NATASHA ARORA CROWNED MISS INDIA USA 2010

In a glittering function organized on December 12th at the Royal Albert’s Palace , Fords, New Jersey, Natasha Arora of Texas was crowned Miss India USA 2010.  Miss India USA is the longest running Indian pageant outside of India. The twenty-ninth annual pageant was organized by the New York-based IFC, headed by Dharmatma Saran, Founder and the Chief Organizer of the Pageant, in association with Royal Albert’s Palace. 

Natasha, 19, studies at The University of Texas with plans to attend law school.  She enjoys debate and is part of Model United Nations.  Her other hobbies include dancing and spending time with her grandmother.  Natasha also won the title of Miss Beautiful Skin and Best Talent. She was crowned by outgoing queen Priyanka Singha. Natasha will represent USA in the Twentieth Miss India Worldwide pageant to be held on April 6, 2011 in Dubai.

Rafeiya Hussain, 18, of Virginia and Shreya Sood, 27, of Connecticut were respectively declared first and second runners up among contestants from various parts of the country, in the gala event attended by over six hundred people. The other five finalists were Chandan Kaur of New York and Sophia Andrade of California.

The pageant started with a stunning performance by all the contestants led by Priyanka Singha to the song “Dhola Re” from the movie Devdas.  All contestants presented their best in the Indian and the Evening Gown segment after which the top ten were selected. The top ten contestants then amazed the audience with their talent which included Bollywood dances, Bharat Natyam, violin as well as tap dancing and a prose. Winners of the various sub-contests were Poonam Desai of Michigan - Miss Popularity, Chandan Kaur of New York – Miss Beautiful Eyes, Sabrina Bachai of New York – Miss Beautiful Smile, Nirali Kapoor of New Jersey – Miss Beautiful Hair, Rafeiya Hussain of Virginia – Miss Photogenic, Shreya Sood of Connecticut – Miss Congeniality.

IFC partnered with JFK Medical Center, Edison to raise funds for Dr. G.N. Roy Cancer Fund.  Dharmatma Saran invited ambassador Prabhu Dayal, Counsel General of Indian to present an appreciation plaque and check of $10,000 to John Nolan Jr., President of JFK center. Appreciation plaques were also presented to Albert Jasani of Royal Albert’s Palace, Rupal Patel of Arya Dance Academy, Susmita Patel – Beautician, Nishi Bahl, Shilpa Jhurani and Suresh Jilla for their enthusiastic support and accopmlishments. 

“I am very thankful to the Indian community for its support through the years,” said Dharmatma Saran.  “I am also very happy that IFC and JFK Medical Center were able to raise funds for the G.N. Roy center” added Mr. Saran.  IFC has a long history of raising funds for various causes. 

  

Nikkitasha Marwaha – Miss India Worldwide 2009 and Dance India Dance finalist along with Trina Chakravarty – Miss India Worldwide 2006 were emcees for the function. Entertainment was provided by Sunaina Jagroep – Miss India Suriname 2010, Arya Dance Academy, Divya Jain Group, Vicky Kohli, Anuradha Maharaj, Neha Multani, Niharica Raizada, Tina Kaur, Suraj and Shilpa Jhurani.

The panel of judges included Susmita Patel – Celebrity Make-up Artist, Anil Doebe – National Director for Miss India Suriname, Divya Jain – Founder of Creations Dance Academy, Chandni Dayal – A painter & artist and Shailja Gupta – Movie Producer.  Dhina Patel & Rajat Bharti were the official CPAs for the pageant.  The choreography was done by Nishi Bahl and Shilpa Jhurani.

Pictures – Courtesy of IFC

Natasha Arora , Miss India USA 2010 being crowned by Priyanka Singha, Miss India USA 2009

Natasha Arora being congratulated by Shreya Sood, Second Runner-Up and Rafeiya Hussain, First Runner-Up.

From L to R: Albert Jesani, Priyanka Singha, Natasha Arora, Shreya Sood, Prabhu Dayal, Dharmatma Saran

Emcees Trina Chakravarty & Nikkitasha Marwaha with the top five finalists for the Question & Answer segment

IFC & JFK Medical Center presenting check to the Dr. G.N. Roy Cancer Fund

Panel of Judges from L to R: Susmita Patel, Chandni Dayal, Shailja Gupta, Divya Jain & Anil Doebe

MoneyGram International Sponsors ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 and organized in New York by ASB Communication.

MoneyGram International a global leader in money transfers announces that the company has signed a long-term sponsorship agreement with the International Cricket Council (ICC). As per the agreement, MoneyGram will have a presence at all ICC cricket tournaments around the world during 2011-2015.

Not only in India but also globally, MoneyGram will be a local partner level sponsor of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 that is going to be played in Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka from Feb. 19 to April 2, 2011.

"MoneyGram is delighted about our long-term sponsorship with the ICC," said Juan Agualimpia, senior vice president and chief marketing officer of MoneyGram International. "MoneyGram's brand and services are well known in 'cricket countries' and we are glad we can align ourselves with the heritage of the sport and bring ourselves closer to our customers."

Harsh Lambah added in his speech “It is wonderful that MoneyGram has retained its involvement as a local partner for our flagship event, the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011. MoneyGram as International Company, a leading global payments services provider for people’s convenience, enables consumers who are not fully served by traditional financial institutions but also to meet their financial needs at the times they need. MoneyGram offers money transfer services worldwide and bill payment services in the United States through a global network of more than 203,000 agent locations--including retailers, international post offices and financial institutions--in more than 190 countries and territories around the world”.

Ms. Zainab Ali who is Senior Marketing Manager for US market said to guest that “The cricket has the great value amongst games and our great support aimed for to continue to attract and retain customers of MoneyGram. The global reach of the MoneyGram network is such that ICC can promote its flagship cricket event in many new and exciting destinations worldwide where our growth will lead to newer heights."

MoneyGram announced its sponsorship agreement during a press conference in New York, which had ICC cricket quiz and to the winners ICC cricket bat presented. To some of the leading agents the awards were also presented by executive staff of MoneyGram to appreciate their services for MoneyGram. This is MoneyGram's second foray into sponsorship of the sport as the company sponsored the ICC's Twenty 20 World Cup 2010, held in May the West Indies.

Pictures from Money Gram Press Conference: attached with captions.