• The Mughal Gardens at Rashtrapati Bhavan will now be known as Amrit Udyan, according to an official statement.
• Spread over 15 acres, Amrit Udyan has often been portrayed as the soul of the presidential palace.
• Amrit Udyan draws its inspiration from the Mughal Gardens in Jammu and Kashmir, the gardens around the Taj Mahal and even miniature paintings of India and Persia, according to the Rashtrapati Bhavan’s website.

History

• In 1911, the British administration moved its capital from Calcutta to Delhi, involving huge construction to create spaces for its top officials including construction of the Viceroy’s House, which today is known as Rashtrapati Bhavan, with a garden.
• While the initial plans involved creating a garden with traditional British architecture, the wife of the then Viceroy wanted something in the Mughal style and urged the planners to create a garden in that style.

Mughal Gardens, now Amrit Udyan’s inspiration came from a book

• It is believed that the wife of the then Viceroy, who wanted Rashtrapati Bhavan to be adorned by a Mughal-style garden was inspired by the book Gardens of the Great Mughals (1913) by Constance Villiers-Stuart as well as her visits to Mughal gardens in Lahore and Srinagar.
• While the layout of the Amrit Udyan was in place by 1917, the planting of flora only began in late 1928 and the responsibility was given to Director of horticulture William Mustoe, who planted the garden and was especially skilled at growing roses and introduced more than 250 different varieties of hybrid roses gathered from every corner of the world.

All Presidents leave their touch to Mughal Gardens

• All the presidents who have stayed in the house have left their personal touch on the monument.
  • C Rajagopalachari, who was the last Governor General of India, made a political statement during a period of food shortage in India when he ploughed the lands and dedicated a section of the garden to food grains. Today, it is known as the Nutrition Garden, popularly known as Dalikhana.
  • President R Venkatraman added a cactus garden.
  • President APJ Abdul Kalam added many theme-based gardens: from the musical garden to the spiritual garden.

• Himachal Pradesh government has prohibited the manufacture, sale, and use of glue traps for catching rats, rodents, small reptiles and birds with immediate effect.
• The notification cites Section 11 of The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act,1960, that prohibits causing unnecessary pain and suffering to animals and it also emphasises the indiscriminate nature of glue traps, which ensnare not only rodents but also “non-target” animals, including birds, squirrels, reptiles and frogs.
• In its appeal, PETA India had requested that the state government to take immediate steps to implement circulars issued by the Animal Welfare Board of India advising that glue traps be prohibited.

• Nek Ram Sharma, a farmer of Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi district, has been conferred with the prestigious Padma Shri award for his distinguished service in the field of agriculture, especially organic farming.
• Sharma, the only Padma awardee from Himachal Pradesh, has expressed his gratitude to the government for this achievement.
• He has been growing nine different grains through organic farming.
• Nek Ram said there is a high need to shun the use of fertilizers in farming.
• Praising the ‘International Year of Millets 2023’, Sharma said, “People have become aware after the announcement of the International Year of Millets. Earlier there were fewer diseases when people used to get food products directly from the jungles. Now, in order to earn money, people are involved in unethical practices which are causing a lot of diseases in the farm produce.”  The Government of India spearheaded the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution for declaring the year 2023 as the ‘International Year of Millets’ and the proposal of India was supported by 72 countries.
• UNGA declared the year 2023 as the International Year of Millets in March 2021. January 2023 is the focused-month for the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs, and the states of Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, and Rajasthan for conducting events and activities related to the millets year.

• The UNESCO of the United Nations presents the tag of World Heritage in Danger. To protect the sites from catastrophic damages, UNESCO designates them as World Heritage in Danger sites. Presently the list has 55 such sites. Recently, the ODESSA of Ukraine was added to the list.
• Russian forces are conducting frequent air strikes in Ukraine. So, the world heritage site Odessa is in danger. Now that UNESCO has made it a World Heritage Site in Danger, United Nations will now allocate funds to protect the site.

Odessa of Ukraine

• The site is located near the Black sea and is 500 km from the capital of Ukraine, Kyiv.
• Empress Catherine founded ODESSA. She took away the region from the Ottoman Empire in 1794. The name ODESSA is Greek. Catherine gave religious freedom to the people in ODESSA and also offered them lands.
• No taxes were imposed on the port. This expanded the trade in Odessa attracting several foreign merchants.

