Prime Minister Narendra Modi shared space with United States President Donald Trump and United Kingdom Prime Minister Theresa May in Time Magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2017, PTI reported on Thursday. Modi was not the only Indian on the list, as he was joined by Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma.
Among other world leaders were Kim Jong-un, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin. Trump’s daughter Ivanka and artists like singer Ed Sheeran and actor Emma Stone were also on the list, as was Julian Assange.
Modi’s profile was written by author Pankaj Mishra and said, “Once barred from the United States for his suspected complicity in anti-Muslim violence, and politically ostracised at home as well, this Hindu nationalist used Twitter to bypass traditional media and speak directly to the masses feeling left or pushed behind by globalisation, and he promised to make India great again by rooting out self-serving elites.”
Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s profile was written by Infosys honcho Nandan Nilekani. It said, “In November, when India’s government unexpectedly scrapped 86% of the country’s currency notes, Vijay Shekhar Sharma seized the moment. As Indians scrambled to exchange the banned notes for new currency, Paytm, Sharma’s digital payments startup, went on a promotional spree.” It added that Paytm used “a flurry of ads” to get more people to download the app during that time.
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