Agatha Christie would, most certainly, have been proud of her.

30-year-old A M Malathi is the first woman detective in South India.

Born on 15^th June1969, Malathi who has an engineering background, evinced interest in running a detective agency after her marriage to Arul Mani Maran, a detective in Chennai. Starting as a part-timer, she decided to become a hardcore professional to cater to the needs of people of her own gender.

A proud mother of two kids, Malathi is excited with each case that comes to her. One of her unforgettable experiences was when she lost contact with the rest of her associates, while trying to trace out a missing girl in Tirupur. About a months time is sufficient for her to investigate any personal, official, civil, criminal, legal, property or insurance issue, through discrete channels. "To solve a case I take the help of all my contacts. No risk factor is involved, because I am attuned to safeguarding myself in all sorts of situation", she says.

On one occasion, she was commended by the Central Bureau of Investigation, for having solved a murder case.

Jokingly, the dynamic detective remarks, "Nowadays even the bridegroom is missing on the eve of the marriage. Trapping them and handing them back to their parents consumes our time and energy. "

Address: A. M..Malathi,
Detective India, Bata Showroom I Floor, Anna Salai, Chennai - 600 002
Phone: 854 8910

SOLAR POWERED POLICE BOOTHS IN CITY

For once, the Chennai sun is being blessed rather than cursed. New solar booths are helping facilitate a better working atmosphere for the city's traffic constables.

The compact solar-powered booths, installed at 40 key points in the city, are provided with a fan, a 40-watt amplifier, two loud speakers, an exhaust fan and a cordless mike, each. All of this operating on energy absorbed from the sun. Each booth, costing about Rs.1.40 lakhs, has the capacity to store absorbed energy for three days. The booth has a provision for charging the wireless handset.

The booth shelter is made of Sandwich Polyurethane Foam panels and the roof made of Lloyd tile colour coated metal sheets. Such insulation reduces heat ingress and improves thermal comfort. The totally fireproof enclosure can also withstand wind speeds of up to 180 kms per hour. The glass windows in the booth provide visibility of up to100 feet.

To prevent damage by vandalism and pilferage, the shelter is provided with safety grills and locks. It is claimed that the life of the booth is more than ten years. Another proposal on anvil is that the booths be provided with oxygen generators. The porcelain filters have the capacity to absorb toxic gases and generate oxygen. So far the police have procured two generators. Since each generator is priced at Rs.60,000/-, the police are now trying to get sponsors who can supply the generators free, for all 40 booths in the city.