Padma Shri: Ovation for Aishwarya

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was recently awarded the highest civilian honor, the Padma Shri award for her contribution to the arts.The awards, a National honour,were announced on the occasion of India’s Republic Day.It brings the number up to five Padma Shris won by the Bachchan family. The first one was won by Amitabh Bachchan's father the late Harivansh Rai Bachchan. Of course Amitabh Bachchan himself won the Padma Shri twice. Jaya Bachchan took one home too and now the legacy continues with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan walking away with one.

Aishwarya is the youngest person to ever achieve this honour from the film fraternity.

Ms. Patil conferred the Padma Shri awards on Bollywood actors Aishwarya Rai Bachhan and Akshay Kumar, Hindi playback singer Kumar Sanu, eye surgeon Ashok Kumar Grover, Chairman, Board of Editors of Nai Dunia daily, Abhay Chhajlani, surgeon Ashok Kumar Gupta and Ghazal singer Penaz Masani.

Other recipients of the Padma Shri included B.R. Shetty, Bansilal Rathi, Prof. Birendranath Datta, C.K. Menon, Devinder Singh Rana, G. Vijayaraghavan, Geeta Kapur, Geshe Ngawang Sampen, Govind Ram Nirmalkar, Goriparthi Narasimha Raju Yadav, Gurumayum Gourakishor Sharma, Hashmat Ullah Khan, Iravatham Mahadevan, Jalees Ahmed Khan Tareen, John Ralston Marr, K. Viswanathan, K.P. Udayabhanu, Kalamandalam Gopi, Kanneganti Brahmanandam, Kiran Seth, Laxman Mane, Mattannoor Sankarankutty Marar, Niranjan Goswami, Bhai Nirmal Singh Khalsa, Norden Tshering Bhutian and Panchapakesa Jayaraman.

Prakash Narain Dubey, Pratapaditya Pal, R.K. Krishna Kumar, Ram Kishore Chhipa, Shaik Khader Noordeen, Shashi Despande, Shyamlha Pappu, Sunil Kanti Roy, Sunny Varkey, Suresh Dutta, Surinder Mehta and Yash Gulati also received the Padma Shri.

Parvathi Omanakuttan :Miss World 2008 first runnerup

Parvathy Omanakuttan Nair, Femina Miss India World 2008, is also the First Runner Up of Miss World 2008. She was crowned at the Miss World Grand Finale at Johannesburg, South Africa on 13 December 2008. She was also the first runner up of Miss World Top Model contest held on 3 December 2008.
She was crowned "Pantaloons Femina Miss India World 2008" in Mumbai on 5 April 2008.Parvathy was born on 13th March 1987 at Kottayam, Kerala as the first child of Mr. Omanakkuttan.
She is originally from Changanacherry - Kottayam, Kerala and now lives in Mumbai. She was only 7 months old when came to Mumbai with parents, because her father had to join Taj Hotel. Her hobbies include listening to music, dancing, glass painting, reading, playing basketball and badminton.
She follows the lineage set by many Keralites in the history of the pageant like Shweta Vijay (Femina Miss India Earth 2003), Annie Thomas (Femina Miss India World 1998), Nafisa Joseph (Femina Miss India Universe 1997), Mini Menon (Femina Miss India Asia Pacific 1996) and Shweta Menon

Miss Universe 2008: Dayana Mendoza

Miss Universe 2008, the 57th Miss Universe beauty pageant, was held at the Crown Convention Center in the Diamond Bay Resort, Nha Trang, Vietnam on July 14 2008. Dayana Mendoza, Miss Venezuela, was crowned Miss Universe 2008 by outgoing titleholder Riyo Mori of Japan.
Dayana Sabrina Mendoza Moncada (born June 1, 1986 in Caracas, Venezuela) is a model, Miss Venezuela 2007, and Miss Universe 2008.
Mendoza has stated that she enjoys "design, photography, advertising and wave surfing." She was once kidnapped in Venezuela, and stated the trauma taught her to remain poised under pressure.

Mendoza was caught in a nude scandal after photos of her modeling naked for a jewellery firm surfaced. Officials from the Miss Universe Organization decided against penalizing her insisting that the candid photos were not pornographic, but instead were "artistic in nature, and they don't have an ounce of pornographic content to them."