Chennai-born Indian-American crowned Miss India USA 2024
Washington, Dec 18: Chennai-born Indian American teenager Caitlin Sandra Neil has been crowned Miss India USA 2024 at the annual pageant held in New Jersey.
Caitlin, 19, is a second-year student at University of California, Davis.
"I want to leave a positive lasting impact on my community and focus on women's empowerment and literacy," Caitlin was quoted as saying in a media release.
Born in Chennai, India, Caitlin has been living in the USA for the last 14 years. She wants to be a web designer and also pursue a modelling and acting career.
Sanskriti Sharma from Illinois was crowned Mrs. India USA and Arshita Kathpalia from Washington won the Miss Teen India USA in the pageant organised by the India Festival Committee (IFC).
Rijul Maini, Miss India USA 2023 and Sneha Nambiar, Mrs India USA 2023 crowned Caitlin Sandra Neil and Sanskriti Sharma, respectively.
Nirali Desia of Illinois and Manini Patel of New Jersey were declared first runner-up and second runner-up in the Miss India USA competition.
Sapna Mishra of Virginia and Chinmayee Ayachit from Connecticut were named first and second runner-up in the Mrs India USA competition. Dhriti Patel of Rhode Island and Sonali Sharma were declared as first runner-up and second runner-up in the teen category, the press release said.
Forty-seven contestants from 25 states participated in the three categories of the pageant.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