Attractions in Odessa

• The city has a giant stairway. There are 200 steps down the staircase. It was built in 1837. The staircase is the entrance point to Odessa
• Vorontsovskyi Palace is a beautiful Turkish Castle in Odessa

• The National Council for Science and Technology operating under the Department of Science and Technology recently organized the National Child Science Congress, 2023.
• The congress was hosted by the Gujarat Council of Science City. It is being held in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
• The theme of the congress was “Understanding Eco System for Health and Wellbeing”. More than 1400 delegates will attend the conference.
• Students at the district level in various states presented their projects to the committee on this theme. The teams from the State Level and Gulf Countries, hereby selected, will represent their respective States/Countries and present their projects at the National Level during these five days.
• Another highlight of the National Children’s Science Congress program is that students can present their projects in any language.
• 658 child scientists from different states, 250 guide teachers and 92 state coordinators will participate in this National Children Science Congress at Science City and SAL Campus from 27th to 31st January, 2023.
• The event will also be participated by 17 National Academic Committee, 70 scientific jury members, 15 eminent scientists and resource persons and Government officials. More than 1400 people are expected to participate in this event. Also, 18 contestants from Gulf countries will present their projects.
• The 5-day event will feature student project presentations as well as numerous activities including cultural programs, special talks, interactive sessions, drone workshops, visits to various thematic galleries of Science City.
• A special “Meet the Scientist” Session will be held during this National Children’s Science Congress, in which famous scientists like Shri Nilesh Desai, Director, SAC-ISRO, Dr. Rajat Moona, Director, IIT Gandhinagar, Dr. Deepak Sharma, Scientific Officer (G) BARC, Mumbai etc. will present their subject knowledge on different issues to the students and the people attending the program.

About the Congress

• NCSC program was launched in 1993 by the NCSTC for children in the age group of 10 to 17 years to provide an platform for children to be rational and apply scientific methods to find solutions to local problems, do research and find solutions.
• The focus of the congress is to cultivate problem-solving skills in students. During the congress, the participants will frame solutions to societal problems

Significance

• India is one of the leading countries in the world where students choose science as their stream. This includes STEM subjects such as Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. According to United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), India contributes 29.2% of science students in the world. EU accounts for 9.5%, the US: 6%, and China: 26%. The National Child Congress and similar programs are the primary reasons for India to perform well in this area

• Padma Awards, instituted in 1954, are one of the highest civilian honours of India announced annually on eve of Republic Day.
• Padma Awards are presented to honor people from different fields such as social work, education, literature, public affairs, education, etc.
• These are given in three categories
  • Padma Vibhushan for exceptional and distinguished service.
  • Padma Bhushan for distinguished service of a high order.
  • Padma Shri for distinguished service.
• Total number of awards to be given in a year (excluding posthumous awards and to NRI/foreigners/OCIs) should not be more than 120.
• Awardees are presented a Sanad (certificate) signed by President and a medallion. There is no cash prize.

• Discussions on India-Egypt relationship were held during Egyptian President’s visit as a Chief Guest at India’s 74th Republic Day Celebrations.

Important outcomes

• Four elements of strategic partnership include political, defence and security; economic engagement; scientific and academic collaboration; and cultural and people-to-people contacts.
• Both sides signed five MoUs covering culture, cooperation on youth matters, cyber security, information and technology and public broadcasting.
• Both sides reiterated support for Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).India and Egypt are founding partners of NAM along with Yugoslavia, Ghana, and Indonesia.
• Egypt is considering designating a special area of land for Indian Industries at Suez Canal Economic Zone.
  • Suez Canal is one of the busiest commerce routes (facilitating 12% of world trade every day) in world, which links Red Sea and Mediterranean Sea.
  • It separates African continent from Asia and is the fastest crossing from Atlantic Ocean to Indian Ocean.
• Both sides called for ‘zero tolerance’ for terrorism.
• Both sides set a target of Increasing annual bilateral trade from S7 billion (2021-22) to $12 billion over next five years.

