Indian American kid is champion Spelling Bee in US

September 23rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - A study has confirmed that text/IM/chat speak doesn't hurt kids' language and spelling skills. In fact, one researcher has described the act of translating the abbreviations as a "brain workout" for those who participate.

August 19th, 2009 TORONTO - Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper faced embarrassing moments when his office issued a press release mis-spelling the name of a provincial capital he was visiting. But it was no ordinary mistake.

August 16th, 2009 LONDON - Prince Harry is so keen on learning how daredevil motorcycle riders speed at 200mph that he has signed up a world champion race to teach him. Know for his love for motorbikes, Harry recruited Australian Chris Vermeulen after their last month's meeting at the British MotoGP at Donington Park, Leicestershire, following which the two of them became close friends.

July 27th, 2009 LONDON - MI6 bosses might be experts at protecting Britain from terrorist threats, but that has not prevented the agency's website from being full of spellings errors. he bosses at MI6 came under fire recently when it was revealed that their website was full of grammatical errors.

June 29th, 2009 MELBOURNE - Almost two-thirds of the Australian adults have difficulty spelling the word 'embarrass', finds a new survey. The Galaxy survey commissioned by Westpac was conducted on 400 people, aged over 16 years, from Sydney and Melbourne.

June 20th, 2009 London, Jun 20 (ANI): British schools have been told by the Government that they should no longer teach children the "i before e except after c" spelling rule, as it is irrelevant and confusing. The new guidance has been issued by the National Strategies and its document 'Support for Spelling' has been sent to primary schools.

June 15th, 2009 Obama appoints American Indian adviserWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will have an American Indian adviser in the White House to counsel him on tribal issues, a new post he promised while campaigning on Indian reservations last year. Obama on Monday appointed Kimberly Teehee as a senior policy adviser for Native American affairs, saying she will provide "a direct interface at the highest level" of his administration and will ensure a voice for American Indians as policy decisions are made.

May 29th, 2009 16 advance in National Spelling Bee semifinalsWASHINGTON — That was tough. As in t-o-u-g-h.

May 29th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Kansas-based, Indian-origin girl Kavya Shivashankar, 13, has become America's spelling champion by winning the Scripps National Spelling Bee. The budding neurosurgeon from Olathe took home more than 40,000 dollars in cash and prizes and the huge champion's trophy.

May 29th, 2009 13-year-old Kansas girl wins National Spelling BeeWASHINGTON — Cool and collected, Kavya Shivashankar wrote out every word on her palm and always ended with a smile. The 13-year-old Kansas girl saved the biggest smile for last, when she rattled off the letters to "Laodicean" to become the nation's spelling champion.

May 29th, 2009 WASHINGTON - India American teenager Kavya Shivashankar finally won it all in the televised US National Spelling Bee competition, nailing esoteric words from "hydrargyrum" to "Laodicean", coolly writing them down with her finger on her palm. First, the budding neurosurgeon correctly spelled "hydrargyrum", as chemists call mercury or quicksilver.

May 29th, 2009 36 survive 1st round of spelling bee semifinalsWASHINGTON — Once again, Veronica Penny buried her head deep in her hands, a spelling bee ritual that helps her concentrate while filling the room with suspense. This time, however, she looked totally stumped.

May 28th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Fourteen Indian American kids have made it to the semi finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee contest with three of them among top contenders for the title won by a boy of Indian descent last year. Indian origin kids who were among the 41 making the semi-final grade Wednesday included 13-year-old Sidharth Chand of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan who was the runner up last year, when Sameer Mishra of Lafayette, Indiana, won with the word "guerdon".

May 27th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Three Indian American kids are the top favourites to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee title after last year's spelling champion, 14-year-old Sameer Mishra, son of an Indian immigrant couple from Madhya Pradesh. The three, Kavya Shivashankar, Sidharth Chand and Vaibhav S.

April 3rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - American actress Tori Spelling's weight loss has brought her into the spotlight after she shed more pregnancy pounds than normal. Spelling, 35, who was spotted sporting a bony frame, revealed the stressful relationship she has with her estranged mother Candy in her tell-all book "Candyland," which hit bookstores last month.