Daily Current Affairs 5th March 2020 Today’s Important Topic’s For UPSC Preparation 1. SC FREES T

Daily Current Affairs 5th March 2020 Today’s Important Topic’s For UPSC Preparation 1. SC FREES TRADE IN CRYPTOCURRENCIES, ANNUAL RBI CURB.

2. PRESIDENT REJECTS MERCY PLEA OF NIRBHAYA CONVICT.

3. AMID DIN, LOK SABHA APPROVES TAX RESOLUTION BILL.

4. BOND YIELDS DECLINE ON EXPECTATION OF RATE CUT.

5. CABINET ALLOWS NRI’S TO TAKE 100% IN AIR INDIA.

6. PUBLIC SECTOR BANK MERGERS GETS APPROVAL.

7. MAC_BINDING.

8. PERSON IN NEWS.

SC FREES TRADE IN CRYPTOCURRENCIES, ANNUAL RBI CURB CAA: What are virtual currencies?

Satoshi Nakamoto, widely regarded as the founder of the modern virtual currency bitcoin and the underlying technology called blockchain, defined bitcoins as “a new electronic cash system that’s fully peer-to-peer, with no trusted third party”.

This essentially meant there would be no central regulator for virtual currencies as they would be placed in a globally visible ledger, accessible to all the users of the technology. All users of such virtual currencies would be able to see and keep track of the transactions taking place.

What is Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is a type of digital currency that enables instant payments to anyone. Bitcoin was introduced in 2009.

Bitcoin is based on an open-source protocol and is not issued by any central authority.

“Bitcoin”, capitalised, refers to the protocol and transaction network whereas “bitcoin”, lowercase, refers to the currency itself.

Bitcoins are transferred directly from person to person via the net without going through a bank or clearinghouse. (This means that the fees are much lower, you can use them in every country, your account cannot be frozen and there are no prerequisites or arbitrary limits.)

How does Bitcoin work?

How_bit_coin_works

Bitcoins are generated all over the Internet by anybody running a free application called a Bitcoin miner.

Mining requires a certain amount of work for each block of coins.

This amount is automatically adjusted by the network such that Bitcoins are always created at a predictable and limited rate.

Your Bitcoins are stored in your digital wallet which might look familiar if you use online banking.

When you transfer Bitcoins, an electronic signature is added.

After a few minutes, the transaction is verified by a miner and permanently and anonymously stored in the network.

How virtual currencies are different from cryptocurrencies?

Virtual currency is the larger umbrella term for all forms of non-fiat currency being traded online. Virtual currencies are mostly created, distributed and accepted in local virtual networks.

Cryptocurrencies, on the other hand, have an extra layer of security, in the form of encryption algorithms. Cryptographic methods are used to make the currency as well as the network on which they are being traded, secure.

Most cryptocurrencies now operate on the block-chain or distributed ledger technology, which allows everyone on the network to keep track of the transactions occurring globally.

Virtual currency is the larger umbrella term for all forms of non-fiat currency being traded online. Virtual currencies are mostly created, distributed and accepted in local virtual networks.

Cryptocurrencies, on the other hand, have an extra layer of security, in the form of encryption algorithms. Cryptographic methods are used to make the currency as well as the network on which they are being traded, secure.

Most cryptocurrencies now operate on the blockchain or distributed ledger technology, which allows everyone on the network to keep track of the transactions occurring globally.

Some Important cryptocurrencies:

(i) Bitcoins

(ii) Litecoin

(iii) Namecoin

(iv) Swiftcoin

(v) Bytecoin

(vi) Gridcoin

Are cryptocurrencies dangerous?

In June 2013, the RBI had for the first time warned users, holders and traders of virtual currencies about the potential financial, operational, legal and customer protection and securityrelated risks that they were exposing themselves to.

The following year, the Financial Action Task Force came out with a report that highlighted both legitimate uses and potential risks associated with virtual currencies.

In a different report, it again said use of such virtual currencies was growing among terror financing groups.

Why did the RBI ban virtual currencies?

Owing to the lack of any underlying fiat, episodes of excessive volatility in their value, and their anonymous nature which goes against global money-laundering rules, the RBI initially flagged its concerns on trade and use of the currency.

Risks and concerns about data security and consumer protection on the one hand, and farreaching potential impact on the effectiveness of monetary policy itself on the other hand, also had the RBI worried about virtual currencies.

Why in News?

