Gandhi, Tata, Ambani among finalists for 'Time's' 2009 list

India's Congress party president Sonia Gandhi and industrialists Ratan Tata and Mukesh Ambani are among the finalists for Time magazine's 100 most influential people of 2009 that also includes US president Barack Obama.
   
The first African-American president of the US is currently ranked 13th, while the top position is held by a person who goes by the name 'Moot', the founder of 4chan.org, a website for posting images and discussions anonymously.
    
Gandhi, who is leading the ruling Congress party's bid for a re-election in the coming Parliamentary polls, is ranked 43 -- ahead of Tata (102), the maker of the world's cheapest car Nano and Ambani (169), who the publication referred to as 'petrol prince.'

The 203 finalists includes seven people of Indian origin.

The four others are are cola-queen Indra Nooyi of Pepsico, movie moghul Ronnie Screwvala of UTV, public face for Washington's Troubled Asset Relief Programme Neel Kashkari and Harvard-eductated management consultant Ram Charan.
    
Besides, Slumdog Millionaire-fame British filmmaker Danny Boyle, who hit the headlines with the Oscar-winning movie shot in Mumbai slums, is also among the finalists.

Time would publish the final list later in the year.

In a continuing online poll on Time's website, Screwvala is currently top-ranked among Indians at 33rd overall place, Nooyi is at 89, Kashkari 187 and Charan 193.

The site of moot (pseudonym), the highest ranked person at present, is said to have been started in 2003 by a then 15-year-old student from New York City.

On Gandhi, 62, who has figured on Time's 100 most influential people list twice before, the publication said that the "the Italian-born head of India's most influential political party is beloved by her constituents, not only because of her family history (she came to power after her husband Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated) but also because of her efforts to combat poverty."

However, in a negative for her, the Indian National Congress party president "has been bogged down by a public spat with one of her rivals," it said, without specifying who her rival is.

Among those from outside India, the prominent names include US first lady Michelle Obama, former US president George Bush, US secretary of state Hillary Clinton and US finance secretary Tim Geithner.
    
Sarah Palin, who ran for US vice-president's office, British prime minister Gordon Brown, Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari, Pakistan's army chief Ashfaq Kayani, Tibetan leader Dalai Lama, Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin, Chinese president Hu Jintao and US treasury chief Ben Bernanke are among other finalists.
   
Besides, high-profile businessmen like Warren Buffett, Carlos Slim Helu, Rupert Murdoch, Steve Jobs, Jeff Immelt and Michael Bloomberg also find a place in the list.

There are celebrities from media, entertainment and sports such as Oprah Winfrey, Britney Spears, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Arnold Schwazznenger, Tiger Woods, Michael Phelps, Kate Winslet, Rafael Nadal, George Clooney, Tom Hanks and Jay Leno.

Interestingly, the finalists also include the alleged scamster Bernie Madoff and Thomas Beatie, who is popularly known as The Pregnant Man and has become a sort of icon in the transgender community with his second baby due in June.
   
About Obama, Time said: "He overcame the Clinton machine, the McCain brigade and America's racial history to win nearly 53 per cent of the vote and a shot at what's beginning to seem like the least enviable job in the world."
   
But, "for a guy whose campaign was renowned for order, Obama's Cabinet appointments have been a tad messy. But let's face it: he's the most powerful man in the world," it added.

For Michelle Obama, the publication said "she's using her status as First Lady to push for military-family rights and kids' health, and she may be the best thing to happen to sleeveless style since Clark Gable."
   
Among the Indians, Ratan Tata, who has been on Time's annual list once before, has been described as having "introduced the Tata Nano, the world's first USD 2,500 car. Set for release in India this spring, the 'people's car' could be a boon for low-income communities."

On the negative side, Nano's low price could make the cars too accessible, flooding streets with even more CO2-spouting
vehicles, Time noted.

Naming 51-year old Mukesh Ambani as the "petrol prince", Time said the billionaire chairman of Reliance Industries steers one of the biggest conglomerates in India, with interests in not only oil, but also clothing and kitchenware.
   
However, he is still mired in a public spat with his billionaire brother, Time said, while advising him to "duke it out using pillows stuffed with USD 1,000 bills."

About the PepsiCo CEO Nooyi who has twice made to its annual list, Time said that as head of one of the world's most far-reaching food conglomerates "she has pledged to steer the US away from junk food and toward healthy eating.... (however) profits took a hit last year. And while healthful snacking is nice and all, there ain't nothing wrong with Funyons."
   
India-born Ram Charan has been described as a "management consultant to the stars" for working with companies like GE and Verizon and being "one of the world's most in-demand advisers, counselling Fortune 500 CEOs."
   
On a con-side, the way things are going, he may want to collect his fees upfront, Time said.
   
Time further said that Mumbai-based UTV Group CEO Screwvala "is hoping to export his Bollywood know-how to the US, partnering with such companies as Fox Searchlight and Will Smith's Overbrook Entertainment."
   
At the same time, Kashkari has been described as the public face for TARP and is tasked with balancing the demands of outraged taxpayers and flailing bank owners."