Major News and Events of 27 December 2014

Acting US Ambassador Kathleen Stephens on her three day visit to Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh talked about India-US relationships and said that these will grow stronger under current government led by PM Narendra Modi. She visited the Banaras Hindu University on the first day of her visit, met Vice-Chancellor Girish Chandra Tripathi and interacted with students and faculty members. She then visited the Dashashwamedh ghat and later in the evening attended aarti at Ganga.

Newly-elected CPI(M) MLA in Jammu and Kashmir, M Y Tarigami appealed political parties in J&K like NC, Congress, PDP and independent to come together and resist move by the BJP to form government in the state. He talked about RSS and the past history of the BJP. M Y Tarigami added that he is in the favor of non-BJP government in the state which is also backed by Hakim Yaseen and Engineer Abdul Rashid. He also appealed the secular parties to come forward and understand the situation and danger ahead.

Ankita Raina of India has entered into the final of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) tournament. She defeated Romanian Cristina Ene 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 at the Deccan Gymkhan. Till date Radhika Tulpule is the only Indian who had won this title in 2001 by defeating Archana Venkatraman in three sets.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan said that India is still not in a strong position where the country can return to high economic growth but he expressed the possibility of India's growth in the next couple of years. He said that India will soon return to high economic growth rate like earlier. He backed it with the fall in gold imports and the relaxation of import norms. On the other hand Raghuram Rajan also stated that the Indian economy showed its poorest growth in a decade.

Amidst of uncertainty to form government in Jammu and Kashmir, Governor N N Vohra invited the PDP and the BJP, the two largest parties in the state Assembly. The parties have been invited to discuss the proposals related to the formation of government in the state. The BJP has also initiated discussions with the PDP. BJP vice-president and general secretary Ram Madhav met PDP leader and Muzaffar Hussain Baig MP to discuss the matter. On the other hand PDP national spokesman Sameer Koul said that the party is exploring every possible option and introspecting whether it should align with the BJP, the Congress or the NC.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and conveyed Microsoft's interest in initiatives like 'Digital India' and 'Make in India'. He also met finance minister Arun Jaitley and telecom and IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and promised for more investments in India. Microsoft is also keen on partnering with government for providing internet connectivity in villages through Wi-Fi technology. He stated that the company can help in developing secure government-controlled digital infrastructure.