Mexico: Padma Gadiyar of Udupi to represent India in Mrs Universal contest
Udupi, Feb 14: By winning the Mrs. South India Universal beauty pageant held at Brisbane in Australia in last October, Udupi-based dentist Padma Gadiyar (34) will represent India in the Mrs Universal beauty pageant contest to be held in Mexico in August.
Being the elder daughter to industrialist Arun Shenoy and Archana Shenoy of Thenkapete, Padma has been living in Brisbane in Australia with husband Sanay Gadiyar, basically from Mumbai, and children Sama (7) and Sharoon (4).
She has completed her primary education at Indrali, high school in Udupi St. Mary’s, PU education in MGM college and dental course in Yenepoya College in Mangaluru. In Brisbane, Sanay Gadiyar is working as doctor, while Padma is a dentist. Padma’s sister Sandhya and her husband are also living in Australia.
Total 10 contestants including Padma from Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh participated in the contest held in Brisbane held in October 2018. Among them, Padma won the contest and selected for the Mrs Universe contest to be held in Mexico on August 20, 2019.
It is expected that more than 25 contestants will participate in the contest and she is the only contestant from India. Right from her childhood, Padma has dreamed of becoming a model. She has completed all preparations to win the Mrs Universe contest. A book ‘By Build Cell’ written on dental care by her will be released in March.
“More than a contest, it has given me a good experience. In my childhood, I have dreamed of becoming a model. Now after winning the contest, a number of ad agencies have contacted me. I have been getting complete support from my husband for all my endeavors. Reading and sports are my hobbies”.
- Padma Gadiyar, Mrs South India winner
“I am happy to see my daughter’s achievement. Parents like their children’s happiness. So, we will support all their happiness. It is our wish that she should win in the next contest”.
- Archana Shenoy, Padma Mother
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
