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Resignation Senior Congress leader Margaret Alva who is also the general secretary of All India Congress Committee has resigned from her post after she met Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi after appearing before the Disciplinary Action Committee Chairman A. K. Antony on Monday night. It has been said that she will send her formal resignation to the party chief on Tuesday. It must be learnt that she is in charge of handling party affairs in several states that include Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana and some northeastern states. A few days ago her allegations of ‘sale’ of party tickets for the forthcoming Karnataka assembly had created a storm inside the party leadership.

Allegations Alva was not happy with the recent developments and was feeling as if she was being sidelined by some other party leaders. R. V. Deshpande had been appointed as Karnataka PCC chief. Alva’s son Nivedith has been denied party ticket in Karnataka assembly elections. She ‘publicly’ had made allegations that different ‘yardsticks’ were adopted in deciding party tickets for the upcoming state assembly elections in the Karnataka state. She also had said that her son was denied party ticket while relatives of other senior Congress leaders were given tickets even in other states.

Public Party Disciplinary Action Committee (DAC) has termed her allegations as ‘an afterthought’ and ‘not true’. Committee has found her guilty of breaching party discipline by making serious allegations in the press instead of talking to the senior party leadership. Such kinds of incidents prior to the elections have become a common development that happens every time when ever party tickets are ‘sold’. Public knows what happens during the ticket distribution process in every party. In most cases children of the leaders succeed in getting the party tickets. This is the main reason that most of the national parties have lost their ‘ground support’. Huge amount is spent on rallies to ‘gather’ the crowds. People are paid to attend the rallies. If Alwa’a son has not been given a party ticket then it is their ‘internal’ matter and it has nothing to do as for as the public and the ordinary workers of the party are concerned.

Series Win India regained the coveted Border-Gavaskar Trophy after the gap of four years on Monday, October 10 when they defeated the Australian cricket team in the fourth and the final test match played in Nagpur. They won the series by 2-0. They defeated the Australians with a huge margin of 172 runs. India had given a daunting target of 382 runs for victory to the visitors but they could make only 209 runs in their second inning as Indian spinners Harbhajan Singh and Amit Mishra shared seven Australian wickets between themselves in the second inning. With this win India has improved its ICC test ranking and has moved to the second place.

Top-Order Earlier on day five Australia resumed the play from their overnight score of 13 for no loss. But Indians did not wait for long as Ishant Sharma opened the flood gates for his side. He took first two out of three wickets and cleared the way for an emphatic win. He got both the Australian batsmen S. Katich (16) and M. Clarke (22) caught behind by wicket-keeper Dhoni. Skipper Ponting’s (8) stay on the crease was cut-short when he got run-out on Amit Mishra’s superb pick-up and throw from mid-off.  But opener Hayden and M. Hussey kept the hopes alive for their side as they both added 68 runs of 77 balls for the fourth wicket. Hayden was dropped twice in his 30s. But Amit Mishra provided the important breakthrough to his side when he got Hussey (19) caught by Dravid at first slip.

Middle and Lower Order India did not wait for a long as Harbhajan Singh trapped Hayden leg-before-wicket. He made 77 runs of 93 balls which included eight fours and one six. Rests of the wickets were shared between Singh and Mishra. They both ripped apart the middle and lower Australian batting order. Australians had added just seven runs to their second inning when Mishra struck again and got Haddin (4) caught by Tendulkar. The next to go was Watson (9) who was caught behind by Dhoni off Harbhajan Singh. He was followed by Krejza (4) who got stumped out. The last two wickets were taken by Harbhajan.

Ishant Sharma was adjudged Man of the Series.

Hostility Though India and China have improves their relations as for as the business is concerned but mutual mistrust has not diminished. Both the nations have fought a war in which India had been humiliated by China. But the border row has not ended yet. Both the nations are sorting out their matters by holding dialog. Though both the nations are trying to sort out the matter by dialog but China has not abandoned its hostile and aggressive approach. It must be learnt that China had played an ‘important’ role at the NSG meeting in which India had been allowed to resume nuclear trade with other nations.

Mukherjee Addressing the National Defense College in New Delhi on November 4 foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee, for the first time, has described China as a security “challenge and a priority”. China’s economic rise and capabilities in outer space have also given rise to some fears not only in India but also in the world. Mukherjee had rebuffed China’s claim on India’s northeastern state Arunachal Pradesh on October 9 by saying that it is an integral part of India and has a ‘special place in our heart’. “The question of parting company with Arunachal or any of its parts does not arise. China is fully aware that Arunachal is an integral part of India” Mukherjee said. He had given this statement during his visit to the 400-year-old Buddhist monastery in Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh.

China Officials of both of the countries have held 12 rounds of talks to ‘sort out’ the matter and the dialog is under process. Both the countries have different perceptions as for as the border is concerned. But China has objected strongly to Mukherjee’s remarks by ‘expressing deep regret over India’s public remarks that ignore historic facts’. But China has ‘rejected’ the border line claimed by India as an ‘unlawful McMahon line’. Both the nations claim that the other occupies their territory. According to the Indian view China occupies its 38,000 square kilometers territory while China claims Arunachal its own part. Both the nations are the fastest emerging economies of the world and there are very few chances that the rivalry between them will diminish in future.