Sonia, ultimate power in India
Lalit K Jha
Thursday, May 01, 2008, (New York)
Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, Tata group head, Ratan Tata and PepsiCo chief Indra Nooyi are the only Indians that figure among the list of Time's 100 most influential people for the year 2008 released on Thursday.
Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, mastermind behind Benazir Bhutto's assassination, Baitullah Mehsud, Burmese leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, three US presidential candidates, Hilary Clinton, Barack Obama and John McCain also figure in the list of the 100 most influential people of the world.
While US President George W Bush makes a come back to the list which was started by the Time magazine five years ago.
Osama bin Laden, the world's most wanted terrorist and the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad were not chosen this year.
Mehsud is more influential than Osama bin Laden for the time being. The Pakistani Army chief, General Ashfaq Kayani is also listed. Russian President Vladimir Putin and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair are also considered to be among the most influential people of the world.
Sonia the ultimate power in India
While there were a few other Indian politicians in the shortlist, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the Time magazine deputy managing editor Adi Ignatius said that Sonia was chosen above all others because she is "the ultimate power in the country, even though she exercises it away from the political stage."
Singh does figure in this special issue of Time wherein one of his recent statements on female foeticide has been quoted along with his picture.
Writing about Sonia, eminent Indian writer Shashi Tharoor said in the latest issue of Time to be released on May 2 that the Congress president is "strange and inspiring story of the Italian woman who became India's dominant force." Curiously enough Gandhi and the Pakistani terrorist Mehsud figure on the same page of the magazine.
Ratan Tata was selected above other globally connected industrialists from India, who were in the shortlist of about 900 people all over the world.
Ignatius said that Tata made it primarily because of his promise of delivering the $2,500 car and acquisition of the British automakers Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford.
"He was able to produce a $2,500 car for the masses of India," he said.
Writing about Ratan Tata in this issue, Simon Robinson said: "To ensure that the group at the forefront of that change, Tata, 70, a bachelor with no children, who told The Financial Times last year that he would like to retire after the successful launch of Nano, will have to choose someone as savvy and visionary as he has been to lead the 140-year old firm. That could prove even more difficult than creating a $2,500 car."
India American, Nooyi was selected because as PepsiCo boss she has helped make healthiness' and sustainability part of the company's mission. The Starbucks Coffee chairman, president and CEO Howard Schultz, said the most appropriate way to describe Nooyi is "World Class Leader".
"Her sharp strategic mind, tremendous market impact and humanitarian contributions, all combine to make her a rare executive among the global corporate giants," he wrote.
Deepak Chopra is another Indian American who figures in this special issue of Time as he has written about the Dalai Lama, whom he said Tibet's beacon of peace maintains a calm compassion even as Beijing cracks down on his own people.
While Aishwarya Rai has made it to the list in the past, Ignatius said there was no one from India's entertainment industry in the shortlisted category this year.
Others in the list
The Chinese President Hu Jintao and the President-elect of Taiwan, Ma Ying-Jeou too figure in the list besides the US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, media moghul Rupert Murdoch, the New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Google Director, Larry Brilliant, Afghan author Khaled Hosseini and the former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia Anwar Ibrahim.