Indian-American eight-grader Harini Logan crowned 2022 Scripps National Spelling Bee champion
Houston, Jun 3: Harini Logan, a 14-year-old Indian-American eighth-grader from Texas, spelled 21 words correctly to win the prestigious 2022 Scripps National Spelling Bee, beating Vikram Raju in a marathon, first-of-its-kind spell-off, a format that tested the contestants on how many words they could correctly spell within 90 seconds.
Logan, who took home the USD 50,000 cash prize and Scripps Cup trophy on top of awards from Merriam-Webster and Encyclopedia Britannica, spelled 21 out of 26 words correctly, while Raju, a 12-year-old boy from Denver, got 15 out of 19 words right.
The final two competitors had trouble deciphering their words between rounds 13 and 18. At that point, judges opted to institute the first spell-off, 90 seconds to spell as many words as possible correctly.
Logan nearly did not advance past the word meaning round on Thursday after her answer for "pullulation" was rejected.
"I was like 'Wow, I'm out. This is it,' " Logan said after she was reinstated in the final round.
However, the judges conferred during a break and ruled that the answer she gave could be correct, since it could mean "to breed" or "to swarm."
Head judge Mary Brooks explained the ruling and Logan, who only minutes earlier had learned of her reversed fortunes, returned to her seat on the stage, USA Today reported.
"There was a few minutes in between that were frantic," Logan was quoted as saying.
"Our 2022 Scripps National Spelling Bee Champion Speller231 Harini Logan draws inspiration from VP @KamalaHarris. After tonight, Harini is inspiring a new generation of spellers everywhere. She says it takes a village to build up a speller. Hers is happy tonight, Scripps National Spelling Bee said in a tweet.
"Just so surreal, it's my fourth time at the Bee. This is such a dream, this is my fourth bee and I'm just so overwhelmed," said Logan on stage holding the trophy.
Of the first-ever spell-off, she said: "At first I was a little uneasy and I decided to take it in stride ... I just had to take a deep breath and tell myself to go out there and do my best and whatever happens, happens."
Vihaan Sibal, a 13-year-old from Texas, finished third while Saharsh Vuppala, a 13-year-old eighth-grader from Washington, was fourth.
The Spelling Bee, which features elementary and middle school students spelling words that would cause most adults to stumble, has had a tumultuous few years. The National Spelling Bee was launched in 1925.
Owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, the competition was canceled in 2020, a significant shake-up for what is billed as the US' largest and longest-running educational programme, CNN reported.
The Bee returned last year, but with a few changes. The event featured three rounds completed virtually, rather than in-person, with 209 contestants - down from 562 in 2019. The finals were then held in person at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Florida, rather than in the National Harbor in Maryland, where the event had typically been held in recent years.
Though still down from pre-pandemic numbers, this year began with 234 contestants, an increase from last year. Of those who started, only 12 participated in Thursday's final competition.
Another big change this year was the televised broadcast of the Bee. Despite almost three decades on ESPN, the competion aired on ION and Bounce. ESPN has been the home of the Scripps National Spelling Bee since 1994, longer than any of the current contestants have been alive.
This year's host was LeVar Burton. The Emmy and Grammy-award winner hosted the semifinal and the final round of the event.
To discourage the strict memorisation of words and emphasise a wholistic approach to language, the Bee began incorporating multiple-choice "word meaning" rounds last year. Competitors aren't asked to spell; instead, they are given a word with three definitions and they must choose the correct one.
The lone word-meaning round on Thursday proved to be a litmus test, as it was for all of the 234 spellers who travelled to Maryland for the finals. Half of the remaining field bowed out.
Harini Logan's final winning word: moorhen. Part of speech: noun. Def: the female of the red grouse. Language of origin: This word is originally English. Sentence: The hunter took aim at the moorhen after the beaters had flushed it from the heather, Scripps National Spelling Bee said in a tweet.
The National Bee is a high-profile, high-pressure endurance test as much as a nerd spelling match and spellers spend months preparing for it. Over the past 20 years, Indian-Americans have been dominating the Spelling Bee contest even though they comprise only about 1 per cent of the US population.
The US Spelling Bee reflects the dominance young kids from the small ethnic community have had on this prestigious test for more than a decade now.
By correctly spelling 22 words in the Spell-off, the 2022 Scripps National Spelling Bee Champion is #Speller231 Harini Logan! #spellingbee pic.twitter.com/pl0NTznYVr
— Scripps National Spelling Bee (@ScrippsBee) June 3, 2022
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India & Israel elevate ties to special strategic partnership, vow to soon conclude free trade deal
Jerusalem (PTI): India and Israel on Thursday elevated their "time-tested" relationship to a special strategic partnership and agreed to soon firm up a "mutually beneficial" free trade deal even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly backed the Gaza peace initiative, asserting that humanity must never become a victim of conflict.
Following talks between Modi and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu, the two sides inked a plethora of agreements to expand cooperation in areas of trade, agriculture, energy, cyberspace and digital payment.
India and Israel also vowed to expand their already close defence partnership by working towards joint development and joint production of military hardware under the framework of the transfer of technologies.
In his media statement, Modi said India's security interest is linked to peace and stability in the Middle East, adding that New Delhi fully supports the Gaza Peace Initiative.
"India's stance is clear: humanity must never become a victim of conflict. A path to peace has been created through the Gaza Peace Plan. India has fully supported these efforts," he said.
"In the future as well, we will continue dialogue and cooperation with all countries," he said.
PM Modi landed in Israel on Wednesday on a two-day visit. It is his second visit to Israel in nine years.
In his remarks, the prime minister said India and Israel have a united view that there is no place for terrorism in the world and both sides stand shoulder-to-shoulder in countering terrorism and its supporters.
"Our relationship is founded on the strong bedrock of deep trust, shared democratic values, and human sensitivities. Our bond has stood the test of every trial of time," he said.
"Today, we have taken the historic decision to elevate our time-tested partnership to the status of a 'Special Strategic Partnership'," he said.
The prime minister also announced the establishment of an India-Israel critical and emerging technologies partnership to impart a new momentum for cooperation in areas of artificial intelligence, quantum, and critical minerals. "I am pleased that an agreement has been reached for the use of UPI in Israel," he said.
The prime minister, referring to the threat of terrorism, said India and Israel will continue to confront the menace unitedly.
"India and Israel are completely clear that there is no place for terrorism in the world. In any form, in any expression, terrorism cannot be accepted," he said.
"We have stood shoulder-to-shoulder in opposing terrorism and its supporters, and we will continue to do so," he added.
India and Israel also discussed the implementation of the India-Middle East Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) and cooperation under the framework of I2U2 (India-Israel-UAE-USA).
