26-Year Old Indian-Origin PRIYA SERRAO Crowned Miss Universe Australia 2019
Darpan News Desk IANS, 28 Jun, 2019 08:57 PM
Indian-origin Priya Serrao is celebrating with family and friends on Friday after she was crowned Miss Universe Australia, a title she intends to use to raise awareness about diversity and multi-culturalism.
The 26-year-old policy advisor from the state of Victoria edged out over a dozen other finalists in Melbourne on Thursday night, reports Xinhua news agency.
Serrao will represent Australia at the Miss Universe competition next year in South Korea.
She was born in Belmannu, Karnataka, but spent most of her early childhood in Oman and the United Arab Emirates. Serrao moved to Australia when she was 11.
Having graduated from law she said her proudest moment is completing an internship with the UN Development Programme in Timor-Leste.
India on Friday summoned Pakistan's Deputy High Commissioner Syed Haider Shah and conveyed its concerns over the presence of Khalistani separatists in a committee appointed by Pakistan on the Kartarpur Corridor project, sources said.
Defending its repeated attempts to block the listing of JeM chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist by the UN, China on Friday refuted US allegation that its action amounted to protecting violent Islamic groups from sanctions.
The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government led by Prime Minister Imran Khan has been grappling with a severe balance of payments crisis. Islamabad has sought help from close allies like China, Saudi Arabia and the UAE to bail itself out from a severe balance-of-payments crisis.
Air India Friday was again found to be using boarding passes carrying photographs of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, days after the national carrier decided to roll back such passes amid criticism over alleged poll code violation.
Was the Mi17 V5 chopper crash at Budgam near Srinagar on February 27 -- which killed all six Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel on board -- caused by an Indian air defence missile hit? That "could be one of the possibilities", a highly placed source said on Friday.
