BENGALURU  SATURDAY  JUNE 4, 2022  `9.00  PAGES 22  LATE CITY EDITION INDIAN-AMERICAN TEEN HARINI LOGAN WINS SPELLING BEE 2022 The 14-year-old eighth-grader from San Antonio, Texas won the spelling competition in the first-ever lightning-round tiebreaker CRACKED 22 OUT OF 26 WORDS IN 90 SECONDS ‘MOORHEN’ SEALS THE WIN FOR HARINI Harini beat Vikram Raju in the prestigious contest in a marathon, a first-ofits-kind 90-second spell-off to win the 2022 Scripps National Spelling Bee. She spelled 22 out of 26 words correctly, while Raju, a 12-year-old boy from Denver, got 15 out of 19 words right in the rapid round that tested the contestants on how many words they could spell correctly in 90 seconds ■ ■ ■ Harini’s final winning word was ‘moorhen’, which means the female of the red grouse (a wild bird found in UK and Ireland) Spelling Bee features elementary and middle school students spelling words that would cause most adults to stumble The champion takes home a cheque for $50,000 20 INDIAN-ORIGIN KIDS HAVE WON THE CONTEST SINCE BALU NATARAJAN’S BIG WIN IN 1985 CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOGGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Slew of steps to reassure restive Pandits Relocation of non-Muslim staff fine but not outside Valley; Pak terror outfits plotting targeted killings, meeting told EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi THE Centre will take a combination of political, administrative and security measures to reassure Kashmiri Pandits and other “non-local” communities to remain at their places of residence and not migrate to either Jammu or other places in North India, a high-level meeting chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah at North Block on Friday decided. The meeting, attended by J&K Lt Governor Manoj Sinha, Funds tap off for truant National Sports Federations I N D R A N E E L DA S @ Chennai IT’S not just one or two federations. In what could be a rare occasion, the Delhi High Court has asked the sports ministry to not extend monetary grant of any form until the National Sports Federations (NSFs) adhere to the sports code. Also, notice of suspensions have been served to all errant NSFs. According to the ministry, it had recognised 46 NSFs (as of May CONTINUED ON: P17 2022). National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla, Intelligence Bureau Director Arvind Kumar, RAW Secretary Samant Goel and Army chief General Manoj Pande, among others, was a consequence of a series of targeted killings of men and women from these two communities living in the Valley . While Sinha and the Union Territory’s police top brass were specifically told to take concrete measures — meetings with representatives of the two communities, tougher and ef- Union Home Minister Amit Shah with J&K Lt Governor Manoj Sinha (L) and NSA Ajit Doval at a review meeting on J&K’s security situation, in New Delhi fective “local level” policing, some form of financial succour based on a 2012 prime minister’s package for J&K — senior officials were told that the Pandits and the Hindu migrant communities “cannot be settled outside” Kashmir. Officials were told that members of these communities could be resettled within Kashmir but under no circumstances should they leave the Valley . To ensure this, micro-level policing would be the most desired approach with larger presence of securitymen in some of the worst-hit districts such Budgam and Kulgam. The security component of the outcome of the meeting included use of a combination of technology and boots on the ground, backed by sharp and precise intelligence to deter CM: Open to re-revising textbooks EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bengaluru THE state government is open to revising content pertaining to Basavanna in social science textbook of class 9 to ensure no sentiments are hurt, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said in a press note issued late Friday night after a meeting following Minister for Primary & Secondary Education B C Nagesh submitting the report on revision of textbooks. This throws open the possibility of some textbooks get- ting ‘re-revised’, which could further impact the schools. Nagesh in his report pointed out that the tenders for printing the newly revised textbooks were called on December 22, 2021 and the work order was issued on February 18, 2022 and March 5, 2022. As of Friday, 79.70 per cent of the textbooks were printed and 66.98 per cent were distributed to the schools. But no decision was taken at the Friday evening meeting as to what happens in case a ‘re-revision’ does take place, which is sure to stop the printing and distribution of the remaining textbooks. The Education Minister’s report was asked to be submitted following much pressure from various quarters, besides several writers withdrawing their permission for parts of their works to be included as content in the revised textbooks. P4 and wherever possible eliminate terrorist cells still operating in parts of J&K. The meeting identified three broad characteristics — a) Pakistan-based “non-state actors” were trying to destabilise Kashmir; b) these non-state actors have undertaken a huge drive to recruit Kashmiri youth to carry out the targeted killings; and c) the threatened Pandits and other Hindu communities would be relocated in safe zones within Kashmir and they would be provided adequate security at the village level. P10 EXPRESS READ BJP alleges TRS, AIMIM link in teen’s gangrape Hyderabad: BJP workers on Friday held a protest over the alleged gangrape of a 17-year-old girl inside a car in Hyderabad on May 28, alleging AIMIM and TRS leaders are involved. Police officials said five accused, including three minors, have been detained. P7 JAB-O-METER June 2 10,22,786 doses TAKE June 3 9,94,843 doses YOUR SHOT TOTAL: 1,93,94,73,457 NATIONWIDE JUNE 2 JUNE 3 Fresh cases Recoveries Deaths KARNATAKA JUNE 2 JUNE 3 3,712 4,041 Fresh cases 2,584 2,363 Recoveries 5 10 Deaths 297 187 0 259 234 0 A private bus goes up in flames after falling into a ditch killing seven people near Kamalapur in Kalaburagi district on Friday morning | EXPRESS 7 charred to death in bus accident in Kalaburagi RAMKRISHNA BADSESHI @ Kalaburagi A trip to Goa turned tragic for two families from Secunderabad in Telangana, as two couples and their children were among seven who were charred to death when the bus in which they were travelling collided head-on with a goods vehicle near Kamalapur in Kalaburagi district on Friday . The ill-fated private bus, belonging to Orange Tours and Travels, went up in flames after it hit a roadside bridge and fell into a ditch. The impact of the collision was such that the bus was dragged for about 30 metres after ramming the goods vehicle. The diesel tank of the bus exploded which caused the fire. All seven victims were charred beyond recognition. The deceased have been identified as Arjun Gudur (37), his wife Saraladevi (35), their daughter Vihan (4), Shivakumar (35), his wife Ravali (30) and their son Vikshit (9), and CONTINUED ON: P7 Anita (40). FOUR ONION MERCHANTS MOWED DOWN IN BAGALKOT Bagalkot: Four onion merchants were killed on the spot after they were knocked down by an unidentified vehicle on NH-218 in Badagandi village near Bilagi. The incident took place when the victims were fixing a flat tyre of a Maharashtra-bound onion laden lorry. P7