The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	N-sub INS Chakra to be inducted on April 4 Tribune News Service New Delhi, March 23 INS Chakra, the nuclear powered submarine leased from Russia for a 10-year period, will be formally inducted into the Indian Navy on April 4. It will be after 21 years that the Navy will operate a nuclear powered submarine and will become the sixth country to have such a submarine in its fleet. India will operate the submarine till 2022 under a contract worth over $ 900 million (approximately Rs 4,500 crore) signed in mid-1990. The last India-operated nuclear powered submarine, also leased from Russia, was decommissioned in January 1991. India’s own indigenous effort to produce a nuclear powered and nuclear-armed submarine, INS Arihant, is on track. By the time INS Chakra’s lease ends, India intends to have three N-submarines of its own. Under international obligations on nuclear weapons, Russia cannot transfer nuclear missiles with the leased submarine, but India can have its own fitments, if it has them. The vessel comes with four 533mm torpedo tubes and four 650mm torpedo tubes.
	Women get greater say in divorce cases Vibha Sharma & Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service New Delhi, March 23 The Cabinet today approved major changes in marriage and adoption laws, giving nod to the Marriage Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2010, which seeks to give women right over their husbands’ property apart from rights to adopted children on a par with biological offsprings. In another landmark change, the Bill approves the inclusion of irretrievable breakdown of marriage as a new ground for divorce by way of amendments to the existing laws - the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 and the Special Marriage Act, 1954. In the wake of fears expressed by several experts that the point could be misused, while a wife can oppose a husband's plea for a divorce under the new “irretrievable breakdown of marriage” clause, the husband will have no such rights to oppose if the wife moves the court on the same grounds. Examining amendments to marriage laws - as proposed earlier by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law, Justice and personnel headed by Jayanti Natarajan, the government agreed that a new ground was urgently required. The committee had warned against the possibilities of the new ground being misused against rural women. According to the redrafted Bill passed by the Cabinet, adopted children will have rights on a par with biological offsprings of a couple in case the parents go for a divorce. The Bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha two years ago and referred to the Parliamentary Committee, which, while supporting "irretrievable breakdown of marriage" as a new ground for grant of divorce, opposed doing away with the prevailing waiting period of six months before moving a joint motion for annulling marriage.
	Mulayam apprehends early Lok Sabha poll Lucknow, March 23 Mulayam Singh Yadav, whose party SP rescued the UPA government in Parliament during crucial votes this week, today spoke of the possibility of early Lok Sabha polls. "There is no guarantee when the Lok Sabha elections may take place" he said at a party function here asking his son and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav to implement the party manifesto and bring "visible changes" within six months. The Samajwadi Party, which Mulayam Singh heads, won a spectacular majority in the Assembly elections earlier this month. The party, which provides outside support to the UPA coalition at the Centre, helped the government by voting with it during voting on Opposition amendments to the President's Address in the Lok Sabha and in Rajya Sabha. Reacting to his statement, BJP leader Arun Jaitley said in Delhi that if Mulayam was not not so sure of the government's stability then he should stop bailing out the government so often. In his speech, Mulayam Singh said hanges should be visible in six months and the manifesto should be implemented within a year. He was addressing his party leaders and workers at a function to mark the 102nd anniversary of Dr Ram Manohar Lohia here. "Lohia considered betrayal of promises as corruption," he said advising early implementation of the manifesto. He said he did not become the Chief Minister as he wanted to monitor the working of the government while remaining among party workers. — PTI
	Kudankulam protest Vaiko among 500 held Tirunelveli (TN), March 23 Leaders of various parties and outfits including MDMK leader Vaiko were today held here when they attempted to proceed to Idinthakarai, the epicentre of protests against Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant. They were on their way to express their solidarity with the locals demanding scrapping of the Indo-Russian project. Leaders and volunteers of MDMK, PMK, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, Nam Tamizhar Iyakkam and Popular Front of India and Anti-Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant People’s Movement co-ordinator ‘Kolathur’ Mani were detained at Palayamkottai here for defying prohibitory orders in force in the entire Radhapuram taluk under which Kudunakulam and Idinthakarai fall, police said. Earlier, they participated in a rally organised here to condemn the central and state governments for their callous attitude in going ahead with the project and the crackdown on People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE), spearheading the protest. They demanded that the Centre give the state government full freedom to produce power it required, allocate the entire quantum of power produced from the thermal stations at Neyveli to the state and not to commission the Kudankulam project till people’s fears were allayed. — PTI
	The Jammu Tribune Launch Print media has to be prudent and relevant Excerpts of J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s speech at Hari Niwas Palace “I am grateful to The Tribune Trust for having given us an edition that we can look forward to. We get national papers with hardly half a page devoted to news from our region. We have to then look elsewhere to find out what is happening in our own state. The free media is one of the pillars of democracy and I don’t think truth gives us sleepless nights. It is the new role that the media has come to acquire — that of the prosecutor and also of the judge. That has given us sleepless nights. As long as The Tribune plays the role that it has played, it will continue to occupy a position of importance and respect in our life. You lose respect when you lose objectivity. There are examples in the media where they have not only informed us about what is happening but also conditioned us as to how we should react. Let me point to the recent incident involving Indian children in Norway. An impression was created in a section of the media as to how the Government should respond and how we should bring back our children. Suddenly, it all turned out to be a messy domestic dispute. Then, those who were most vocal for bringing back the children went completely quiet. That is where we make the mistake. We let our own personal beliefs, our own personal agenda direct the way in which the news is to be projected. The Tribune continues to grow due to its credibility and its ability to withstand all sorts of pulls and pressures. No doubt, there are challenges. The main challenge for the print media is the lure for the instant news. Why should one wait for the next day to read news when it is available on mobile phones? Even I use Twitter (a micro-blogging site) to know news in other newspapers and portals. In order to meet this challenge and maintain popularity, the print media has to be prudent, vibrant, informative, educative and relevant. I congratulate trustees of the Tribune for launching the Jammu Tribune. From the government side, we will continue to look towards you for an objective dissemination of information and news. We will continue to hope that you become the torchbearer of what a good newspaper should and can be. I hope we can look forward to the Srinagar edition in the near future.