Supreme Court lifted the ban on 2018, circular of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) that prohibited banks and entities regulated by it from providing services in relation to virtual currencies (VCs).

Supreme Court mentioned that:

“Till date, RBI has not come out with a stand that any of the entities regulated by it namely, nationalised banks/scheduled commercial banks/cooperative banks/NBFCs, have suffered any loss or adverse effect directly or indirectly, on account of VC exchanges”.

Besides, the court found that the RBI did not consider the availability of alternatives before issuing the circular.

Again, the April, 2018 circular was issued despite the fact that the central bank could not cite a single instance in which VC exchanges “actually impacted entities regulated by RBI”.

Centre’s Failure:

The court referred to the Centre’s failure to introduce an official digital rupee despite two draft Bills and several committees.

On November 2, 2017, the Centre constituted an Inter-Ministerial Committee, which initially recommended the ‘Crypto-token Regulation Bill of 2018’. This Bill found a complete ban on VCs an “extreme tool” and suggested regulatory measures.

At that point, the committee was even fine with the idea of allowing the sale and purchase of digital crypto assets at recognized exchanges.

The Supreme Court noted how the same committee did a “volte-face” in just two years.

The Inter-Ministerial Committee went on to recommend a “total ban” on private cryptocurrencies through a proposed legislation called ‘Banning of Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Act’ in February 2019.

This proposed law contemplated the creation of a digital rupee as official currency and a legal tender by the Central government in consultation with the RBI. The court said that had this law come through, there would be an official digital currency. The Centre and the RBI would have had monopoly over its creation and circulation.

Bitcoin_PeerCoin

PRESIDENT REJECTS MERCY PLEA OF NIRBHAYA CONVICT: Mercy Petition:

As per the Constitutional framework in India, mercy petition to the President is the last constitutional resort a convict can take when he is sentenced by the court of law.

A convict can present a mercy petition to the President of India under Article 72 of the Constitution of India.

Similarly, the power to grant pardon is conferred upon the Governors of States under Article 161 of the Constitution of India.

Article72: Article 72 says that the President shall have the power to grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of punishment or to suspend, remit or commute the sentence of any person convicted of any offence. The meaning of these terms is as follows:

Pardon: Complete pardon

Reprieve: Temporary suspension of sentence Respite: awarding less sentence Remission: Reducing amount of sentence Commutation: Changing one punishment to another.

The Article 72 reads: The President shall have the power to grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remission of punishment or to suspend remit or commute the sentence of any persons convicted of any offence.

In all cases where the punishment or sentence is by a court martial; In all cases where the punishment or sentence is for an offence against any law relating to a matter to which the executive power of the Union extends.

In all cases where the sentence is a sentence of death.

Nothing in sub- clause (a) of clause (1) shall after the power conferred by law on any officer of the Armed Forces of the Union to suspend, remit or commute a sentence passed by a Court Martial.

Nothing in sub-clause (c) of clause (1) shall affect the power to suspend remit or commute a sentence of death exercisable by the Governor of a State under any law for the time being in force.

Article 161: Governor of a State has the power to grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of punishment or to suspend, remit or commute the sentence of any person convicted of any offence against any law relating to a matter to which the executive power of the State extends.

Difference between Pardoning power of President and Governor: The President can pardon sentences inflicted by court martial (military courts) while the Governor cannot.

The President can pardon death sentence while governor cannot. Even if a state law prescribes death sentence, the power to grant pardon lies with the President and not the Governor.

Procedure Followed for Granting Pardon: The process starts with filing a mercy petition with the President under Article 72of the Indian Constitution.

Such a petition is then sent to the Ministry of Home Affairsfor consideration which is then consulted with the concerned State Government.

After the consultation, recommendations are made by the Home Minister and the petition is sent back to the President.

Purpose of Granting Pardon: Pardon may substantially help in saving an innocent person from being punished due to miscarriage of justice or in cases of doubtful conviction.

The object of conferring this power on the President is two-fold: To keep the door, open for correcting any judicial errors in the operation of law; To afford relief from a sentence, which the President regards as unduly harsh.

Judicial Stand on Pardoning Powers: In Maru Ram v Union of India case (1980),the constitutional bench of the Supreme Court of India held that the power under Article 72 is to be exercised on the advice of the Central Government and not by the President on his own at his discretion. And that the advice of the Government is binding on him.

