Indian-American eighth-grader Dev Shah crowned 2023 Scripps National spelling Bee champion
Washington, Jun 2: Dev Shah, a 14-year-old eighth-grader from Florida, who correctly spelled the word "psammophile" has won the 2023 Scripps National Spelling Bee, a prestigious contest where children of Indian origin have ruled the roost.
Shah correctly spelled the word to win the 95th national bee and the USD 50,000 prize on Thursday.
"It's surreal," Shah said onstage after the confetti fell on his head and he lifted the trophy high above.
"I don't know if it's settled in. My legs are still shaking," he said at the competition in National Harbor, Maryland.
"I made a lot of sacrifices these last three months and I'm glad I made them," Shah said. "I'm glad to now get back what I sacrificed."
After much anticipation about a possible spell-off, a smiling Shah won by correctly spelling "psammophile," a plant or animal that thrives in sandy areas, the Washington Post newspaper reported.
"Psammo meaning sand, Greek?" he asked. "Phile, meaning love, Greek?"
Shah instantly identified the roots of his word, but asked for all the information just to be safe, while smiling slightly in a way that suggested he was pretty sure he had it, the New York Times newspaper reported.
Shah cut back on his extracurricular activities to dedicate more time to the dictionary. Some days he would not even go to school, since exams were over. He'd be better off studying, Shah figured. That end-of-year field trip his classmates at Morgan Fitzgerald Middle School went on? No thanks.
"I knew I had to study," Shah said. "It paid off."
Other words that Shah correctly spelled during the competition include: bathypitotmeter, tolsester, rommack, aegagrus, schistorrhachis, poliorcetics, Perioeci, exhortation, cocomat and ardoise.
The moment he heard the word, Shah knew he had the Bee in his pocket.
"I don't feel like I was competing against anyone," Shah said. "In between rounds, and even during rounds, we would congratulate each other. That's what separates the Spelling Bee from other competitions. Everyone's in there together."
Scott Remer, a former speller who coached six of the finalists onstage Thursday, said he began working with Shah about three years ago, the USA Today newspaper reported.
"One of the things that really impresses me about Dev is his perseverance and his commitment," Remer said. "He is extraordinarily mature, self-motivated."
This was Shah's third attempt. His previous two attempts were in 2019 and 2021.
Shah's parents hopped on stage, visibly emotional, and his mother said he's been preparing for this for four years.
Last year, Shah stumbled in regionals and didn't make it to the national competition. In 2021, a virtual competition, he was bounced in the third round of preliminaries. The pandemic cancelled the 2020 Bee and in 2019, Shah bowed out in the quarterfinals.
At 14, this was his last chance. And he responded by training around the clock, including two hours per week with Remer.
"It's hard as a (middle schooler) to have that delayed gratification," Remer said.
Over three days at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center, Shah displayed poise onstage, asked the proper questions to ascertain as much information he could from the pronouncers and used his "prodigious" command of word stems and roots, the report added.
Eleven students made the finals after 11 million people entered spelling competitions throughout the world.
The preliminary rounds began Tuesday, while the quarterfinals and semifinals took place Wednesday.
Charlotte Walsh, a 14-year-old from Arlington, Virginia, was the runner-up. A half-hour after Shah won, she returned to the stage to offer a congratulatory hug.
In 2022, Harini Logan, a 14-year-old Indian-American eighth-grader from Texas, won the contest, beating Vikram Raju, her compatriot.
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 children from the small ethnic community have had on this prestigious test for more than a decade now.
Since Balu Natarajan won it in 1985, more than 20 Indian-origin children have been crowned champions at the competition.
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 cancelled in 2020, a significant shake-up for what is billed as the US' largest and longest-running educational programme.
The Bee returned in 2021 but with a few changes.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Vijayendra slams Cong govt over alleged medicine shortage, irregularities in health dept
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka BJP president B Y Vijayendra on Wednesday hit out at the Congress government over alleged medicine shortages, large-scale irregularities and disruption of services in the health department.
The situation had deteriorated to such an extent that doctors were forced to protest on the streets, he claimed.
Addressing a press conference here, he said the Siddaramaiah-led government lacked the will to resolve pressing public issues and accused it of indulging in "blame politics" instead of governance.
"Due to the irresponsibility of this Congress government, the health department itself is in the ICU. There is a severe shortage of medicines in government hospitals. The 108 ambulance services are facing severe problems. Doctors have been pushed to the streets to protest. The Congress government celebrates 1,000 days in power with achievement conventions, but it has failed to solve real problems," he said.
He criticised the state government for allegedly shutting down Jan Aushadhi centres located on government hospital premises, claiming that needy patients are suffering as they are not getting medicines.
"For the past two months, government doctors themselves have been advising poor patients to buy medicines from private pharmacies because medicines are unavailable in hospitals," he alleged.
Vijayendra further alleged that the state government has reportedly not cleared Rs 143 crore in dues to institutions providing CT scan and MRI services.
"As a result, needy patients in rural and urban areas are unable to access these services. Pregnant women are facing hardships. Doctors are forced to protest on the streets...This government claims to be one that delivers on its promises. But does it have even the slightest concern for how poor people are struggling in the healthcare sector," he alleged.
The BJP state president claimed that the Congress government under Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and its deputy D K Shivakumar is not pro-poor; instead, it is a government that supports middlemen.
"Who is responsible for the medicine shortage in government hospitals and medical colleges? The state government and the concerned ministers are responsible. According to information available to me, under pressure from influential individuals, irregularities are taking place in medicine procurement. Instead of purchasing medicines through authorised central and state agencies, the government has moved to fragmented district- and taluk-level tenders," he claimed.
He further alleged that due to commission demands of 15-20 per cent, many companies and public enterprises are not participating in tenders, worsening the system.
Vijayendra claimed that the Karnataka State Medical Supplies Corporation's procurement system has been sidelined, leading to an artificial shortage of medicines.
He also alleged that a private individual from Mangaluru is controlling the state's medicine procurement system, supplying medicines to most government hospitals.
"This has led to market prices being inflated. Medicines costing Rs 100 are reportedly being purchased for Rs 300. I will provide more documents and evidence in the coming days," he claimed.
He also alleged that staff associated with the 108 ambulance services have not been paid salaries for the past eight to nine months.
"The government must take responsibility and reform the system instead of protecting middlemen," he added.
