Three Indians feature in Time's list of "100 Most Influential People"

• IBTimes RSS
• Print
• E-Mail
• digg
• Del.icio.us

Gandhi, the chairperson of secular political party Congress which is leading the coalition government at the center, has been listed in the Leaders and Revolutionaries category while PepsiCo's Indian-born CEO Indra Nooyi and India's most respected business conglomerate Tata Group's chairman Ratan Tata feature in the category of Builders and Titans.

According to former UN undersecretary-general Shashi Tharoor, reporting on Gandhi for Time, the "story of Sonia Gandhi, 61, is remarkable at every level, and the fairy-tale metaphor barely begins to scratch the surface of its extraordinariness."

"But which story is one to tell- That of the Italian who became the most powerful figure in a land of a billion Indians- That of the reluctant politician who led her party to power- That of the parliamentary leader who rejected the highest office in her adoptive land, one she had earned by her hard work and political courage- That of the woman of principle who demonstrated that one could stand for the right values even in a profession corroded by cynicism and cant- That of the novice in politics who became a master of the art, trusted her own instincts and discovered she could be right more often than her jaded rivals could ever have imagined-" Tharoor says, adding, "The story of Sonia Gandhi must be all these stories, and more."

Gandhi was "offered the crown on a brocade cushion" but (she) turned it down, instead preferring to "remain behind the throne, walking with the peasantry, rallying the people but leaving power in the hands of her gray-haired viziers," he says, speaking of the "queen" who turned "bliss to triumph to tragedy to triumph again."

Nooyi, says Howard Schultz, chairman, president and CEO of Starbucks Coffee Co., is a "world class leader" whose "sharp strategic mind, tremendous market insight and humanitarian contributions all combine to make her a rare executive among the global corporate giants."

Nooyi, says Schultz, "was also way ahead of her competitors in moving the company toward healthier products. She pushed for PepsiCo to buy Quaker Oats and Tropicana.

"I wasn't surprised when PepsiCo removed trans fats from its products well before most other companies did," he says.

"As someone who has always aspired to build a company committed to its people and to the world, I admire her determination to achieve sustainability at an established company like PepsiCo. And I believe that all socially responsible companies could learn from Indra Nooyi's style of leadership. She welcomes hearing from people who disagree with her, but she is single-minded about following the path she believes is best for her company and its shareholders," he adds.

As for Ratan Tata, the chairman of the $66 billion Tata Group, which operates in more than 80 countries across six continents, employing over 300,000 people and have business interests that include steel, automotive, technology, consumer products, energy, hospitality and beverages, during his stewardship, Tata grew to be a global name specially with the acquisitions of Anglo-Dutch steel maker Corus and Ford Motor Co.'s British marques Land Rover and Jaguar.

However, Tata's greatest accomplishment so far remains the launch of world's cheapest car, the $2500 Nano, which has already stolen the heart of millions of Indians for whom owning a four-wheeler is a distant dream.

Overcoming sniggers and criticisms, Tata has managed to make a car that will meet all of India's automotive standards, Time says, citing Tata as saying, "A promise is a promise."

"To ensure that the group stays 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 the 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," it says.

Other notables on the list are:

(Leaders & Revolutionaries category) Tibet's exiled spiritual leader Dalai Lama; Russian President Vladimir Putin; US presidential candidates Sen. Barack Obama, Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. John McCain; Chinese President Hu Jintao; US President George W. Bush; former deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim; Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd; US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke; US Defense Secretary Robert Gates; Iraq Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr; Baitullah Mehsud, the suspected assassin of Pakistan's former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto; Pakistan Army chief Gen. Ashfaq Kayani; and Bolivia's leftist President Evo Morales;

(Heroes & Pioneers category) Hollywood star couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie; talk show host and media mogul Oprah Winfrey; US actress Mia Farrow; former tennis champion Andre Agassi; world champion cyclist Lance Armstrong; English musician Peter Gabriel; Brazilian soccer star Kaka; ruler of Dubai, Sheik Mohammed al-Maktoum; former British Prime Minister Tony Blair; and Burmese democracy heroine Aung San Suu Kyi

(Scientists & Thinkers category) New York mayor and Bloomberg owner Michael Bloomberg; Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen; and creator of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg

(Artists & Entertainers category) Hollywood actor Robert Downey Jr.; singer-actress and star of US television series Hannah Montana, Miley Cyrus; legendary musician Herbie Hancock; rock and roll legend "Boss" Bruce Springsteen; Afghan novelist and "The Kite Runner" author Khaled Hosseini; American pop and R&B singer-songwriter, record producer and actress Mariah Carey; Hollywood actor George Clooney; and Hollywood actor and stand-up comedian Chris Rock

(Builders & Titans category) News Corporation's Rupert Murdoch; Steve Jobs of Apple Computer; British rock band Radiohead; Cisco CEO John Chambers; Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos; co-founder and CEO of Digg.com, Jay Adelson; Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer; Chairman, President and CEO of JP Morgan Chase & Co., Jamie Dimon; Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz al-Saud; European Union's Commissioner for Competition, Neelie Kroes; General Electric's (GE) Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Immelt; fashion designer Karl Lagerfield; CEO of Goldman Sachs Lloyd Blankfein; Mexican billionaire telecom tycoon Carlos Slim; Anglo American mining company's CEO Cynthia Carroll; Editor-in-chief of French edition of Vogue, Carine Roitfeld; and TechCrunch blogger Michael Arrington

However, when Time asked its online readers to name the most influential people of the year, the number one choice from 200 candidates turned out to be Nintendo video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, followed by South Korean singing sensation Rain and popular US television comedian Stephen Colbert.