Defending the show, Lara steals it

Exhibiting confidence, Lara said during the contest that she planned to work for AIDS education among women. 8220;The majority of women in my country are illiterate and uneducated, so we have to start there to educate them. That is what I will do with India and progress to the rest of the world.8217;

Dutta succeeded Mpule Kwelagobe of Botswana to become the 49th winner of the pageant. She said it was a birthday present to her father, a retired Indian Air Force pilot, who turned 60 today.

Tipped as a favourite early by the local media, Dutta got a standing ovation from Indian students living in Cyprus. The pageant was held early this morning to coincide with television prime time in the US. Miss Venezuela Claudia Moreno, 22, was the first runner-up and Miss Spain Helen Lindes, 18, the second runner-up.

As delegates paraded to mock-pagan rituals recalling Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of beauty, said to have been born from the sea off the Cypriot coast, Greek orthodox priests held an all-night vigil in a nearby church.8220;Shame on the pageant which shoots women down to the bottomless pits of hell,8221; said a leaflet circulated during mass attended by some 50 parishioners, many elderly.

A heavy police presence kept a close eye on protesters carrying banners and shouting slogans complaining about the Bill Cyprus will foot for the pageant, some seven million dollars. 8220;We want schools and hospitals,8221; said one banner.

Dutta consistently impressed the judges with her beauty and poise. She won the swimsuit contest with 9.44 points out of 10 while Moreno was second with 9.37. Dutta came fourth in the evening gown competition with 9.40 points behind Moreno 9.55 and Columbia8217;s Catalina Acosta, 22, 9.52 and Lindes 9.51.

8220;Meri sherni zaroor jitegi,8221; my lioness will surely win retd wing commander L K Dutta had said of his daughter in the midst of the beauty pageant. 8220;A papa8217;s girl that she is, she has lived up to it his expectations,8221; said Sabrina Dutta, Lara8217;s sister in Bangalore who was the first woman helicopter pilot in Asia.

Born in Meerut, Lara, the youngest child of L K Dutta, a Punjabi, and Jennifer Dutta, a Christian and half-European, had a 8220;strict yet broadminded upbringing.8221; Lara8217;s parents are now in Nicosia. Mother Jennifer is a former Miss Madras and a Miss India finalist in 1967-68.

Lara, who left home at 17 for a career in modelling, wants to be a journalist and go out in the field to unravel the truth. 8220;I like writing,8221; says Lara, whose role model is CNN8217;s daredevil war correspondent Christian Amanpour.

The newly-crowned Miss Universe, whose hobbies are bungee jumping, conoeing, para-gliding and white water rafting, was confident of winning the title earlier won by Sushmita Sen for India.

Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said Lara8217;s victory was a tribute to Indian women and her aspiration for excellence.