Current Affairs in Short: 5 November 2020

President Ram Nath Kovind gives assent to Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020

•President Ram Nath Kovind on November 4, 2020 gave his assent to the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 to further amend Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996. 
•Under the ordinance, all stakeholders will get an opportunity to seek an unconditional stay on enforcement of arbitral awards where the underlying arbitration agreement may be induced by fraud or corruption.
•Besides this, an addition has been made to Section 36 as per which if the Court is satisfied that a prima facie case is made out that the arbitration agreement or contract which is the basis of the award was induced by fraud or corruption, then it can stay the award unconditionally pending disposal of the challenge made to the award under Section 34.

Rajeev Mehta, IOA Secretary General tests positive for COVID-19

•The Secretary General of the Indian Olympic Association Rajeev Mehta has tested positive for COVID-19. 
•The IOC himself confirmed the same saying that he had undergone the test after having a fever last week and the result was unfortunately positive. The result came on November 3, 2020. 
•Rajeev Mehta is currently undergoing self-isolation at his Delhi residence. He assured saying that he all right, not facing any big problem so far and that he hopes to recover quickly.

Rafael Nadal wins his 1,000th title 

•Rafael Nadal recorded his 1,000th tour-level match win on November 4, 2020 defeating Feliciano Lopez to reach the third round of the Rolex Paris Masters. 
•With this, the Spaniard has become the fourth player to reach the milestone in the Open Era, joining Jimmy Connors (1,274-283), Roger Federer (1,242-271) and Ivan Lendl (1,068-242).
•Roger Federer reached the milestone in a silent 20,000-seater stadium where the match was being held without fans due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Delhi government to hold Laxmi Puja on Diwali 

•The Delhi Government has decided to hold 'Laxmi Puja' this Diwali. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has asked Delhiites to join it from their homes.
•The chief minister said that Delhi is facing two main issues at present- COVID-19 pandemic and severe rise in air pollution and added saying that his government is making all efforts to deal with the situation.
•The Chief Minister reiterated that the COVID-19 situation is deteriorating in Delhi due to rising air pollution and appealed to people not to burst firecrackers and join him and his minister in a 'Laxmi Pujan' programme. 
•The Chief Minister, while addressing an online media briefing. said that he along with his cabinet ministers will perform 'Laxmi Pujan' at 7.39 pm on November 14 and urged Delhiites to join them from their homes by watching it on television and perform the rituals at the same time.

Delhi can soon become 'corona capital': Delhi High Court

•The Delhi High Court on November 5, 2020 slammed the Delhi government over the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the national capital and observed that the city can soon become the 'corona capital of the country'. 
•The observation was made by a bench of Justices comprising Justice Hima Kohli and Justice Subramonium Prasad. The bench stated that the Delhi government has gone completely "haywire" on the pandemic.
•The bench further stated that the AAP government has taken the health of citizens for a ride and it will deal with it separately. The court noted that the number of coronavirus cases have overshot in the national capital. 
•The high court said the Delhi government made many claims that they are topping charts in testing but the number of cases has overshot.
•The HC bench made the observation while hearing a bunch of petitions relating to non-payment of salaries to doctors, paramedical staff, safai karamcharis, teachers and retired engineers and others employed with North Delhi Municipal Corporation.