Top Current Affairs 24 December 2020

Top Current Affairs 24 December 2020

Top Current Affairs 24 December 2020: This post contains the latest current affairs for 24 December 2020 that are important for all competitive exams like Bank, SSC, IBPS, SBI exams. You can also attempt our Current Affairs Quiz after reading our daily current affairs.

National

India successfully test-fires surface-to air missile ‘MRSAM’ off Odisha coast

• India successfully test-fired a medium range surface-to-air missile (MRSAM) from Integrated Test Range (ITR), off Odisha coast, on 23 December 2020. 
• The MRSAM missile has been jointly developed by the DRDO in collaboration with Israel Aerospace Industries and has been manufactured byBharat Dynamics Ltd.
• The missile will significantly enhance the combat effectiveness of the defence forces.

Agreements

UN Women collaborates with Kerala Government to set up India’s first Gender Data Hub

• The Government of Kerala and UN Womenhave collaborated to establish India’s first Gender Data Hub.
• The unique facilities at the Gender Park will have a Gender Library, Gender Museum and Training Centre on sustainable entrepreneurship, social business and markets for women from economically-backward social groups.
• Gender Park will work as a South Asian hub for gender-related activities with UN Women.

World Bank inks $500 million pact with Government of India for green, safe highway corridors project

• The Government of India has inked $500 million loan pact with the World Bank (WB) on 22 December 2020, to develop safe and green national highway corridorsin the states of Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh
• Under this Green National Highways Corridors project, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) will be constructing 783 km of highways.
• World Bank will provide support by integrating technology designs such as local and marginal materials, industrial byproducts, and other bioengineering solutions
• Apart from this, disaster risk assessment of about 5,000 km of the national highway network will also be undertaken under the project, to ensure that the infrastructure investments are climate resilient.

Banking & Economy

Bank of Baroda signs MoU with defence forces for new Military Salary Package

• Public sector lender Bank of Baroda (BoB) has renewed its existing memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Indian Army, titled‘Baroda Military Salary Package’, to offer customised banking services to account holders.
• The package will include facilities such as: free Personal Accidental Insurance cover, Permanent Total Disability cover, Partial disability Cover and Air Accident Insurance Cover of sizeable amounts, Higher Education Cover and Girl Child Marriage Cover on death in case of serving personnel.
• It also include unlimited free ATM transactions at all bank ATMs, waivers or concessions on various service charges in retail loans, free remittance facility through RTGS/NEFT, free Demand Draft/Banker’s Cheque, substantial discount in locker rentals, and various additional benefits in the usage of Cards.
• The services under ‘Baroda Military Salary Package’ will be offered to serving as well as retired personnel of Indian Armed Forces.
• BoB has also signed the MoU with Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard to offer customised services along with a host of facilities to account holders.

Appointment

Vineet Agarwal takes over as new Assocham President

• Vineet Agarwalhas been appointed as the new President of The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham).
• He replaces Niranjan Hiranandani, Co-Founder and MD, Hiranandani Group of Companies.
•  Vineet Agarwal is the Managing Director of logistics major Transport Corporation of India Limited.
• Apart from this, Sumant Sinha, Chairman and Managing Director of ReNew Power,has been appointed as the new Senior Vice-President of Assocham.

Sports

Novak Djokovic clinches 2020 ATP Player of the Year 2020 Award for record equalling 6th time

• The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) 2020 Awardswere announced on 21 December to felicitate the players and others for their performance during 2019-20 season.
• Novak Djokovic (Serbia) has been awarded with the ATP Player of the Year 2020 award, as he finished the year as No. 1 in the ATP Singles Rankings.
• This is the record sixth time for Djokovic to win the title. This record was till now achieved only by Pete Sampras, who won the title continuously from 1993-98

• Complete list of Winners
  • Player of the Year – Novak Djokovic
  • Doubles Team of the Year –  Mate Pavic and  Bruno Soares 
  • Coach of the Year – Fernando Vicente (coached Andrey Rublev)
  • Tim Gullikson Career Coach Award – Bob Brett (Australia)
  • Most Improved Player – Andrey Rublev (Russia)
  • Newcomer of the Year – Carlos Alcaraz (Spain)
  • Comeback Player of the Year – Vasek Pospisil (Canada)
  • ATPTour.com Fans’ Favourite – Roger Federer (Switzerland)
  • ATPTour.com Fans’ Favourite Team – Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski
  • Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award – Rafael Nadal (Spain)
  • Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year – Frances Tiafoe (US)
  • Ron Bookman Media Excellence Award – Kevin Mitchell (A sportswriter for The Guardian)

Days

National Consumer Day : 24 December

• National Consumer Day: December 24
• 2020 Theme: “New features of Consumer Protection Act, 2019”. 
• It was on this day that the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 was enacted.
• The Act aims to provide consumers with effective safeguards against different types of exploitation, such as defective goods, deficiency in services and unfair trade practices.