Gk and Current Affairs Today - February 7 2017

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We bring you the Latest General Knowledge, Current Affairs daily news, Events, General awareness Today  7th February 2017 Section in FREE PDF (English & Hindi), a section which outlines the latest news, Events headlines which are hardly covered elsewhere. This will help you with the Latest General Knowledge, Current Affairs  asked in various competitive examinations of Banking (IBPS, RRB, SBI, PO, Clerk & other banks) & Government (SSC CGL, CHSL, JE, MTS, Railways, UPSC etc) Sector examination.

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OBITUARY

Subhas Chandra Bose's Driver Passes Away 

Colonel Nizamuddin, the driver of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, passed away at the age of 117 in his native Azamgarh district. 

●    Nizamuddin, who had been with Netaji between 1943 and 1945, breathed his last on Monday.
●    He is survived by his wife Ajbul Nisha, three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolence over the death of Nizamuddin.
●    Nizamuddin hails from Dhakwa village in Mubarakpur area in Azamgarh. 
●    He lives there with his wife Ajbul Nisha and youngest son Sheikh Akram. His two other sons, Akhtar Ali and An
●    war Ali, are employed in Saudi Arabia and Bombay, respectively. 
●    His two daughters are married.

BUSINESS

Cyrus Mistry Voted Out as Director of Tata Sons

Cyrus Mistry, the ousted chairman of Tata Sons, was removed as a director of the company by a majority vote of shareholders on Monday, thus stripping him of the only position he had held on to in the group after his resignation from the boards of various group entities.
The extraordinary general meeting (EGM) of Tata Sons held at the company headquarters had but one agenda: Mistry's removal as director. Tata trusts and group companies which hold the controlling stake as well as sections of the Tata clan voted in favour of the resolution.
However, a few members of the family abstained. Mistry himself stayed away but, through a proxy, voted against the resolution. 
Ratan Tata's brother Jimmy Tata, Piloo Minocher Tata (wife of a grandnephew of group founder Jamsetji Tata) and her children Jimmy M Tata and Vera Farhad Choksey  were among those who abstained.

BANKING AWARENESS

Ujjivan Small Finance Bank Launched 

Ujjivan Small Finance Bank on Monday launched the official operation of its services with five pilot branches, aiming to become a leading mass market retail bank over the next five years by catering to the unserved and under-served customers. 

●    Ujjivan Financial Services, a non-banking financial company which is the holding company of the small finance bank, was among the 10 entities that received license from RBI late last year to commence small finance banking operations. 
●    Representational image. Reuters "With a customer base of 35 lakh people, we are now focusing on the under-served. 
●    In the last two years, we have done a lot of market research. There is a huge gap in market potential. 
●    Ujjivan Small Finance Bank will offer interest rates on fixed deposit and recurring deposit in the range of 5.5-8 percent, which is higher than the average rate of interest offered by most banks, the bank said in a statement. 

SPORTS

ICC Votes to Move Away from Big 3 System

The most significant ICC board meeting in three years gets underway on Thursday - significant because the aim of most members will be to sign off on the undoing of the Big Three resolutions that were approved in February 2014, in Singapore.

●    The ides of February is not quite right, but it is clearly a tumultuous month in recent ICC history: it was last February that a formal decision was taken by the board, under the ICC chairmanship of Shashank Manohar, to begin a comprehensive review of the changes wrought by the Big Three.
●    Now February again the results of that review, in the shape of a report put together by a five-man steering committee, will be the weekend's focal point at ICC HQ in Dubai. 
●    And those members in favour of its recommendations are keen to push them through at this meeting, with the hope of finalising them at the Annual General Meeting in June this year.
●    An irony in the identity of the authors of the report has not gone unnoticed: Giles Clarke, the ECB president, and Cricket Australia (CA) chairman David Peever represent two of the Big Three boards behind the changes expected to be reversed.

SPACE SCIENCE

Japan's Mission to Clean Up Space Junk Fails

An experimental Japanese mission to clear ‘space junk’ or rubbish from the Earth’s orbit has ended in failure, officials said on Monday, in an embarrassment for Tokyo.
 

●    Over 100 million pieces of garbage are thought to be whizzing around the planet, including cast-off equipment from old satellites and bits of rocket, which experts say could pose risks for future space exploration.
●    The hope was that the clutter, built up after more than five decades of human space exploration, would eventually enter the Earth’s atmosphere and burn up harmlessly before it had a chance to crash into the planet.
●    The 700-metre-long tether was made from thin wires of stainless steel and aluminium. 
●    It was due to be extended out from a cargo ship launched in December carrying supplies for astronauts at the International Space Station.

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

India and Austria Sign Protocol amending India-Austria Double Taxation Avoidance Convention 

India and Austria signed a Protocol amending the existing Convention between the two countries for Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income here today. 

•    The Protocol was  signed by Shri  Sushil Chandra, Chairman CBDT on behalf of India and Mr. Georg Zehetner, Charge d’ Affaires, Embassy of Austria on behalf of Austria.
•    The Protocol will broaden the scope of the existing framework of exchange of tax related information which will help curb tax evasion and tax avoidance between the two countries and will also enable mutual assistance in collection of taxes.

NATIONAL NEWS

WLPGA 2017 Asia LPG Summit begins from 7th Feb in New Delhi

The Government of India’s recent groundbreaking initiatives to increase access to LPG, have ensured LPG access to over 800 million people in the country.

●    Today, India is the world’s second biggest consumer of LPG in the domestic sector with annual consumption exceeding 18 million tonnes and growing at more than 10% per annum.
●    To showcase and share these innovative initiatives, the Indian LPG Industry, in association with the World LPG Association, is organising the WLPGA Asia LPG Summit & the Indian LPG Summit: ‘Emerging Trends’ on 7th– 8th February 2017.
●    The keynote and inaugural address for the event, will be delivered by Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Honorable Minister of State (I/C), Government of India, Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas.
●    The three days will comprise a series of events including WLPGA internal meetings and both summits. 

SPORTS

Alastair Cook Steps Down as England Test Captain

Alastair Cook on 6 Februray 2017 resigned as the captain of the England test cricket team. Cook submitted his resignation to England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chairman Colin Graves.

●    However, Cook has stated his willingness to continue playing on as a batsman in the longest format of the game.
●    A left-handed opening batsman, Cook started his international career with a test match against India in March 2006.
●    He played his first one day international (ODI) against Sri Lanka at Old Trafford, England in June 2006.
●    So far, Alastair Cook played 140 matches and scored 11,057 runs from 253 innings. His test career includes 53 half-centuries, 30 centuries and 3 double centuries.
●    So far, he scored 3204 runs in 92 ODIs. The score includes 19 half-centuries and 5 centuries.