Indian-American Faizan Zaki wins 2025 Scripps National Spelling Bee
New York, May 30 (PTI): Faizan Zaki, a 13-year-old Indian-American student from Texas, has won the Scripps National Spelling Bee after he spelt “éclaircissement” correctly, maintaining the dominance of the children from the community in the prestigious US competition.
Zaki will take home USD 50,000, a medal and a trophy as he won the Spelling Bee in its 100th year.
Zaki bested Sarvadnya Kadam to win the 2025 Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday night.
The 13-year-old took home the Scripps Cup outspelling more than 240 students from across the country, Scripps said in a post on X.
A 7th-grade student at C M Rice Middle School, Zaki finished second in 2024 in a spell-off to another Indian-American Bruhat Soma.
This was Zaki’s fourth time participating in the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Zaki earned the prestigious title in round 21 when he correctly spelt “éclaircissement,” which is defined as “the clearing up of something obscure: enlightenment.”
He outlasted eight other accomplished spellers to win the title.
The culmination of the national championship came with a shock. Zaki had an earlier chance to win this year’s bee, in the 18th round, after mistakes by two other finalists.
In what could have been the last round, when there were three left, Sarvadnya Kadam and Sarv Dharavane got their words wrong.
It seemed to be Zaki’s big chance. But he rushed to spell his word before a proper explanation and got the first letter wrong.
Hardly before the word “commelina” had left the pronouncer’s mouth, Zaki jumped on it, saying, “k-a-m ——”
He recognised his mistake right away, but it was too late.
As he spelt the winning word, Zaki fell on the stage in joy as confetti rained down. “I don’t know what to say. I’m just really happy,” he said.
Organisers congratulated Zaki's parents and his grandparents, who were watching the competition from their home in Hyderabad.
“I can’t describe it,” Zaki said minutes later. “It’s so amazing, getting to this point. Winning? I never expected this.”
Adam Symson, president and CEO of the E W Scripps Company, presented the championship trophy.
“Faizan exemplified the determination that defines a champion,” said Symson. His unwavering focus and preparation led to a well-earned victory tonight on the Bee’s largest stage, he said.
“In this landmark 100th year of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, Scripps is honoured to celebrate Faizan’s extraordinary achievement as well as the spellers throughout the Bee’s history who continue to inspire millions,” he said.
The first Spelling Bee competition was held in 1925 in Washington, DC, and only nine kids participated, according to Scripps. This year, more than 200 students competed.
Zaki is only the fifth speller in Bee history to win after coming in second place the year before. He tied for 21st place in 2023 and 370th place in 2019.
Zaki will take home USD 50,000, a medal and a trophy. He will receive a USD 2,500 prize and a reference library from the Bee’s dictionary partner Merriam-Webster.
Kadam of Visalia, California, placed second in the competition and will receive USD 25,000.
Dharavane of Dunwoody, Georgia, will receive USD 15,000.
Thirty of the past 36 champions, including Zaki, of the Scripps National Spelling Bee have been Indian American.
Nupur Lala was the first Indian-American to win the competition in 1999.
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SC slams police-power nexus, asks court to conclude murder trial against YSRCP MLC by Nov 30
New Delhi (PTI): Observing that the Andhra Pradesh Police is in “complete collusion” with those in power, the Supreme Court on Friday ordered that the trial against YSRCP MLC Anantha Satya Udaya Bhaskara Rao in a 2022 case of murder should conclude by November 30.
Rao, an MLC of the then ruling YSRCP, is accused of killing his former driver Veedhi Subramanyam, a Dalit, over a money dispute in May 2022 in Kakinada in Andhra Pradesg. He was arrested on charges of murder and atrocity under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities Act).
Passing a slew of directions with an aim to ensure that the probe and trial ends early, a Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant said in its strong comments, “This is a case of complete collusion and hobnobbing. It is a clear case of the nexus between power and police.”
The bench also comprised Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi.
On September 26, 2022, the Andhra Pradesh High Court dismissed Rao's petition seeking default bail in the high profile murder case. The high court said a chargesheet cannot be termed "incomplete" or "defective" simply because it was returned by a court for technical corrections or missing scientific reports.
On December 12, 2022, the apex court granted Rao interim bail, saying the accused cannot be kept in custody.
On Friday, the CJI-led bench perused the case records and said it was apparent that the state police was “hobnobbing” with the accused and yet he did not get bail from the high court.
The bench asked the chief justice of the Andhra Pradesh high court to entrust the trial in the case to a senior judicial officer who can take up the matter at least once in a week.
While asking the state police to conclude the investigation in the case by March 31, it asked the trial court to complete the issues relating to framing of charges against the lawmaker by April 18, 2026.
The bench granted prosecution time till August 31 to conclude examination of its witnesses in the case.
While granting two months to the accused to lead defence evidence for two months, the bench asked the trial court to conclude the trial by November 30.
It restrained all the courts, including the high court, from passing any order which may lead to halting of trial.
The apex court asked the high court judge in charge of the district where the l will go on to ensure that its procedural directions are followed.
