Prime Minister Narendra Modi moved up 6 positions to become the ninth most powerful person in the world in the Forbes list of ‘World’s Most Powerful People’ 2015.
Here is the list of the top 10 powerful people in the world:
1. Vladimir Putin
President of Russia, Vladimir Putin retained his first position as the world’s most powerful person this year as well. According to Forbes, his approval ratings reached an all-time high of 89% in June. He helped rebuild Russian influence abroad when he bombed ISIS forces in Syria followed by meeting President Assad.
2. Angela Merkel
Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel is the second most powerful person and the first powerful woman in the world. She moved up 3 positions from last year’s ranking.
According to Forbes, Merkel secured a third four-year term of Europe’s most vibrant economy in December 2014 which made her the longest-serving elected EU head of the state. Forbes claims that she might beat Vladimir Putin to become the most powerful person in 2016.
3. Barack Obama
Barack Obama is the third most powerful person in the world. The President of United States moved one position down this year. It is in his reign the US has the greatest economic and cultural structure with secured technological and military power.
According to Forbes, Obama entered the final year of his presidency and he is struggling to get things done with his shrinking influence on the nation.
4. Pope Francis
Aged 78, Pope Francis retained his position as the fourth most powerful person in the world. Bishop of Rome, Francis is a spiritual leader to 1.2 billion people according to Forbes. Recently he was in news when he met inmates in a Philadelphia jail where he met victims of sexual abuse.
He called for a ‘healthy decentralisation’ of power in the Roman Catholic Church which includes changes in papacy and decision-making authority for local bishops.
With strong beliefs, Pope Francis once told that the church should not be a museum of memories but have the courage to change. He has also condemned xenophobia and discrimination against Europe’s gypsies. He strongly signals the church to quiet its focus on ‘issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptives’, according to Forbes.
5. Xi Jinping
General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, Xi Jinping’s position downgraded from last year to become the world’s fifth most powerful person. He has been the most powerful Chinese ruler since the rule of Mao Zedong. In October, he met leaders in United States and United Kingdom which is said to have brought about approximately $46 billion in trade and investment deal.
He even pledged to provide relief to those affected in the earthquake in Pakistan and Afghanistan that occurred last month.
‘Fish and chips’ is definitely his favourite as he had requested for it prior his visit to the UK last month. He even expressed his desire to visit an English pub during his stay in UK.
6. Bill Gates
With a net worth of $79.7 billion, Bill Gates has moved up one position to become the sixth most powerful person in the world.
Well known as the co-founder of world’s largest PC software company, Microsoft, he is also the world’s richest in tech this year. Furthermore, he is also considered the richest person in every state in the 2015 Forbes list.
According to Forbes, Bill and Melinda Gates started their charitable foundation where the duo aimed to improve the poor countries in the next 15 years. They announced a $776 million investment over the next 6 years to improve nutrition and reduce mortality caused due to malnutrition.
7. Janet Yellen
The second woman in the list and the seventh most powerful in the world, Janet Yellen is the Chair of Federal Reserve of Washington, United States.
She became the first female head of the Federal Reserve in 2014. Yellen last month kept interest rates unchanged at 0-0.25% due to weak economy and called for a possibility of a modest policy tightening in December this year where she expects US interest rates to be raised from its current record low.
8. David Cameron
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, David Cameron moved up from 10th position to become the eighth most powerful person in the world.
In May, he won the re-election and retained his spot at 10 Downing Street and now presides over the country’s only majority government in 23 years, according to Forbes.
9. Narendra Modi
Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi moved up six positions to become world’s ninth most powerful person. PM Modi is working a lot towards the economy of the country with his various foreing visits and bringing in investments in the country.
Since his election as the Prime Minister of India, Modi has brought in major changes in the country’s economy. Make in India. Digital India. Skill India, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan are some of his initiatives. He aims to bring in 100 smart cities in the country.
10. Larry Page
With $37.6 billion net worth, Google’s CEO, Larry Page has become the tenth most powerful person in the world.
He is now the CEO of Google Alphabet which is a new parent company which includes Google, Google X lab and Calico, Nest and Fiber- Google’s other businesses, according to Forbes.
In August, India-born Sundar Pichai became the CEO of Google and Page’s aim became to focus on longer-term strategy.
