Modi Forbes ninth most powerful person on earth

​New Delhi: Forbes released its 2018 list of the 75 most powerful people who make the world turn, on Wednesday, which declared Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the ninth most powerful person in the world.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has topped the list this year replacing Russian President Vladimir Putin who was at the top for four consecutive years. Beating the likes of Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Theresa May, Kim Jong-un and Justin Trudeau, Modi made it to the top 10.

About Modi being the 9th most powerful person, Forbes said: “India's populist Prime Minister remains hugely popular in the second most populous country on earth, with a population of 1.3 billion people.” 

Forbes also cited sudden demonetisation step taken by Modi. It said: “In November 2016 he unexpectedly announced plans to eliminate India's two largest banknotes in a bid to reduce money laundering and corruption.”    

 “Modi has raised his profile as a global leader in recent years during official visits with Donald Trump and Xi Jinping. He has also emerged as a key figure in the international effort to tackle climate change, as warming affects millions of his country's rural citizens.”

Mukesh Ambani, the only Indian, apart from Modi who made it to the list this year, has been ranked 32. Forbes cited: “In 2016, Reliance sparked a price war in India's hyper-competitive telecom market with the launch of 4G phone service Jio. Jio has signed on 160 million customers by offering free domestic voice calls, dirt-cheap data services and virtually free smartphones.”

Forbes opened the list with the introductory lines “There are nearly 7.5 billion humans on planet Earth, but these 75 men and women make the world turn. Forbes' annual ranking of The World’s Most Powerful People identifies one person out of every 100 million whose actions mean the most.”