The Supreme Court in Epuru Sudhakar v Ors. case (2006) to rule out any case of arbitrariness or executive mala fide upheld that the granting of clemency by the President or Governor can be challenged in court on various grounds such as, The order has been passed without application of mind, or the order is mala fide, or the relevant material has been kept out of consideration.

Note: The pardoning power of President is NOT absolute. It is governed by the advice of the Council of Ministers. This has not been discussed by the Constitution but is the practical truth.

Further, the Constitution does not provide for any mechanism to question the legality of decisions of President or governors exercising mercy jurisdiction. But the SC in Epuru Sudhakar case has given a small window for judicial review of the pardon powers of President and governors for the purpose of ruling out any arbitrariness.

The Pardoning of the President is an Executive Power and is independent of the Judiciary.

Why in News?

President Ram Nath Kovind rejected the mercy petition of Pawan Gupta, one of the four men on death row in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case.

Gupta was the last to file the mercy plea. The petitions of the other three convicts had been rejected earlier by the President.

According to the Delhi Prison Rules, a 14-day period has to be given to a death row convict after the dismissal of a clemency plea before the prisoner can be hanged. All the four men are to be hanged together.

Comparing_Paradoning_powers_of_President_and_governor

AMID DIN, LOK SABHA APPROVES TAX RESOLUTION BILL:

The Direct Tax Vivad se Vishwas Bill, 2020: Ministry: Finance The Direct Tax Vivad se Vishwas Bill, 2020 was introduced in Lok Sabha by the Minister of Finance, Ms. Nirmala Sitharaman, on February 5, 2020. The Bill provides a mechanism for resolution of pending tax disputes related to income tax and corporation tax.

Appellant: The Bill defines an appellant as the income tax authority, or the person, or both, whose appeal is pending before any appellate forum as on January 31, 2020. These appellate forums are the Supreme Court, the High Courts, the Income Tax Appellate Tribunals, and the Commissioner (Appeals).

Resolution mechanism: The Bill proposes a resolution mechanism under which an appellant can file a declaration to the designated authority to initiate resolution of pending direct tax disputes.

The last date to file such declaration will be notified by the central government. Based on the declaration, the designated authority will determine the amount payable by the appellant against the dispute and grant a certificate, containing particulars of the amount payable, within 15 days of the receipt of the declaration. The appellant must pay this amount within 15 days of the receipt of the certificate and inform the designated authority of such payment. Such amount will not be refundable.

Once the designated authority issues the certificate, appeals pending before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunals and the Commissioner (Appeals) will be deemed to be withdrawn. In case of appeals or petitions pending before the Supreme Court and High Courts, the appellant is required to withdraw the appeal or petition.

The Principal Chief Commissioner will designate an officer, not below the rank of a Commissioner of Income Tax, as the designated authority to manage the proposed resolution mechanism.

Amount payable for resolution: The amount payable by the appellant for resolution of disputes is determined based on whether the dispute relates to payment of tax, or payment of interest, penalty, or fee. Further, he is required to pay an additional amount if such payment is made after March 31, 2020. Table 1 shows the amount payable by the appellant for dispute resolution.

Disputes relating to 31, 2020

Payable before March 31, 2020 Additional amount payable after March

Payment of tax Amount of disputed tax (any interest or penalty associated with such tax will be waived)

(i) 10% of the amount of disputed tax, or (ii) interest and penalty relating to that tax, whichever is lower Payment of fee, interest, or penalty the amount under such dispute

25% of the amount under such dispute Another 5% of

Amount payable for resolution of disputes Waiver of rights: For dispute resolution, the appellant is required to furnish an undertaking waiving his rights to seek any remedy or claim in relation to that dispute under any law, including the Income Tax Act, 1961 (IT Act). All such claims already filed in relation to the dispute must be withdrawn before filing the declaration.

Immunity to appellant: Once a dispute is resolved, the designated authority cannot levy interest or penalty in relation to that dispute. Further, no appellate forum can make a decision in relation to the matter of dispute once it is resolved. Such matters cannot be reopened in any proceeding under any law, including the IT Act. Revival of disputes: The declaration filed by an appellant will become invalid if: Its particulars are found to be false, He violates any of the conditions referred to in the IT Act, or He seeks any remedy or claim in relation to that dispute. Consequently, all proceedings and claims withdrawn based on the declaration will be deemed to have been revived.

