Important Facts for Prelims (3rd November 2018)

• 03 Nov 2018

Delhi Durbar Painting

• One of the biggest and most iconic oil paintings in the collection of Victoria Memorial Hall (VMH) depicting the Delhi Durbar of 1903, has been restored.
• A few years ago, a termite attack had affected the painting and the conservation unit of the VMH took on the job of restoring the painting to its former glory.
• Titled ‘State Entry Into Delhi’, the painting was commissioned by the then British government. Painted by British artist Roderick Mackenzie, the picture shows Viceroy Lord Curzon, seated on an elephant and leading the ceremonial procession of the Delhi Durbar followed by several Indian kings.
• Delhi Durbar, as the term suggests, is borrowed from Mughal vocabulary and with all its pomp and grandeur was an attempt by the British to appropriate Mughal culture.
• The Delhi Durbar was an Indian imperial style mass assembly organized by the British in Delhi, to mark the succession of an Emperor or Empress of India. Also known as the Imperial Durbar, it was held three times, in 1877, 1903, and 1911, at the height of the British Empire.
• All three Imperial durbars celebrated coronations. The first declared Queen Victoria the Empress of India and was proclaimed with title “Kaisar-i-Hind”. The second confirmed her son King Edward VII as Emperor of India and the third his son King George V.
• However, King George V was the only monarch to attend a durbar.
• Although Calcutta was then the capital of British India, Lord Lytton, Governor-General of India in 1877, chose a ground just outside old Delhi for the first durbar, believing that the former capital of the Mughals would have a greater cultural significance in the minds of Indians.

India’s First Uterine Transplant Baby

• Recently, doctors in Pune have successfully delivered a child to a woman who had undergone a uterine transplant.
• This is the first such birth in India and the 12th in the world.
• The first successful transplant was performed in Saudi Arabia in 2002 but did not result in pregnancy. The first birth after a transplant, in 2014, happened in Sweden.

Uterine Transplant

• In India, about 17% of all women face issues relating to infertility, and the reason is related to the uterus in 20% of such cases.
• For women whose uterus is not healthy, or who do not have one since birth, a transplant of the uterus is the newest form of infertility treatment.
• Usually, women related to the recipient are potential donors. The donor may be either living or deceased, and is chosen from among women up to age 60.
• The transplanted uterus is removed after the woman has gone through one or two childbirths.
• Normal reproduction is not possible with a transplanted uterus. Therefore, the egg is fertilised through in-vitro fertilisation.
• The childbirth happens through surgical intervention.