Modi tops list of global decision-makers

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been named the top decision-maker on a list of 100 global thinkers by an American foreign policy magazine.

Modi is at the top, followed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah on the list of the 100 Global Thinkers by the Foreign Policy magazine. "By India's 2014 elections...Modi had convinced many that his record as a charismatic, business-friendly leader made him just the person to revive India's flagging growth. His speeches drew hundreds of thousands, and he reached millions via three-D holographic projections," the magazine said.

It also referred to the US visa ban on Modi following the 2002 Gujarat riots when he was the state's chief minister.

On Shah, the magazine praised the 50-year-old leader for "building a formidable campaign machine" in Uttar Pradesh, where he had directed the BJP to victory in the polls. "...Shah exhibited an almost other-worldly understanding of how to make candidate Narendra Modi appeal to Indians. His deft image management balanced the human with the superhuman," the magazine said.

State Bank of India Chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya has also made it to the list for "telling hard truths about India's debt". The list also included CGNet Swara founder Shubhranshu Choudhary for giving rural Indians a megaphone.

The other Indians figured in the list are India National PolioPlus Committee Chairman Deepak Kapur and Sangeeta Bhatia, an engineer and physician from Cambridge, for creating a kinder alternative to the colonoscopy.

Atmospheric scientist Veerabhadran Ramanathan and economist Partha Dasgupta were also named among the top global thinkers.