	Journalists shouldn’t jump to conclusions Excerpts of J&K Governor NN Vohra’s speech at Hari Niwas Palace “I join the Chief Minister in complimenting the Trustees of The Tribune for having taken the initiative to finally, after a very long wait, launch the Jammu Tribune. After the information technology revolution, the electronic media has penetrated far and wide, and as observed by the Chief Minister, they have instant news. He has pointed to the challenge, which now relates to the print media remaining relevant in the context of real time reporting. Television reporters rush to the scene showing the audience exactly what is happening on the ground, including sometimes terrorist attacks. But I have a slightly different perception. Again, I will join the Chief Minister in stressing and endorsing his views that it is not the role of the media to become investigators, prosecutors and judges, all within half -an-hour. The news reported may be recanted or modified, but by that time the damage is done. The misimpression created can’t be obliterated the next day. The essential importance of the print media, not withstanding what happens even further in the realm of electronic media in terms of speed and so on, is that the print media provides serious, prudent, well-considered analysis and commentary, even on day-to-day events, sometimes but particularly on events, which are not day-to-day. Therefore, a serious reader of a newspaper has the opportunity of not only expanding the limits of his understanding but also being able to look into the near future, in terms of economic, security analyses, commentary on defence or the educational scene. In any democracy, particularly in India, the media plays an important role of a watchdog of governance, of human rights, of honest and efficient functioning. Constitutionally, this is the role of the legislature, Parliament at the Centre but they don’t meet round the year, and regrettably even when they meet, they are sometimes engrossed in other issues. The role of the print media becomes even more important to remain as a watchdog, to do objective and fair reporting of what is not happening — failure or inefficiency of government, acts of dishonesty in public service and violations of fundamental rights. And then it should leave it to the authorities to decide what is to be done. But to jump to conclusions, tarnish image, run down institutions is not the job of the media. Unfortunately, this trend has picked up, even in the media of foreign countries. I would say The Tribune has been voice of the people in a fair and objective manner and I hope that it remains so.
	We strive to be an effective watchdog Excerpts of Justice SS Sodhi’s speech at Hari Niwas Palace The story of The Tribune dates back over 130 years. The great visionary, Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia, conceived this newspaper. As a social and political reformer, he was far ahead of his times. The guiding principle he envisaged for The Tribune was “to be an independent and fearless newspaper free from any sectarian political or commercial bias.” This was enunciated in the very first issue of The Tribune which was published in Lahore as far back as February 2, 1881. The Tribune has endeavoured to tread this path ever since, besides courageously supporting India’s freedom struggle. Looking back at the decades gone by, we can say The Tribune has been an effective watchdog by being responsible, credible and uninfluenced by narrow sectarian interests. No wonder, none else than Mahatma Gandhi regarded the newspaper as the “best views paper.” The Tribune today is one of the most respected and widely read newspapers in North India with its largest circulation being in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. During pre-Partition days, it had a loyal following in Jammu and Kashmir too. It is in this context that we look upon the launch of The Tribune here as an important event. A little over four years ago, The Tribune had ventured into Jammu by launching an edition dedicated to this region. The aim now is to launch a vibrant new daily supplement of the Jammu Tribune to capture the spirit of change in this bustling city. The Jammu Tribune will have a happy blend of news and features. It will, of course, uphold the values and independence that The Tribune has come to be known for. It marks a clear strategic initiative of the Trust to be strongly local in representing the aspirations of the people of these areas. In the not-too-distant future, we also plan to bring out a similar supplement in Srinagar.