With reference to a grouping of countries known as BRICS, consider the following statements : 1. The First Summit of BRICS was held in Rio de Janeiro in 2009. 2. South Africa was the last to join the BRICS grouping. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Shows that Rio de Janeiro hosted a major international summit (the first International Earth Summit) in June 1992, establishing a pattern that Rio is a venue for large multilateral meetings.

A student could note that Rio is known for major UN environment summits and therefore check whether BRICS (a different multilateral grouping) held its first leaders' meeting there instead of in a city typically associated with BRICS activities.

Identifies Rio as host of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development events (Earth Summit 1992 and Rio+20 in 2012), reinforcing that Rio is associated with UN environmental summits rather than necessarily with other groupings.

A student could use this pattern to infer that if the statement names Rio, they should compare the known venues of BRICS summits (a non-UN bloc) with Rio's summit history to evaluate plausibility.

Confirms that 178 nations met in Rio in 1992 for the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), again showing Rio's role in hosting a specific, large UN summit.

A student could distinguish UNCED-type summits (global environmental conferences) from regional or political-economic groupings like BRICS and then check lists of BRICS summit locations.

Mentions Rio+20 (2012) as another distinct UN sustainable development conference held in Rio, indicating a recurring theme of environmental UN summits in that city.

A student could reason that multiple environmental UN summits in Rio suggest a venue specialization, so they should verify whether BRICS (an economic/political grouping) used Rio for its inaugural summit.

Says BRICS nations proposed the New Development Bank in 2012, indicating BRICS were an organised grouping taking joint decisions by 2012.

A student could infer the BRICS grouping existed before 2012 and therefore check whether their inaugural summit was earlier or later than 2009 by comparing formation events and summit dates from an external timeline.

Notes the Contingent Reserve Arrangement was introduced by BRICS in 2015, showing ongoing institutional activity across years after 2009.

One could use this pattern of staged institutional measures (bank in 2012, CRA in 2015) to hypothesize when foundational summits occurred and then verify if a first summit was as late as 2009 or earlier.

Describes how other international groups (e.g., NAM) had an early conference (Bandung) and then a formal first summit later (Belgrade 1961), illustrating that group formation and 'first summit' can be distinct events.

A student could apply this pattern to BRICS: distinguish initial meetings/formation from the formal 'first summit' and check external dates to see which applies to BRICS in 2009.

Records a major global summit (Copenhagen) held in 2009, showing 2009 was a year with significant international conferences.

A student might note 2009 was active for summits and therefore treat 2009 as plausible for a BRICS meeting but would need to compare BRICS-specific records (formation timeline) to confirm whether their first summit was in that year.

Gives an example of an organisation's 'first conference' (Earth Summit 1992) and subsequent conventions, showing how inaugural summits lead to institutional outputs.

Use this pattern—first summit producing institutional outcomes—to ask whether BRICS had similar early outputs near 2009 or only later (e.g., 2012), helping judge if 2009 was the inaugural summit.

States the New Development Bank was established by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — listing South Africa together with the other BRICS members as founding participants.

A student could infer that if the bank was created by these five jointly, South Africa was likely an original member rather than a later addition; they could check external timelines (e.g., BRICS founding year) to confirm order.

Notes that 'BRICS nations' proposed the New Development Bank in 2012, indicating the grouping existed by that date.

Combine this with the membership list in snippet 4 to test whether South Africa was already a member in 2012 or joined later by checking external dates of accession.

Mentions BRICS introduced the Contingent Reserve Arrangement in 2015 and refers to 'BRICS countries' collectively, implying ongoing coordinated actions by the same set of members.

Use this pattern (joint initiatives across years) with founding-member lists to see if South Africa participated in earlier BRICS initiatives — if it did, it likely was not a later joiner.

Identifies South Africa as one of the countries that often represents developing countries alongside Brazil and India in multilateral forums, showing South Africa is routinely grouped with other BRICS-type partners.

A student could use this association to corroborate that South Africa has long-standing multilateral ties with Brazil/India, supporting the idea it was an original BRICS member rather than a subsequent add-on.

Notes India, Brazil and South Africa jointly signed the IBSA Trust Fund Agreement, illustrating trilateral cooperation among those three over development issues.

A student could extend this to argue South Africa had established formal cooperation with other BRICS countries before/around the time BRICS institutionalized, suggesting it may not be a late entrant.