Miss India

Miss India are the winners of the Miss India beauty pageant held annually. Starting 1964, the pageant has been held by the Femina magazine, and is referred to as Femina Miss India. Prior to 1964, Miss India was selected by Eve's weekly in 1959, 1960, 1961 and 1962. In 1947 and 1952, the winners were chosen by the Indian press.

Related Topics:
1964 - Femina magazine - Eve's weekly

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Miss India has been participating in the Miss Universe pageant since 1952, starting with Indrani Rehman; and in the Miss World pageant since 1959, starting with Fleur Ezekiel. After the Femina Miss India pageant was established, the practice was to send the winner to the Miss Universe pageant and the runner-up to the Miss World contest. Usually a second-runner up or an independent pageant winner would be sent to international pageants like Miss Asia, Miss International and Miss Asia-Pacific. Starting from 1995, the practice of choosing a single winner or "Miss India" was changed to instead elect representatives to the different international pageants, and three winners, who receive equal prizes and status were chosen, and designated Miss India Universe, Miss India World and Miss India Asia-Pacific. As of 2002, the third winner would no longer be sent to Miss Asia-Pacific, but to the newly formed Miss Earth pageant.

Related Topics:
Miss Universe - Miss World - Miss Asia - Miss International - Miss Asia-Pacific

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The awards for 1989 were given at the end of the year (December), hence there was no separate contest for 1990.

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The year 1994 was a landmark year for the pageant industry in India when both the Miss Universe and Miss World contests were won by Miss Indias Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai respectively. Coaching institutions were set up to groom girls in pageant participation skills. The number of participants in the preliminary rounds of the pageant has increased considerably. Pageant winners are also groomed for months in preparation for the international contest.

Related Topics:
1994 - Sushmita Sen - Aishwarya Rai

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In 2000 all the Miss India winners happened to win their respective international pageants - Lara Dutta (Miss Universe), Priyanka Chopra (Miss World) and Diya Mirza (Miss Asia-Pacific).

Related Topics:
2000 - Lara Dutta - Priyanka Chopra - Diya Mirza

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