Indian contestant wins Miss Universe 2021 pageant<\/p>\n
Miss India, 21-year-old actress Harnaaz Sandhu, was crowned Miss Universe early Monday in a live show in the Israeli coastal city of Eilat on the Red Sea.<\/p>\n
Sandhu prevailed against 79 competitors from countries around the world.<\/p>\n
In a profile on the pageant website, the winner is described as \u201ca strong advocate for women\u2019s empowerment, particularly constitutional rights to education, careers and freedom of choice.\u201d<\/p>\n
In her free time, the 21-year-old likes to dance, do yoga, cook, ride horses and play chess.<\/p>\n
According to her, her mother, a successful gynaecologist and the head of her family and Indian star actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas are her inspiration.<\/p>\n
It was the 70th Miss Universe pageant, the event began at 3 am (0100 GMT) in order to be broadcast live in prime time on U.S. television.<\/p>\n
Because of the Coronavirus pandemic, only viewers with a \u201cgreen pass,\u201d showing they had either recovered from the Coronavirus or had been vaccinated in the last six months, could be present at the show.<\/p>\n
Earlier in May, a 26-year-old, Andrea Meza from Mexico won the title of Miss Universe 2020 in the U.S. state of Florida.<\/p>\n
Meza placed a silver tiara on winner Sandhu\u2019s head symbolising her win.<\/p>\n
A total of 80 women had started out running in the Miss Universe pageant final but South Africa withdrew support for its own candidate.<\/p>\n
According to the organisers, a candidate from the United Arab Emirates entered the competition for the first time this year.<\/p>\n
In addition, for the first time in more than four decades there was a candidate from Morocco.<\/p>\n
The 2020 competition had been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Indian contestant wins Miss Universe 2021 pageant Miss India, 21-year-old actress Harnaaz Sandhu, was crowned Miss Universe early Monday in a live show in the Israeli coastal city of Eilat on the Red Sea. Sandhu prevailed against 79 competitors from countries around the world. In a profile on the pageant website, the winner is described […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":4052,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n