SSC
Who was the first Indian to win the Miss World beauty pageant (1966)?
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Answer: Option A — Reita Faria
Detailed Solution
Reita Faria Powell, from Mumbai (born 1943, of Goan origin), won the Miss World title in London in 1966. She became the first Indian and the first Asian woman to win Miss World.
About Reita Faria:
She was a medical student at the time and went on to complete her medical degree (MBBS) at Grant Medical College, Mumbai.
Unlike many beauty queens, she did not enter films. She chose to practise medicine, and later moved to Ireland with her husband, Dr David Powell, where she worked as a doctor.
During her year as Miss World, she travelled to Vietnam to entertain American troops with the entertainer Bob Hope.
Indian Miss World winners (six in total, tying India with Venezuela for the most wins):
- Reita Faria (1966).
- Aishwarya Rai (1994).
- Diana Hayden (1997).
- Yukta Mookhey (1999).
- Priyanka Chopra (2000).
- Manushi Chhillar (2017).
- India hosted the Miss World pageant in 1996 (Bengaluru) and the 71st Miss World in 2024 (Mumbai), and the 72nd Miss World was held in Hyderabad (Telangana) in 2025.
Indian Miss Universe winners:
- Sushmita Sen (1994): the first Indian Miss Universe.
- Lara Dutta (2000).
- Harnaaz Kaur Sandhu (2021).
- In 2000, India won Miss World (Priyanka Chopra), Miss Universe (Lara Dutta) and Miss Asia Pacific (Dia Mirza) in the same year.
Why not the other options?
- ✗Sushmita Sen was the first Indian Miss Universe (1994).
- ✗Aishwarya Rai was the second Indian Miss World (1994).
- ✗Zeenat Aman won Miss Asia Pacific (1970).
Quick tip
Remember: First Indian Miss World = Reita Faria (1966, also first Asian; became a doctor); first Indian Miss Universe = Sushmita Sen (1994); India has six Miss World titles.
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Art & Culture Personalities — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Art & Culture Personalities, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers the people behind India's art and culture: classical and folk dancers, vocalists and instrumentalists, painters, sculptors, theatre and film personalities, and the gurus who founded or revived art forms. Questions also cover the art form each person is known for and the honours they have received. Exams typically name a person and ask for their art form, or name an art form and ask who popularised it. Recent Padma award winners from the arts appear often, so link each name to the field and state the award was given for. Since award lists change every year, always revise from the latest official list rather than relying on older notes. Practise the art and culture personalities questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.