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Modi, Satyarthi on Fortune list of greatest leaders
New York, March 27
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi and Nobel laureate and child rights activist Kailash Satyarthi
figure among the Fortune magazine's 2015 list of the world's 50 greatest
leaders who are transforming “business, government and philanthropyâ€.
While Modi is ranked fifth, Satyarthi comes in at 28th on the list that is topped by Apple CEO Tim Cook.
“Modi
rode to victory in (the Indian general) elections last year on a wave
of economic dissatisfaction,†the profile on the Indian prime minister
reads.
“But while many reformers before him have talked a good
game, Modi has actually begun to deliver on his promises -- making
genuine progress in his efforts to make India more business-friendly and
less regulated, addressing violence against women, improving
sanitation, and patching up relations with other Asian countries and the
US. There is, to be sure, a long way to go,†it stated.
According
to the magazine, fully achieving any of Modi's goals “will require
reforming India’s powerful, widely corrupt bureaucracyâ€.
“But he
has put the bureaucrats on notice while taking action where he can --
for example, by substantially increasing allowable foreign investment in
the insurance industry. And in greatly simplifying the procedure for
getting a visa to visit India, he has symbolically lowered the status of
bureaucrats and raised that of potential outside investors,†it stated.
The magazine said that Modi seized control of the national
agenda and “sent a message that it’s time for all of India -- not just
its infotech services sector -- to join the 21st centuryâ€.
“The IMF and other forecasters now believe India will be growing faster than China in a year or two,†it said.
Regarding
Satyarthi, who shared the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize with Pakistani girls'
education activist Malala Yousufzai, the magazine said the Indian child
rights activist “has led the global fight against child labour for more
than three decadesâ€.
“Founded in 1980, his Bachpan Bachao
Andolan (Save Childhood Movement) has protected the rights of some
83,000 children around the world. Child labour, he says, is as much an
economic issue, perpetuating poverty and illiteracy, as it is about
human rights. In any case, no one has done as much to prevent it as he
has,†Satyarthi's profile reads.
Among others to figure on the
list are European Central Bank president Mario Draghi (second), Chinese
President Xi Jinping (third), Pope Francis (fourth), General Motors CEO
Mary Barra (9th), Hong Kong student activist and a leader of last year's
Occupy Central movement Joshua Wong (10th), Bill and Melinda Gates
(18th), Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg (25th), Uber CEO Travis
Kalanick (44th) and Japanese botanist and plant ecology expert Akira
Miyawaki (50th).
Raj Panjabi, the Indian-origin CEO of the
non-profit organisation Last Mile Health that works in Liberia to save
lives in some of the most remote villages, figures at number 34 on the
list.
Panjabi, who spent the first nine years of his life in Liberia, fled that country after a civil war broke out.
“In
2007 he went back -- this time with a medical degree and a mission: to
train villagers in remote areas to be health care workers,†Panjabi's
profile reads.
“Seven years later, when Ebola struck, Panjabi’s
Last Mile Health rapidly trained 1,300 Liberians -- an army that helped
keep the virus at bay in many parts of the country. Now he’s working
with Liberia’s government to launch a national community health worker
programme.â€