Candle-flame teacher held

Chennai (PTI): A headmistress of a panchayat school in south Tamil Nadu has been arrested for “forcing” 35 students of class V to hold their palms above burning candles to prove they had not stolen money.

Vasantha, 45, of the panchayat union primary school at Kayalpattinam in Tuticorin district was arrested on Saturday after parents raised a ruckus.

The incident took place after the class teacher, Usha Parvathi, complained Rs 200 had been “stolen” from her handbag. Subsequently, the money was found near a toilet of the school, superintendent of police Mahesh Kumar Agarwal said.

The headmistress, arrested under a bailable section of IPC, will be produced before a local court on Monday.

Boy dies while playing

Dubai (PTI): A 17-year-old Plus-Two student of Indian origin collapsed and died while playing basketball at the Indian school in Bahrain’s capital Manama.

Joseph David, who hails from Kunnamkulam in Kerala, was attended upon by paramedics after he collapsed on Saturday but he died almost instantly, the Gulf Daily News has reported.

The body will be flown to Joseph’s native place in Kerala after the funeral service on Monday.

Joseph is survived by his father, who works for a technical and electrical services firm, his mother, a former school teacher, and a younger brother, who is a student at the Asian school.

Joseph’s parents said he did not suffer from any illness except that he was treated for a food allergy last year.

HIV family

Muzaffarnagar (PTI): The entire family of a truck driver here has tested HIV positive, the National Aids Control Organisation said.

The truck driver was undergoing treatment for AIDS at AIIMS hospital in New Delhi. Tests conducted on his wife and two sons have shown they too are HIV positive.

Haj flights

Mumbai (PTI): The first phase of Haj activity has begun with Air-India and Indian Airlines transporting 1100 pilgrims to Jeddah and Medina from various parts of the country. About one lakh people are expected to undertake the pilgrimage through the Haj committee this year.

Car in tank

Coimbatore (PTI): Bodies of four members of a family, including two children, were found in a car submerged in a tank on Sunday. They were found tied with nylon rope, and seat belts, police said.

A team of folk artistes has been roped in to enlighten poor kerosene consumers against exploitation by profiteers in remote villages of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.