The 17th edition of the Miss South India beauty contest came to an emphatic end as Nikita Thomas, hailing from Kerala was crowned at the event held at Hotel Le-Meridien, Coimbatore. 

Kochi : 

The 17th edition of the Miss South India beauty contest came to an emphatic end as Nikita Thomas, hailing from Kerala was crowned at the event held at Hotel Le-Meridien, Coimbatore. 
The beauty pageant promoted by Manappuram Finance Limited as prime partner was hosted by Pegasus in association with Rotary Club of Coimbatore Texcity. Tarini Kalingarayar from Tamil Nadu and Deepa Thomas from Kerala was the first and second runner up respectively. Last year winner Lakshmi Menon crowned Nikita Thomas. V P Nandakumar, CEO of Manappuram Finance handed over the prizes to first and second runners up.

24 beautiful women from five south Indian states competed for the coveted title. The grooming session for this competition, which had the prime rounds such as designer saree, red cocktail and black gown rounds, commenced from January 30 in SAJ Earth Resort convention centre, Kochi. A session handled by prominent personalities in the modelling sector aimed to impart the knowledge about yoga, meditation, personality development, beauty care, catwalk, photo shoot and talent search to the contestants. 

Eminent personalities from the film and fashion sectors such as Uma Riyas Khan, Siddhaanth Surryavanshi, Toshma Biju, Kuriyachan and Alesia Raut were part of the judging panel. Cash prizes worth `one lakh was given to the winner and the first runner-up was given `60,000. The second runner up received `40,000. In addition, the winners were crowned with the golden crowns designed by Parakkat Jewellers. 

The judging panel also selected the regional title winners and the sub-title winners like Miss Queen Andhra, Miss Queen Karnataka, Miss Queen Kerala, Miss Queen Telangana, Miss Tamil Nadu, Miss Beautiful Hair, Miss Beautiful Smile, Miss Beautiful Skin, Miss Beautiful Face, Miss Beautiful Eyes, Miss Congeniality, Miss Personality, Miss Cat walk, Miss Perfect Ten, Miss Talent, Miss Photogenic, Miss Viewers’ Choice, Miss Social Media, Miss Fitness, Miss ‘Humaneness.’

The contestants have been selected through foolproof audition sessions organised in Kochi, Bangalore, Chennai, Andhra Pradesh and Hyderabad. DQUE watches, SAJ Earth resort and convention centre, Josco Jewellers and UT World.in were the co-partners of the event.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Kerala / by Express News Service / February 05th, 2019