Daily GK Potion – 14th and 15th December 2015

 

  1. Renowned violinist Itzhak Perlman wins 2016 Genesis prize
    • The Israeli-US violinist Itzhak Perlman has been awarded the 2016 Genesis prize for his accomplishments as a musician, teacher and advocate for people with disabilities
    • The $1m (£660,000) prize, dubbed the Jewish Nobel, is given annually to an individual who has achieved professional success, contributed to humanity and shown a strong commitment to Jewish causes and the state of Israel.
    • Perlman, 70, has won 16 Grammys, including a lifetime achievement award in 2008, and played the violin solo in John Williams’s Oscar-winning soundtrack for the 1993 film Schindler’s List.
  2. Maharashtra government sets up task force for IFSC in Mumbai
    • The Maharashtra government has constituted a task force under Union Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha for setting up an International Financial Service Centre (IFSC) here.
    • Developing a designated area within the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) in suburban Bandra as an IFSC is one of the most ambitious projects of the state government.
    • The task force include – Union Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha (chairman), Lok Sabha MP from Mumbai North Central Poonam Mahajan (deputy chairman), Maharashtra Chief Secretary Swadheen Kshtriya, MMRDA Commissioner U P S Madan, Principal Secretary Urban development Nitin Kareer and a representative from the Department of Economic Affairs, Government of India.
  3. Justice Narasimha Reddy to head committee on OROP
    • Sidestepping the demand by ex-servicemen for a five-member judicial commission with representatives from military fraternity, the government on Monday appointed Justice L. Narasimha Reddy, former Chief Justice of Patna High Court to head the one-man judicial committee, which will look into the implementation of One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme.
    • The committee is as per the points of the notification issued by the government on November 7 for implementing OROP
    • The committee, based in Delhi, will submit its recommendations within six months of the date of its constitution, however, it can give interim reports to the government on matters related to its terms of reference.
  4. Bappi Lahiri, Kumar Sanu given Lifetime Achievement awards
    • Veteran music composer Bappi Lahiri and singer Kumar Sanu were today honoured with the Lifetime Achievement awards by the West Bengal government
    • Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee gave the award to them at the Sangeet Samman award function
  5. Operation Smile-II to Rescue Missing Children Starts From Jan 1
    • Encouraged by the success of two such initiatives earlier this year, a fresh campaign to reunite missing children with their families and guardians will be launched across the country on New Year’s day.
    • ‘Operation Smile-II’ will run from January 1 to January 31, 2016, with the Home Ministry having decided to come up with the initiative following the success of two similar programmes earlier this year when 9,146 children were rescued and rehabilitated under ‘Operation Smile’ with a further 1,972 children recovered under ‘Operation Muskan’.

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