New York, 20 DEC 2008.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan have been ranked among the 50 most powerful people in the world by the prestigious US-based magazine 'Newsweek' magazine in a list topped by President- elect Barack Obama.
Pakistan army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, who controls the country's nuclear weapons, is placed 20th on the list of the global "power elite" at the beginning of 2009 in the magazine's January issue.
Obama, who scripted history by becoming the first black-American to be voted to the White House, is followed by Chinese President Hu Jintao, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, German Chancellor Angela Markel and powerful Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
A surprise inclusion in the list, which the magazine admits is subjective, is Osama bin Laden, whom the Newsweek describes as "global terrorist." North Korean dictator Jim Jong II also finds a place in the list.
Placing Sonia Gandhi at 17th spot, the magazine says though Indian political scene is riven by factions, Congress remains the strongest national force and rules unchallenged.
"In the world's largest democracy, she is the queen." The magazine describes Shahrukh Khan, who occupies 41st spot, as the 'King of Bollywood'.
On Kayani, it says, that in theory this mumbling chain-smoking Pakistan army chief answers to President Asif Ali Zardari. But Kayani and his troops remain the dominant power in what could be the most dangerous country in the world, it adds.
About 47-year-old Obama, it says the presidency of the "intensely charismatic" Democrat, who will be inaugurated on January 20, will be judged on how he handles the economic crisis that now envelops the US and the world. "For Obama to be remembered as a great President, he has to do nothing less than rescue capitalism."
For bin Laden, who finds 42nd spot, the magazine says the manhunt may not have been successful, but it has driven him far underground. Once a glutton for publicity, he has not shot a new video since September 2007, and no audio message from him has been heard since May 2008, it says.
But as the Mumbai attacks showed, bin Laden's ideology continues to inflict monstrous harm," the magazine points out.
Awarding Chinese President Hu second place after Obama, Newsweek says he is a guy "you wouldn't think twice about cautious, colourless and corporate and in the past, he has lost spotlight to other world leaders with bigger egos and sharper elbows."
"But to underestimate Hu would be a monumental error. His position as China's president makes him CEO of a financial juggernaut that's projected to post USD 280 billion trade surplus this year.
"While the rest of the world plunges deeper into recession, Hu the Humble is emerging as the one who is holding the lifeline," it says.
"Economists at Deutsche Bank forecast that the world economy will expand a meager 0.2 per cent in 2009 the worst year since at least 1950. In 2007, growth was almost 5 per cent. Without stronger growth, the slump might feed on itself and fuel economic nationalism," the magazine warns.
Others on the list include the Dalai Lama, former US President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary, Iranian strongman Ayatollah Ali Khemenei, Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, American General David Petraeus, Iraqi leader Nuri al-Maliki, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Pope Benedict XVI, Media Mogul Rupert Murdoch and popular show host Oprah Winfrey.
Source: ExpressIndia
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