TNI Bureau: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi have been named among the top 20 most powerful persons in the world by Forbes magazine.
Forbes, in its annual power rankings, selected world’s 71 most-powerful people from the roughly 7.1 billion global populations that placed US President Barack Obama as number one for a second year in a row.
Mr. Obama was joined in the top 10 by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian President Vladimir Putin, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al Saud of Saudi Arabia and British Prime Minister David Cameron.
UPA Chairperson Ms Gandhi dropped a notch from last year’s list and ranks at number 12 this year ahead of Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang and French President Francois Hollande.
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Forbes said the 65-year-old leader of India’s ruling political party has the reins of the world’s second-most-populous country and tenth-largest economy. “Son Rahul is next in line to take over India’s most famous political dynasty,” it added.
The architect of India’s economic reforms Mr Singh is placed at 20th spot for his leadership in world’s fastest growing economy.
India’s richest businessman Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani and Arcelor Mittal CEO Lakshmi Mittal are also featured in the list ranking 37 and 47th position respectively.
To create the rankings, Forbes considers a measure of power over many people; control over financial and other valuable resources; power in multiple spheres or arenas; and active use of power based on factors ranging from wealth to global influence.