• Supreme Court altered the existing guidelines for ‘living will’ as laid down in Common Cause vs. Union of India & Another (2018), which allowed passive euthanasia.
  • Living will is a written document that specifies what actions should be taken if person is unable to make their own medical decisions in future.
• Euthanasia is practice of ending life of a patient to limit the patient’s suffering. It can be administered only by a physician.
• Euthanasia can be either active’ or ‘passive:
  • Active euthanasia involves an active intervention to end a person’s life with substances or external force, such as administering lethal injection. Allowed in Netherland, Belgium, Canada etc.
  • Passive euthanasia refers to withdrawing life support or treatment that is essential to keep a terminally ill person alive. Allowed in India, Finland, Germany etc.
• Major judgements related to Euthanasia
  • Rathinam Case (1994): Struck down section 309 of IPC (attempt to suicide) as unconstitutional.
  • Aruna Shanbaug Case (2011): SC allowed passive euthanasia for first time.

Changes by Supreme court with respect to passive Euthanasia

• Living will– An attestation by a notary or a facetted officer to be sufficient for a living will
• Access to the living will– living will a part of national health record which can be accessed by Indian hospitals
• Primary board to examine patients condition -Three doctors, including treating physician and two other doctors with five years of experience in the specialty, will comprise the primary board of doctors
• Time taken to decide– Primary/secondary board to decide within 48 hours on withdrawal of further treatment
• Secondary board– Hospital must immediately constitute a secondary board of medical experts.

• 12 Cheetah from South Africa are expected to arrive by February-March 2023. Earlier in September 2022. KNP had received eight cheetahs from Namibia.
• Project Cheetah, approved by Supreme Court in 2020 aims to reintroduce atleast 50 cheetahs over next five years.
• It is world’s first inter-continental large wild carnivore translocation project.
• National Tiger Conservation Authority is nodal agency authorized lot funding and supervision of project.

Significance of Cheetah restoration

• Restoring open forest and grassland ecosystems in India.
• Conserve biodiversity and enhance ecosystem services like water security, carbon sequestration etc.
• Enhanced livelihood opportunities for local community through eco-development and ecotourism activities.
• Cheetah is a keystone species (organism that helps define an entire ecosystem) of dry forests, scrub forests, and savannahs.
• It is the only large wild mammalian species that went extinct from India.
• Protected Under Appendix I of CITES.
• IUCN status: African Cheetah (Vulnerable) and Asiatic Cheetah (Critically endangered)
• Major Cheetah range countries: Namibia. Botswana. South Africa, Zimbabwe, Angola, Zambia, Tanzania and Kenya in Africa, and Iran and India in Asia.

Kuno National Park

• KNP is situated in Vlndhyan Hills in Madhya Pradesh.
• It falls under Kathiawar-Gir dry deciduous forest eco-region and vegetation is dominated by Kardhai, Khan and Saki trees.

• The Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bengaluru handed over the primary payload of the country’s first mission to sun to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for integration with the other payloads on board the satellite.
• The payload handed over on Thursday called ‘Visible Emission Line Coronograph’ (VELC) will be the main payload among seven designed to study various aspects of the sun like its atmosphere, solar wind acceleration and the origin of coronal mass ejection.
• The VELC, which was conceptualised and designed in 15 years, may help is solving one of the main puzzles of solar astrophysics — why the sun’s atmosphere called corona is a million degrees hot even though the surface is just over 5,700 degrees Celsius?
• The VELC can image the solar corona down to 1.05 times the solar radius, which is the closest any such payload has imaged. It can also take these observations roughly 3 times every second, and with a high resolution of 2.5 arc seconds per pixel.

About Aditya  L1

• Aditya-L1 is India’s first space-based mission to study the Sun. The satellite will be carried by the rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).
• To get an unobstructed, continuous view of the sun, the satellite will travel to the L1 or Lagrange point between the sun and the earth.
  • Lagrange points — there are five between any two celestial objects — are referred to as parking spots in space because the gravitational pull of the celestial objects equals the force required to keep it in orbit. So, a satellite can stay in Lagrange points between any two celestial objects without expending fuel.
• The Aditya-L1 will carry as many as seven payloads – VELC (visible emission line coronagraph), SUIT (solar ultraviolet imaging telescope), SoLEXS (solar low energy X-ray spectrometer), HEL1OS (high energy L1 orbiting X-ray spectrometer), ASPEX (Aditya solar wind particle experiment), PAPA (plasma analyser package for Aditya), and advanced tri-axial high-resolution digital magnetometers.v