Indians featuring in TIME's '100 Most Influential People'
TIME magazine unveiled its 13th annual "100 Most Influential People in the World" list featuring diverse world figures. RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan, actress and singer Priyanka Chopra, tennis star Sania Mirza and the founders of Flipkart, Binny Bansal and Sachin Bansal, featured in it. Although he had been a strong probable candidate, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not feature in this year's list.
American news magazine TIME's annual "100 Most Influential People in the World" list, also called TIME 100, was first published in 1999 as a result of a debate between American politicians, academics and journalists. The nominations come from TIME 100 alumni and winners are chosen by TIME editors. Entrants are recognized for changing the world, regardless of the consequences of their actions.
Kip Thorne, a Caltech and Princeton-trained astrophysicist, featured in the "Pioneers" category for his role in setting up the LIGO observatory in 1984 which detected gravitational waves in 2016. Among other prominent figures were transgender American television personality Caitlyn Jenner, composer Lin-Manuel Miranda, genetic researcher Kathy Niakan and a host of other figures. 21 among the 100 figures feature in the Pioneers category.
The "Titans" category featured some heavyweights including Pope Francis, actor Dwayne Johnson, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Muhammad bin Nayef, and Mark Zuckerberg and wife Priscilla Chan. Flipkart founders, Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, and Russian entreprenuer and physicist Yuri Milner also made the list. 13 out of 100 figures featured in this category.
Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal had told investors in 2007 that their online bookstore company, Flipkart, would be worth $100 million in a decade. Today, Flipkart has 75 million users and is valued at $13 billion.
The "Artists" category featured 18 of the 100 figures. In this category were Indian actress-turned-singer Priyanka Chopra, actress Charlize Theron, actors Idris Elba and Mark Rylance among others. It also featured Danish architect Bjarke Ingels, singer Ariana Grande, Japanese artist and writer Yayoi Kusama, and rapper Kendrick Lamar. The category also featured fashion designer Riccardo Tisci and film director Ryan Coogler.
The "Leaders" category was the largest containing 31 names. Among them were Russian President Vladimir Putin, Supreme Leader of North Korea Kim Jong Un, US President Barrack Obama, Chinese President Xi Jinping and French President Francois Hollande. It also featured US presidential election candidates Bernie Sanders, Hilary Clinton, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung Suu Kyi also made the list.
Barack Obama featured in TIME's annual list for the 10th time, the maximum number of mentions held by any figure. US presidential candidate Hilary Clinton comes second with 8 mentions over the years.
The "Icons" category featured 13 names. Among them were Oscar-winning film director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Oscar-winning actor and environmental activist Leonardo DiCaprio. Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton, singers Adele and Nicki Minaj, Indian tennis star Sania Mirza, and Olympic gold medal-winning sprinter Usain Bolt also made the list. This category also featured Nobel Prize-winning Chinese pharmaceutical chemist Tu Youyou for her cure for malaria.