Disputes not covered: The proposed mechanism will not cover certain disputes. These include disputes:

(i) where prosecution has been initiated before the declaration is filed,

(ii) which involve persons who have been convicted or are being prosecuted for offences under certain laws (such as the Indian Penal Code), or for enforcement of civil liabilities, and

(iii) involving undisclosed foreign income or assets.

What is vivad se vishwas scheme?

The vivad se vishwas scheme offers a complete waiver on interest and penalty to the taxpayers who pay their pending taxes by March 31. The scheme aims to benefit those whose tax demands are locked in dispute in multiple forums.

Why in News?

The Direct Tax Vivad se Vishwas Bill that seeks to expedite resolution of pending tax disputes was passed by the Lok Sabha.

The Bill states that 4.83 lakh tax disputes are pending in various appellate fora such as Commissioner (Appeals), Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, the High Courts and the Supreme Court and as much as â‚š9.5 lakh crore is locked in these disputes.

Under the proposed scheme, a taxpayer would be required to pay only the amount of the disputed taxes and will get complete waiver of interest and penalty if the amount is paid by March 31.

Bond Yields Decline On Exception Of Rate Cut: What is a Bond?

A bond is an instrument to borrow money.

A bond could be issued by a country’s government or by a company to raise funds.

Since government bonds (referred to as G-secs in India) come with the sovereign’s guarantee, they are considered one of the safest investments.

As a result, they also give the lowest returns on investment (or yield).

Yield of a bond:

The yield of a bond is the effective rate of return that it earns. But the rate of return is not fixed — it changes with the price of the bond.

Every bond has a face value and a coupon payment. There is also the price of the bond, which may or may not be equal to the face value of the bond.

Suppose the face value of a 10-year G-sec is Rs 100, and its coupon payment is Rs 5. Buyers of this bond will give the government Rs 100 (the face value); in return, the government will pay them Rs 5 (the coupon payment) every year for the next 10 years, and will pay back their Rs 100 at the end of the tenure.

In this case, the bond’s yield, or effective rate of interest, is 5%.

The yield is the investor’s reward for parting with Rs 100 today, but for staying without it for 10 years.

Why and how do yields go up and down?

Imagine a situation in which there is just one bond, and two buyers.

In such a scenario, the selling price of the bond may go from Rs 100 to Rs 105 or Rs 110 because of competitive bidding by the two buyers.

Importantly, even if the bond is sold at Rs 110, the coupon payment of Rs 5 will not change.

Thus, as the price of the bond increases from Rs 100 to Rs 110, the yield falls to 4.5%.

What factors affect bond yields?

Bond yields are a good indicator of the economic situation of a country. They are reflective of numerous macro-economic factors such as inflation, rate of growth of gross domestic product (GDP), interest rates (cost of borrowing).

If the central bank of a country decides to raise its benchmark interest rates, bond yields usually move to mirror the change to an extent. Since interest rates are typically raised when inflation is inching upward, there is also an indirect correlation between inflation and bond yields.

Apart from these factors, short-term movement in bond yields are also caused by changes in investors’ sentiment.

What are Masala bonds?

Masala bonds are rupee-denominated bonds issued by Indian entities outside India. They are typically issued by Indian companies who wish to take advantage of the lower cost of borrowing in developed economies.

Since July 2016, masala bonds have been listed on London Stock Exchange (LSE). HDFC, NTPC and Indiabulls Housing are some companies that have raised funds by issuing these bonds.

Bond yields are rising:

A weak rupee and worsening fiscal deficit have pushed up bond yields in the past year.

High yields indicate good returns from debt funds in year ahead:

When the yield is very high, the one-year forward returns have been in double digits

Bond Yield Curve:

A yield curve is a graphical representation of yields for bonds (with an equal credit rating) over different time horizons.

If bond investors expect the economy to grow normally, then they would expect to be rewarded more (that is, get more yield) when they lend for a longer period. This gives rise to a normal — upward sloping — yield curve.

The steepness of this yield curve is determined by how fast an economy is expected to grow.

When the economy is expected to grow only marginally, the yield curve is “flat”.

Yield inversion happens when the yield on a longer tenure bond becomes less than the yield for a shorter tenure bond. A yield inversion typically portends a recession. An inverted yield curve shows that investors expect the future growth to fall sharply.

Why in News?

After the U.S. Federal Reserve reduced interest rates on Tuesday to fight the economic slowdown due to the spread of COVID-19, there is growing expectation in the domestic market that the Reserve Bank will follow suit.

