Miss World 2012 grand finale

Mumbai - Chandigarh beauty, Vanya Mishra clinched the Femina Miss India 2012 title on March 30, this year and she will be seen contesting for the Miss World 2012 pageant today.

Miss World 2012 Pageant is taking place in the afternoon hours of August 18 in the scenic city of Ordos in China, where 116 contestants will be battling for the 62nd Miss World title. China has already hosted the competition five times, most recently in 2010 on the tropical southern island of Hainan.

Reigning Miss World Ivian Sarcos of Venezuela will hand over her crown in the futuristic Ordos stadium. The Ordos city is a “modern ghost town” where Ghengis Khan once lived, in Inner Mongolia, on the edge of the Ordos Desert. The city has grown rich over the last decade due to its coal mining boom that has transformed it into one of the wealthiest places in China.

In Miss World, the participants not only compete in their evening wear and swimwear — they also compete in fitness, talent and “Beauty with a Purpose,” the centrepiece of the pageant, which rewards contestants’ charitable efforts. The above features in the competition are not included in Miss Universe. It also comprises of another competition for fashion designers from each country, who exhibit their works on their respective contestants.

Venezuela has produced the most Miss Worlds, with six winners, while India and Britain claim five titles each.

Vanya Mishra says she has her eyes firmly fixed on the pageant as she always has the dream of returning the crown to India. The girl is at present doing her undergraduate programme in Electrical Engineering and she hails from the city of Jalandhar.

Indian women who claimed Miss World crown in the past:

Reita Faria Powell  (Miss World 1966)

Aishwarya Rai         (Miss World 1994)

Diana Hayden          (Miss World 1997)

Yukta Mookhey       (Miss World 1999)

Priyanka Chopra       (Miss World 2000)