Miss India Worldwide

Miss India WorldwideFormation| 1990; 33 years ago (1990)

|

Founder| Dharmatma Saran[1]
Founded at| New York City, United States
Type| Beauty Pageant
Headquarters| New York City
Location|

* United States

Official language

| English

Chairman

| Dharmatma Saran

Key people

| Monica Gill

Parent organization

| Dharmatma Saran, Worldwide Pageants [1]
Website| Official Website

Miss India Worldwide is a beauty pageant which draws contestants from India and from among members of the Indian diaspora residing in other countries.[2] It is conducted by India Festival Committee (IFC), first founded and headed by Dharmatma Saran in New York City, USA.[1]

## History[edit]

The pageant started in 1990. Simi Chaddha (now Dr. Simi Chaddha Ranajee) from the United States was crowned the first ever Miss India Worldwide in New York City. Simi was the winner of Miss India USA pageant of the year 1990. The pageant was held in the United States till 1996. In 1997, the pageant was hosted in India. Poonam Chibber of Canada became the first Miss India Worldwide winner to get crowned outside the United States. It was the first time that the pageant moved out its home turf and held in the Asian continent. The very next year in 1998 the pageant moved to the South east region of Asia and was held in Singapore. Once again, Canada's representative Melissa Bhagat was crowned the Miss India Worldwide 1998 by outgoing titleholder Poonam Chibber of Canada as well, giving Canada a rare back to back victory at the pageant. Canada is one of the three countries to have a back to back victory. Other two being USA and UK.

The pageant moved back to the United States in 2000 and was held in Florida. Rita Upadhyay of the United States was crowned Miss India Worldwide 2000 and became the fourth woman from the United States to win the crown.

## Notable Miss India Worldwide Participants[edit]

Past pageant participants include Bollywood actress Pallavi Sharda (Miss India Australia 2010), media personality and television host Amin Dhillon (Miss India Worldwide Canada 2010), Indian television actress Uppekha Jain (Miss India Worldwide Canada 2008)

## Titleholders[edit]

Year  | Country  | Miss India Worldwide  | National Title  | City  | Country  | Notes

