It took me a while, but I finally found an answer to the index redirect.
Code:
// If the URL is controller/index
if('index' == substr($_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'], -5, 6))
{
// Make a 301 redirect to the same controller without the index
$this->_helper->redirector('index', $this->getRequest()->getControllerName());
$this->_helper->redirector->setCode(301);
}
Hope that this can make someone happy out there...
