Noyonita Lodh (Photo : www.missuniverse.com)
Among the favorite candidates in the Miss Universe 2014 pageant is Miss India Noyonita Lodh. In fact, "Celebrity Apprentice" boss Donald Trump refers to her as his friend in a recent tweet.
On Jan. 14, Trump took to Twitter to say, "@Shinatasangh: My stunning friend @NoyonitaLodh Miss India hope she gets 3rd @MissUniverse crown 4 India @LaraDutta."
During the preliminary round, Lodh wore a traditional belly dancing themed costume surrounded by a circle of miniature gold metallic dancers worn on her back, according to Hollywood Life.
So far, India has two Miss Universe titleholders, who are Sushmita Sen in 1994 and Lara Dutta in 2000.
In 2014, one Indian who gave honor to their country was children's rights activist Kailash Satyarthi. He won the Nobel Peace Prize with approximately $1.11 million from the chairman of the Nobel committee, Norway's former Prime Minister Thorbjoern Jagland. The Guardian reported.
Having maintained the tradition of Mahatma Gandhi, Satyarthi led various forms of peaceful protests and has "contributed to the development of important international conventions on children's rights," the Nobel committee explained.
Prior to the Nobel Peace Prize, Yousafzai published a memoir titled "I Am Malala" and was named one of the 100 most influential people by Time magazine.
For Yemeni Nobel peace laureate Tawakkol Karman, Yousafzai and Satyarthi were worthy winners for their contribution to the promotion of universal education of children around the worldwide and their protection from abuse and exploitation.
For the Nobel committee, it is "an important point for a Hindu and a Muslim, an Indian and a Pakistani, to join in a common struggle for education and against extremism."