Bond yields softened on Wednesday amid rate cut hopes, with the yield on the 10-year government bond dropping 12 bps to close the day at 6.23%.

CABINET ALLOWS THE NRI’S TO TAKE 100% IN AIR INDIA: Who is a Non-Resident Indian?

An Indian abroad is popularly known as Non-Resident Indian (NRI). NRI is legally defined under the Income Tax Act, 1961 and the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA) for applicability of respective laws.

Difference between Resident definition under Income Tax and FEMA:

NRI is defined under FEMA as a person resident outside India who is either a citizen of India or is a Person of Indian Origin (PIO).

PIO means a citizen of any country other than Bangladesh or Pakistan,

who at any time held Indian Passport, or

who or either of whose parents or any of the grand parents was a citizen of India under Constitution of India or under Indian Citizenship Act, 1955, or who is spouse of an Indian citizen or spouse of person referred to in 1 and 2 above.

Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Or NRI Day: Pravasi Bharatiya Divas or Non-Resident Indian Day is observed on 9 January every year by the Union Government till 2015 and now it is celebrated once in every two years to mark the contribution of Overseas Indian community in the development of India.

This day has its significance as it is the day when Mahatma Gandhi returned from South Africa in 1915.

Why is 9 January decided to celebrate NRI Day? On 9 January,1915, Mahatma Gandhi came to India from South Africa and became the greatest Pravasi who led India’s Freedom Struggle and made India free from British or colonial rule.

Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award (PBSA) is the highest honour conferred on overseas Indians.

This award is conferred by the President of India as a part of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Conventions which was organised since 2003.

Why in News?

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday decided to allow Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) who are Indian nationals to own up to 100% stake of Air India, which is bound for disinvestment.

The government had decided to increase the maximum stake for NRIs from 49% to 100%.

The FDI (foreign direct investment) policy would be amended to allow NRIs who are Indian nationals to own up to 100% of Air India ‘under automatic route.

The amendment was meant to ‘liberalise and simplify the FDI policy to provide ease of doing business in the country.

While FDI inflows stood at $45.15 billion in 2014-2015, the provisional figures for FDI had increased to $62 billion in the last financial year 2018-2019.

PUBLIC SECTOR BANK MERGERS GET APPROVAL: Public Sector Banks (PSBs) are a major type of bank in India, where a majority stake (i.e. more than 50%) is held by a government. The shares of these banks are listed on stock exchanges.

Emergence of public sector banks: The Central Government entered the banking business with the nationalization of the Imperial Bank of India in 1955. A 60% stake was taken by the Reserve Bank of India and the new bank was named as the State Bank of India. The seven other state banks became the subsidiaries of the new bank in 1959 when the State Bank of India (Subsidiary Banks) Act, 1959 was passed under the Nehru government.

Amalgamation of National Banks:

Sr. No. Amalgamated Banks

Anchor Banks

1

Punjab National Bank (PNB), Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC), and United Bank of India PNB

2

Canara Bank and Syndicate Bank

3

Union Bank of India, Andhra Bank, and Corporation Bank

4

Indian Bank and Allahabad BankIndian Bank

Canara Bank Union Bank of India

State Bank of India absorbed five of its associates and the Bharatiya Mahila Bank in 2017.

What is the rationale behind the mergers?

It was the Narasimham Committee in the late 1990s that recommended consolidation through a process of merging strong banks.

There are too many banks in India with sizes that are minuscule by global standards with their growth constricted by their inability to expand.

Given this, the biggest plus of the mergers is that they will create banks of scale.

According to the government, banks have been merged on the basis of likely operating efficiencies, better usage of equity and their technological platform.

But the move marks a departure from the plan to privatise some of the banks or bringing in strategic investors to usher in reform in the sector.

The government has decided amalgamation as the “best route� to achieve banking sector scale.

This is also expected to support the target of achieving a $5 trillion economic size for India in 5 years.

However, mergers may not lead to any immediate improvement in their credit metrics.

Why in News?

The merger of public sector banks (PSBs) will become effective from April 1, 2020, with the Cabinet giving nod to the proposal.

The consolidation of 10 PSBs into four includes the merger of: Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank of India into Punjab National Bank.

The amalgamation of Syndicate Bank into Canara Bank The merger of Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank into Union Bank of India The amalgamation of Allahabad Bank into Indian Bank. artical image

MAC-BINDING: What is Mac-binding?

