing agency is given we have to find the incorrect statements. Let us take up the first statement. National testing agency was established as a society registered under the Indian Societies Registration Act 1960. See, this statement is correct. Now let us take up the second statement. National testing agency is an autonomous and self sustained testing organization to conduct entrance examinations for admissions or fellowship in higher educational institution. See, this statement is also correct. Now let me give you some other basic points in regards to national testing agency. See, national testing agency is responsible for conducting competitive entrance examinations. National testing agency is chaired by an eminent educationist appointed by the ministry of government resource development. The chief executive officer of the national testing agency will be the director general to be appointed by the government. There will be a board of governors comprising of members from user institutions. These are some points regarding national testing agency. Here we saw that we have to find the incorrect statements but the two statements given here are correct. So since the two statements given here are correct and we have to find the incorrect statement, the correct statement is option D, neither 1 nor 2. The main questions based on today's discussion is displayed here. Write the answers and post it in the comment section. If you found today's discussion useful, please like, comment and share the video with your friends. For more updates regarding UPSC preparation, subscribe to Shankara AS Academy YouTube channel. Thank you.