Putin most powerful, Modi 15th most powerful person

The News Minute | November 5, 2014 | 6.37 pm ISTPrime Minister Narendra Modi has been named the Forbes list of the World’s Most Powerful People.Placed at number 15, Modi is a newcomer to the

list of 72 people along with 11 others. This is how Forbes described Modi: “India's newest rock star doesn't hail from Bollywood. He is the newly elected prime minister who sailed into

office in May with a landslide victory, ushering the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) into power after decades of control by the Gandhi dynasty. A Hindu nationalist allegedly responsible for

encouraging and allowing communal violence and sectarianism in the Gujarat riots in 2002 and on a U.S. no-entry list since 2005 to 2014, Modi is credited with massive reconstruction projects

in his home state of Gujarat. His administration promises to bring economic rejuvenation to other beleaguered parts of India. The world is as impressed as the citizens of India: So far he's

toured the U.S. and China, and met with his Southeast Asian neighbors.”In the top five places are Russian President Vladimir Putin who is right at the top, followed by the American

President Barack Obama, Chinese Premier Xi Xinping, Pope Francis, German Chancellor Angela Merkel.Other notable new comers on the list of newly included people are Egyptian President Abdel

el-Sisi at number 51, and ISIL leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi at number 54. Also on the list are Mary Bara who is the CEO of General Motors (62), and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella at number 64. 

As for how a Russiann president trumped an American one on power quotient, Forbes had this to say: “So who’s more powerful: the omnipotent head of corroding but still feisty power or the

handcuffed head of the most dominant country in the world? For the second year running, our votes went with the Russian president as the world’s most powerful person, followed by U.S.

President Barack Obama and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.”