Raghuram Rajan, Sundar Pichai, Flipkart founders among 100 most influential people: Time

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and founders of Flipkart, Binny Bansal and Sachin Bansal were named among the '100 Most Influential People in the World' by Time Magazine.

The magazine said Rajan was "India's prescient banker", a rare breed of "economic seers" who "steered" India through the global crisis and fallout, "playing a large role in making it one of the emerging-market stars of the moment.

The Time's annual list of most influential people was released on Thursday.

While serving as the youngest chief economist of the IMF from 2003 to 2006, Time said Rajan predicted the subprime crisis that would lead to the Great Recession, standing up to critics like former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, who labeled him a "Luddite".

"Since then, more and more of the economic establishment has come to share Rajan's view that debt-fueled growth is just a saccharine substitute for the real thing," Time said.

Time's annual list, released today, includes pioneers like American composer Lin Manuel-Miranda, leaders like IMF head Christine Lagarde and icons like Oscar-winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio who are "exploring the frontiers of art, science, society, technology and more."

About the Flipkart founders, Time said Binny Bansal and Sachin Bansal may have come across as arrogant when they told investors the company they started in 2007 as an online bookstore could be worth USD 100 million in a decade.

"It turned out to be modesty: Flipkart now has 75 million users and a USD 13 billion valuation," Time said. 

On Pichai, author Bill Nye said the "internet's chief engineer" has "helped change the world".

The Chennai-born was the "head guy" on Google Drive and worked on Google Chrome, Gmail and Android phones and the world is now watching what he comes up with next, Nye said in his profile.

With PTI Inputs