The Forbes’ list of most powerful people on earth is out and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made it to the top ten. Forbes placed PM Modi at Number 9 slot. Last year, Forbes ranked Modi at 15th on the list topped by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who maintains his position at number 1 this year also.
Russian President Vladimir Putin emerged as the world’s most powerful person for the third year running. Putin continues to prove he’s one of the few men in the world powerful enough to do what he wants –and get away with it.
The second most powerful person in the world also happens to be the most powerful woman: Angela Merkel, the chancellor of Germany, jumped up from No. 5 last year to take the runner-up spot on the list.
U.S. President Barack Obama fell one spot on this year’s list to No. 3. There’s no doubt that the United States remains the world’s greatest economic, cultural, diplomatic, technological and military power. But as Obama enters the final year of his presidency, it’s clear his influence is shrinking, and it’s a bigger struggle than ever to get things done.
Forbes praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his international presence and the impact his “brainstorming tour of Silicon Valley” has created.
However, Forbes also said that governing 1.2 billion people in India requires more than “shaking hands” and that Modi must pass his party BJP’s reform agenda and keep “fractious opposition” under control.
The head of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis made it to the number 4 slot of the list followed by Chinese Premiere Xi Jinping (5), Bill Gates (6), Janet Yellen (7), British Prime Minister David Cameron (8), PM Modi (9) and Alphabet’s Larry Page (10)
New faces in the list include Dell CEO Michael Dell (59), China’s richest man Wang Jianlin (68), newly elected Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (69), billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn (70) and US Presidential candidate Donald Trump (72).
However, a notable omission from the list is Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who was the highest ranked Indian last year at No. 21.