Madurai’s traffic cops to get booths with ACs

While many of us work in swanky air-conditioned offices, our traffic policemen have to perform their duty in scorching heat. But this summer will be different, at least for Madurai’s men in uniform.

The city is soon going to see solar-powered air conditioned traffic booths for these men so that traffic policing could soon be a cool job, quite literally.

With the mercury crossing 38 degrees centigrade, these booths will give traffic policemen some respite from the heat and smoke.

“They suffer, they breathe bad air and inhale smoke that comes out of automobiles,” said J Rajendran, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Madurai.

Policemen say inhaling the smoke and dust often leads to disease and they welcome this cool initiative.

“This will keep us away from diseases,” said Head Constable Arumugham. “This is good. This kind of encouragement will motivate us to work harder and longer,” added Gubendran, a Traffic Constable.

Originally a gift from an NGO, now corporates have joined hands to replace all the 36 traditional traffic booths in Madurai with these. Once these booths are installed, the city will certainly become a role model for better working conditions for policemen.

Coutesy: NDTV.com

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Vaiko arrested for pro-LTTE remarks

This is the second time that Vaiko has been arrested for supporting the banned group LTTE.

MDMK chief Vaiko was on Thursday arrested for making ‘highly inflammatory speeches in support of the LTTE’, police said.Vaiko had at a public meeting in Chennai on Tuesday said a separate Tamil Eelam under the leadership of LTTE chief Prabhakaran would come into existence soon in Sri Lanka.

“LTTE and Sri Lankan Tamils could not be separated. Though we are against any violence, we should differentiate between violence and right”, he said.

“Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who had assured me no military aid would be supplied to Sri Lanka, had gone back on his word,” he alleged.

Vaiko said, “if the need arises, I will be the first man to take up arms in support of Sri Lankan Tamils. I will gather youths all over the country for this purpose”.The MDMK presidium chairman, M Kannappan, had told the meeting that time would come to demand for a separate Tamil Nadu. In that meeting, a two-hour film on Sri Lankan army’s alleged atrocities against Tamils was screened.

In a statement on Wednesday, AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa had demanded that all LTTE supporters be booked.

Tamil Nadu government’s decision to arrest Vaiko was to make it clear that ruling DMK’s support was only for the suffering Sri Lankan Tamils and not for LTTE.

Vaiko, now an ally of Jayalalithaa, was detained under POTA by her Government in 2004 on his arrival from the United States after he had made a pro-LTTE speech at a public meeting in Tirumangalam in Madurai.

DMK chief M Karunanidhi had condemned Vaiko’s arrest at that time.

This is the second time that Vaiko has been arrested for supporting the banned group, the earlier occasion being during the previous AIADMK government when he was held under POTA.

Vaiko was arrested under the Unlawful Prevention Activities Act, police said.

He was remanded to 14 days judicial custody.

Vaiko said soon after his arrest that his party was for India’s sovereignty. At the same time, it could not allow the Centre to provide arms and ammunition and logistics support to Sri Lankan government ‘to perpetuate war against Tamils’.