Cabinet Every device has a Media Access Control (MAC) address, a hardware identification number that is unique to it. While accessing the Internet, every device is assigned an IP address.

Mac-binding essentially means binding together the MAC and IP addresses, so that all requests from that IP address are served only by the computer having that particular MAC address.

In effect, it means that if the IP address or the MAC address changes, the device can no longer access the Internet.

Also, monitoring authorities can trace the specific system from which a particular online activity was carried out.

Media Access Control (MAC) address Address that uniquely defines a hardware interface is called MAC (Media Access Control) Address.

It identifies the physical address of a computer on the internet.

It is 48 bits (6 bytes) hexadecimal address.

MAC Address of each computer on a network is unique.

Internet Protocol (IP) address

The address provided to a connection in a network is called IP (Internet Protocol) address.

It identifies the connection of a computer on the internet.

IPv4 is a 32-bit (4 bytes) address, and IPv6 is a 128-bits (16 bytes) address.

IP address does not uniquely identify a device on a network but, it specifies a particular connection in a network.

IP address changes each time a device is connected to the network as it is dynamically allocated to the device when it participates in the network.

Why in News?

After seven months, the use of social media was allowed in Jammu and Kashmir with an order laying down the latest rules for the use of the Internet in the UT. Among various conditions, the order says Internet connectivity will be made available “with mac-binding�.

Permitted connections:

The Internet can be accessed on all postpaid devices, and those using Local Area Networks (LAN).

While the postpaid SIM card holders shall continue to be provided access to the Internet, these services shall not be made available on prepaid SIM cards unless verified as per the norms applicable for postpaid connections.

Apart from this, special access terminals provided by the government will continue to run.

It is further directed that the access/communication facilities provided by the government, viz. e-terminals/Internet kiosks apart from special arrangements for tourists, students, traders etc. shall continue.

Only 2G permitted:

Internet speed in J&K is still restricted to 2G. This means very slow services — pictures will take a long time to be sent or downloaded, videos will be nearly impossible to share, and there will be a long loading time for most websites.

It also means that although in theory, the “whitelist system” — where people could only access some websites pre-approved by the government — has been removed, some sites designed for a 4G Internet experience will hardly work.

Person In News: BIJU PATNAIK:

Bijayananda Patnaik (1916-1997), popularly known as Biju Patnaik, was an Indian politician, aviator and businessman. As politician, he served twice as the Chief Minister of the State of Odisha.

It is well known that Biju Patnaik actively helped freedom fighters in the 1940s.

His daring was evident as he actively joined the Quit India movement in 1942 and collaborated with the underground leaders like Jayaprakash Narayan, Aruna Asif Ali and Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia, even while in the British service.

Patnaik was imprisoned by the British Government for three years later.

Role in foreign freedom struggles:

As an officer in the Royal Indian Air Force in the early 1940s, Patnaik flew innumerable sorties to rescue British families fleeing the Japanese advance on Rangoon, the capital of Burma.

He also dropped arms and supplies to Chinese troops fighting the Japanese and later to the Soviet army struggling against Hitler’s onslaught near Stalingrad.

On the 50th anniversary of the end of the war, Patnaik was honoured by the Russians for his

help,” the obit noted.

Interestingly, Nehru entrusted Patnaik with rescuing Indonesian resistance fighters who were fighting their Dutch colonisers.

Accompanied by wife Gyanwati, “the lanky pilot flew an old Dakota aircraft to Singapore en route to Jakarta where the rebels were entrenched” in 1948.

Dodging the Dutch guns, he entered Indonesian airspace and landed on an improvised airstrip near Jakarta.

Using left-over fuel from abandoned Japanese military dumps, Patnaik took off with prominent rebels, including Sultan Shariyar and Achmad Sukarno, for a secret meeting with Nehru at New Delhi.

Why in News?

On the occasion of the 104th birth anniversary of former Odisha chief minister Biju Patnaik, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted an Intelligence Bureau document from 1945 to show how Patnaik bravely lent his flying skills for freedom fighters like Ram Manohar Lohia.

WORD OF THE DAY VOLTE_FACE:

Volte-face is a total change of position, as in policy or opinion. The expression comes from the French language.

In the context of politics a volte-face is, in modern English, often referred to as a U-turn or a flipflop in the UK and the US respectively.