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1990 |  United States | Simmi Chadha  | Miss India USA | New York City |  United States |
1991 |  United States | Bela Bajaria | Miss India USA | Bajaria would go on to become an executive at Universal Television.[3]
1992 |  United States | Icha Singh  | Miss India USA |
1994 |  India | Karminder Kaur Virk  | Miss India Worldwide India | The first of five wins for a Miss India Worldwide India titleholder. This was the first year in which Hong Kong sent a delegate to the worldwide pageant, Puja Venkataraman who was Miss India Hong Kong winner, which was held in New York City; local businessman Hari Harilela was one of the judges.
1995 |  Hong Kong | Nirupama Anand  | Miss India Hong Kong  | First winner from Hong Kong.[4][5]
1996 |  India | Sandhya Chib  | Miss India Worldwide India | Also became a semi-finalist in Miss Universe 1996[6]
1997 |  Canada | Poonam Chibber  | Miss India Canada  | Mumbai |  India | The first win by a Miss India Worldwide Canada titleholder. Chibber would go on to become a Bollywood actress.[7][8]
1998 |  Canada | Melissa Bhagat  | Miss India Canada  | Singapore |  Singapore | Bhagat went on to work for the Department of Citizenship and Immigration Canada under Minister Jason Kenney.[9][10]
1999 |  India | Aarti Chabria | Miss India Worldwide India | Rahway, New Jersey |  United States | Third winner from India[11]
2000 |  United States | Rita Upadhyay  | Miss India USA | Tampa, Florida | Held in November 2000. Upadhyay was age 23 and a New York-based staff writer for Time magazine then.[12]
2001 |  South Africa | Sarika Sukhdeo  | Miss India South Africa  | San Jose,California | Originally scheduled to be held in Durban, South Africa, it was later delayed until March 2002 and moved to San Jose, California. Nevertheless, Sarika Sukhdeo of Durban garnered the first win for a Miss India Worldwide South Africa titleholder after ten years of South African delegates to the worldwide pageant.[13][14][15]
2002 |  United Arab Emirates | Santripti Vellody  | Miss India UAE  | Durban |  South Africa | First winner from UAE. Held in November 2002[16][17]
2003 |  India | Purva Merchant  | Miss India Worldwide India | San Francisco, California |  United States | Held in September 2003[18][19]
2005 |  United Kingdom | Amrita Hunjan | Miss India UK  | Mumbai |  India | Held in February 2005; the fourteenth edition of the Miss India Worldwide pageant.[20][21]
2006 |  United States | Trina Chakravarty  | Miss India USA  | [22]
2007 |  Suriname | Fareisa Joemmanbaks  | Miss India Suriname  | Fords, New Jersey |  United States | Held in April 2007. Joemmanbaks would later go on to a career in Mollywood.[23][24]
2008 |  India | Shagun Sarabhai | Miss India South Africa  | Johannesburg |  South Africa | Held in February 2008. Prizes included $5,000 in cash, jewellery, clothing, and a notebook computer.[25]
2009 |  United States | Nikkitasha Marwaha | Miss India USA | Durban | Held in February 2009. Marwaha was age 20 and a drama student at the time. She went on to star in the Indian television series 24.[26][27]
2010 |  South Africa | Kajal Lutchminarian  | Miss India South Africa  | Held in March 2010. Lutchminarian was age 21 and a medical student at the time.[28]
2011 |  Australia | Ankita Ghazan  | Miss India Australia | Abu Dhabi |  United Arab Emirates | Held in May 2011; the twentieth edition of the pageant. Ghazan was age 19 and a university student at the time.[29][30]
2012 |  Guyana | Alana Seebarran  | Miss India Guyana  | Paramaribo |  Suriname | Held in February 2012. Following her crowning, Seebarran had various conflicts with the organisers, and was not invited to the following year's pageant in Malaysia to crown the new winner.[31][32]
2013 |  United Kingdom | Nehal Bhogaita  | Miss India UK  | Kuala Lumpur |  Malaysia | Held in May 2013. Bhogaita was the first deaf contestant in the pageant's history.[33]
2014 |  United States | Monica Gill | Miss India USA | Dubai |  United Arab Emirates | Held in June 2014. Prizes included $8,000 in cash, as well as photo assignments and modelling sessions.[34][35]
2015 |  Oman | Stephanie Lohale  | Miss India Oman  | Mumbai |  India | First winner from Oman. Pageant held in September 2015.[36][37]
2016 |  United States | Karina Kohli  | Miss India USA | New Jersey |  USA |
2017 |  United States | Madhu Valli  | Miss India USA | New Jersey |  USA | Pageant held in October, 2017. Winner is a student of criminal law and a hip hop artist from USA.[38]
2018 |  United States | Shree Saini  | Miss India USA | Washington |  USA | Pageant held in December, 2018. Shree is a pacemaker patient and a graduate from University of Washington, who studied at Harvard, Yale and Stanford. She won the "Best Titleholder" award from the pageant community for her endless service work with hundreds of charities.[39]
2019 |  Oman | Tanishq Sharma  | Miss India Oman  | India |  India | Pageant held in December, 2019.
2022 |  United States | Khushi Patel  | Miss India USA | New Jersey |  USA | Pageant held in June, 2022.[40]

