Congress President Sonia Gandhi and film star Shah Rukh Khan find place among the ‘50 Most Powerful People of the World’ selected by American newsmagazine Newsweek.
US President-elect Barack Obama tops the list.
Chinese President Hu Jintao, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, German Chancellor Angela Markel, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and North Korean dictator Kim Jim Jong II are other world leaders on the list.
Newsweek has selected Sonia as the 17th most powerful leader and says Indian political scene is riven by factions, but the Congress remains the strongest national force and rules unchallenged. "In the world's largest democracy, she is the queen."
The magazine says Shah Rukh, who is No. 41 on the list, is the 'King of Bollywood'.
"It's not just that his (Khan's) romantic flicks make gazillions—it's where those gazillions come from. Khan is huge in the Muslim world, even in Pakistan and Afghanistan, where the mullahs ban his films. Their main appeal is certainly the song-and-dance numbers, but Khan makes devoutly secular films where love trounces bigotry," the magazine says.
Pakistan army chief General Ashfaq Kayani, who controls the country’s nuclear weapons, is placed 20th on the list, which would be published in the January 2009 issue of the magazine.
Kayani, the mumbling and chain-smoking general, answers to President Asif Ali Zardari in theory, but he and his army remain the dominant power in Pakistan. "He's responsible for Pakistan's nukes; for the battle against al-Qaeda and its tribal allies along the Afghan border; and for managing tensions with neighbour India," the magazine says.
Kayani, till now, has kept the army out of politics and seems focused on the battle against 'jihadists'. "In the wake of the November terrorist attacks in Mumbai, Kayani stood firm on Pakistan’s sovereignty while also taking measures against the alleged sponsors of the outrage," it says.
A surprise inclusion in the list, which the magazine admits is subjective, is Osama bin Laden, the "global terrorist." He is No. 42 in the list.
The magazine says the presidency of Obama, 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."
