Chenna Pota, its use and misuse are being hotly debated, but the imperious Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa is impervious. After Vaiko, it is the turn of another mdmk leader and Union Minister of State for Non-Conventional Energy M. Kannappan to face the wrath of the POTA-armed Amma.

On September 22, Jayalalithaa wrote to Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee asking him to sack the MDMK minister against whom she plans to invoke POTA. Kannappan, Jayalalithaa has charged, had been publicly speaking out in support of the banned LTTE. Referring to Kannappan's speech on September 16 that he was not afraid of being arrested under POTA, Jayalalithaa said his utterances would "compromise national security". The letter sounds anything but a request. It implies that if Kannappan is not removed, it would mean the Centre itself was "encouraging such violation of the law of the land."

Kannappan (second from left) at the rally

While it is unlikely that Kannappan would be arrested before the prime minister replies, the MDMK leader has challenged the state Government to carry out its threat. "I am ready to face any action," Kannappan told reporters in Erode hours after the Government sent its letter. "It is the duty of every Tamilian to support groups fighting for Tamil rights. The chief minister's move is politically motivated."

Vaiko has spent 14 months in prison under POTA. So have eight others of the MDMK and Tamil nationalist leader P. Nedumaran. But Kannappan could be the first Union minister to be held under POTA.

By Arun Ram

Clean Sweep

CHENNAI When the Marina beautification project-demolishing old structures near the beach-began there were waves of protest. But when Beach Tech-2000, a mechanised cleaner, arrived on the Marina sands everyone nodded in approval.

The Rs 36-lakh German machine will clean the 3.2- km-long beach at a speed of 20,000 sq m per hour. Besides removing paper, plastic and filth on the surface, Beach Tech can go 6 in deep into the sand to collect glass shards, pebbles, bottle caps and such litter. It can sieve out both wet and dry sand and reach crevices. Says CMDA Vice-Chairperson Jayanti: "Beach Tech can do the work of 50 people at a time." Therein lies a small problem. The urchins at the beach who double up as scavengers will lose their livelihood.

By Arun Ram