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b c "About us". worldwidepageants.com. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
2. ^ "Square Entertainment to host Miss India Worldwide India 2015". Zee News. 23 June 2015. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
3. ^ Waraich, Sonia (1 July 2015). "Rising Indian American Executive Now Head of Universal Television". India West. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
4. ^ "Miss India Worldwide Mauritius: la couronne à Shyanshini Sunnassee". L'Express. 6 April 2014. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
5. ^ "Territory's Miss India pageant crowns future hopes for charity". South China Morning Post. 10 April 1995. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
6. ^ "About Us". Square Entertainment. Archived from the original on 18 August 2015. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
7. ^ Brown, Rob (25 March 2010). "South end beauty off to South Africa". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
8. ^ Correia, Eugene (27 July 2010). "The Canadian Indian infatuation with beauty". Rediff. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
9. ^ "Canadian wins Miss India pageant". The Straits Times. 5 December 1998. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
10. ^ "Look: Miss India-Canada 2010 crowned". Rediff. 25 August 2010. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
11. ^ "Pardesi pageant: NRIs go traditional at Miss India Worldwide pageant in New Jersey". India Today. 13 September 1999. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
12. ^ Renuka, Methil (18 December 2000). "Miss Perfect: Miss India Worldwide 2000 Ritu Upadhyay is 'not like the others'". India Today. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
13. ^ Hassen, Fakir (30 July 2001). "South Africa to host Miss India Worldwide". Rediff. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
14. ^ Laganprsad, Monica (10 March 2002). "Durban woman wins Miss India pageant". Independent Online (South Africa). Retrieved 9 September 2015.
15. ^ "A world Of Indian beauties". India Abroad. 22 March 2002. Archived from the original on 25 February 2016. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
16. ^ "'Love for India' manifest at Miss India Worldwide". Apunka Choice. 1 November 2002. Archived from the original on 2 October 2015. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
17. ^ Raha, Sonali (7 November 2002). "Beautiful hopes". Gulf News. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
18. ^ "Vimala is Miss India Australia". Hindustan Times. 25 October 2004. Retrieved 9 September 2015.[dead link]
19. ^ "Briefly". The Tribune (Chandigarh). 30 September 2003. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
20. ^ "Dentist crowned Miss India Worldwide". BBC News. 10 February 2005. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
21. ^ Gahlaut, Kanika (7 February 2005). "Miss India UK Amrita Hunjan wins Miss India worldwide crown". India Today. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
22. ^ "Trina Chakravarty crowned Miss India 2006". The Times of India. 29 January 2006. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
23. ^ Chopra, Parveen (9 April 2007). "Suriname girl crowned Miss India Worldwide in New Jersey". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 9 September 2015.[dead link]
24. ^ Sidhardhan, Sanjith (12 May 2012). "Fareisa Joemmanbaks' Mollywood debut". The Times of India. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
25. ^ Hassen, Fakir (24 February 2008). "Shagun Sarabhai is new Miss India Worldwide". Hindustan Times.[dead link]
26. ^ "Chicago girl wins Miss India worldwide 2009". The Economic Times. 15 February 2009. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
27. ^ "This American beauty queen is an assassin on a TV show in India". American Bazaar. 25 October 2013. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
28. ^ "South African Kajal Lutchminarian is new Miss India Worldwide". Deccan Herald. 28 March 2010. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
29. ^ "Ankita Ghazan, Miss India Australia, wins Miss India Worldwide 2011". Miss India Magazine. 15 May 2011. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
30. ^ "Miss India Worldwide crowned in Abu Dhabi". Arabian Business. 15 May 2011. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
31. ^ Sinha, Sanskrity (27 February 2012). "Miss India Worldwide Pageant 2012 Full Coverage - From Contestants' Talent Show to Winner's Crowning Moment". International Business Times. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
32. ^ "Alana Seebarran sues Miss India franchise holder". Kaieteur News. 5 May 2013. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
33. ^ "Hearing impaired Nehal Bhoghaita crowned Miss India Worldwide". Indian Express. 4 May 2013. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
34. ^ Pennington, Roberta (22 June 2014). "American Monica Gill wins Miss India Worldwide in UAE". The National (Abu Dhabi). Retrieved 9 September 2015.
35. ^ "Monica Gill from US is Miss India Worldwide 2014". The Times of India. 21 June 2014. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
36. ^ "18-year-old set to represent Oman at Miss India Worldwide pageant". Muscat Daily. 25 May 2015. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
37. ^ Waraich, Sonia (8 September 2015). "Oman's Stephanie Lohale Crowned Miss India Worldwide 2015". India West. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
38. ^ "She's gorgeous! Meet the new Miss India Worldwide". Rediff. October 10, 2017.
39. ^ "Why this trauma survivor wants to win Miss World". Rediff. October 7, 2020.
40. ^ "Khushi Patel, a biomedical science major-cum-clothing store owner from UK, wins Miss India Worldwide 2022". Economic Times. 25 June 2022.

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Miss India Worldwide

Editions|

1990 – 1991 – 1992 – 1993 – 1994 – 1995 – 1996 – 1997 – 1998 – 1999 – 2000 – 2001 – 2002 – 2003 – 2004 – 2005 – 2006 – 2007 – 2008 – 2009 – 2010 – 2011 – 2012 – 2013 – 2014 – 2015 – 2016 – 2017 – 2018 – 2019 – 2022
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