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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 08 June 2014

LoP in Rajya Sabha

Ghulam Nabi Azad is set to become Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha after his appointment as leader of Congress in the Upper House.
Anand Sharma was made deputy leader of the party.
Since Congress has the requisite number to claim the post of Leader of the Opposition in the Upper House, Mr. Azad would be the natural choice.

After fetching SAARC Heads of State at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s swearing-in ceremony, the Ministry of External Affairs is readying to roll the red carpet for its first big visitor from outside the subcontinent — Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
He will meet with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, as the two leaders acquaint each other with the road ahead on Sino-Indian ties. On the agenda, according to sources, would be the meeting schedule for Special Representatives (SRs) to discuss the most pressing bilateral issue of resolving the border dispute between both the sides.
India is keen to narrow the vast trade deficit of $31 billion, even as the two countries close in on their goal of $100 billion bilateral trade by 2015.
The two sides are also scheduled to talk about issues such as energy cooperation, Afghanistan and counter-terrorism, especially Jihadi terrorism, in the wake of a rise in attacks emanating from China's Xinjiang province.

Egypt’s former army chief Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has been sworn in as President for a four-year term, taking the reins of power in a nation roiled since 2011 by deadly unrest and economic woes.
Mr. el-Sisi’s inauguration came less than a year after the 59-year-old career infantry officer ousted the country’s first freely elected President, Mohammed Morsy, following days of mass protests by Egyptians demanding he step down.
8th of June was declared a national holiday and tight security was enforced by the police and military throughout Cairo.
Outside the building, modelled to look like an ancient Egyptian temple, around a hundred el-Sisi supporters gathered, waving Egyptian flags and posters of the country’s new President.

1,000-feet wide “beast” travelling at a speed of 50,400 km-per-hour — enough momentum to wipe out an entire city — passed by earth recently.
The asteroid will safely pass earth at a distance of 1.25 million km — more than three times the distance from earth to the moon.
Nicknamed the “Beast,” the mighty rock would have caused an explosion measured in megatons and wiped out a city if it had hit earth.
Designated “2014 HQ124”, the asteroid was discovered April 23, 2014, by NASA’s NEOWISE mission, a space telescope adapted for scouting the skies for asteroids and comets.
“2014 HQ124” is designated a “potentially hazardous asteroid” (PHA) by NASA.

Corporate India has asked Finance Minister Arun Jaitely to give out statements to help temper the expectations from the new government in line with the reality.
Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry President Sidharth Birla reasoned: “The government needs to temper expectations from it on the economy in line with the ground reality because even the best actions and intentions will need 16-24 months to show results. The government must calibrate the expectation by constantly giving statements… This is because there is huge euphoria, especially in the stock markets, and if the balloon bursts it will be bad for the economy.
The who’s who of India Inc, met Mr. Jaitley for a pre-budget consultation that lasted for over two-hours. During the meeting the captains of industry listed out a host of demands, including making tax regime simpler.