New York, May 01: Two Indians Nandan Nilekani and AR Rahman along with US President Barack Obama and Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim figure in the list of world's most influential people compiled by American magazine Time.
The 2009 Time 100 list of 'the World's Most Influential
People' names political leaders, celebrities and academicians
among others. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, German
Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy,
Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos and media celebrity Oprah
Winfrey also find a place in the list.
The list recognises IT major Infosys' co-founder Nandan
Nilekani and music maestro A R Rahman, who recently bagged two
Oscars for his music in the film 'Slumdog Millionaire'.
About Nilekani, the author of the novel 'Q&A' Vikas
Swarup said his new avatar is that of civic-minded
intellectual keen to shape public policy.
"In his book Imagining India (which won him highest-ever
advance for a non-fiction book in India), he offers a "safety
net of ideas" on issues ranging from urbanisation to
environment to take India into a second phase of dramatic,
technology-driven growth," Swarup noted.
Swarup, the author of Q&A, which was made into the
Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire, said Nilekani is both
a corporate icon and India's brand ambassador.
On April 27, the magazine came up with a list of 100 most
influential people.
Bureau Report
First Published: Thursday, April 30, 2009, 00:00