The Hindu : Front Page : Obama, Manmohan on World’s Most Powerful list

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Nov 14, 2009
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Front Page

Front Page

Obama, Manmohan on World’s Most Powerful list

Powerful: Barack Obama, Manmohan Singh

NEW YORK: United States President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh find themselves in the unusual company of the world’s most wanted terrorist Osama Bin Laden and fugitive Dawood Ibrahim.

These men are in the list of the World’s Most Powerful people compiled by the Forbes magazine.

Mr. Obama has been named the most powerful person, while Chinese President Hu Jintao and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin are the next most powerful people.

The list features three resident Indians — Dr. Singh and industrialists Mukesh Ambani and Ratan Tata, and two non-resident Indians — Dawood and steel baron Lakshmi Mittal, who lives in London.

Dr. Singh has been ranked 36th, while Reliance Industries’ chief, Mr. Ambani, finds himself ranked 44th, ahead of the Tata Group chief, Mr. Tata, at 59th.

Close behind Dr. Singh and at the 37th place is Al-Qaeda founder Osama Bin Laden, while underworld don Dawood is at the 50th spot.

Dawood is wanted by India in connection with the 1993 serial blasts in Mumbai and has been listed by the U.S. as a ‘Specially Designated Global Terrorist’ for funding Al-Qaeda.

Osama, mastermind of the 9/11 terror strike in the U.S., too has been eluding the U.S.-led multinational armed forces. Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama is ranked 39th and Pope Benedict-XVI, 11th.

The magazine took into consideration the influence of the persons, whether they controlled relatively large financial resources compared to their peers and whether they were powerful in multiple spheres. — PTI

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page