March 27: Pune princess Amrita Thappar will represent India at the Miss Universe 2005 competition to be held in Bangkok, Thailand on May 30, 2005. Amrita won the prestigious title of Pond's Femina Miss India Universe 2005 at a beauty pageant held on Sunday night and telecast live on Sony Entertainment Television. Miss Amrita Thapar was earlier crowned as Miss Pune.

The two runners-up at the pageant are Niharika who won the Pond's Femina Miss India Earth 2005 and Sindhura who won the Pond's Femina Miss India World 2005. Amrita is a Post Graduate in Fashion Designing from the School of Fashion Technology, the Times of India reported. The Times of India group owns Femina magazine, which along with Pond's, sponsors the annual beauty pageant in India. The winner at the Pond's Femina Miss India represents the country at the global Miss Universe contest. This time, the honours go to Amrita.

Miss India Universe 2005 Amrita Thappar comes from an army background and has two sisters. "I like sketching in various mediums like charcoal, pastels, etc," she says.

"If Femina Miss India considers me worthy enough of the title, I would give due respect to the mantle and without offending anyone's sensibilities, ensure I get the international crown for India." she had said before the contest.

Let's hope Pond's Femina Miss India Universe 2005 Amrita brings the crown for India! All the best!

Other Pond's Femina Miss India 2005 title winners are as follows:

Miss Beautiful Skin: Sindhura
Pond's Femina Miss 10: Shivani
Pond's Femina Miss Talented: Suchitra
Miss Athlete: Gwen
Miss Mirchi Listener's Choice: Shivani
Rich Feel Femina Miss Beautiful Hair: Niharika
Miss Provogue 8888: Sonal
Sony My Miss India: Kaveri

BY A CORRESPONDENT