BENGALURU: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Reliance Industries chairperson Mukesh Ambani and Google chief executive officer Sundar Pichai are among more than 50 contenders for Time Person of the Year 2015.
To be announced next month, the Time magazine said the title will be given to the person who has “most influenced news this year for either for better or for worse”.
Time said Modi has “encouraged FDI inIndia and is trying to modernise the country”, adding the Indian leader has also “is responsible for birth of right-wing extremism”.
Modi, who was a contender for the last year’s honour too, was not selected by the Time, he was named winner of the readers’ poll; he bagged 16pct of the almost five million votes cast.
On Ambani, Time magazine said the chairperson, Reliance Industries is the richest person in India. “Reliance Industries virtually owns everything—from telecom properties to the world’s largest crude oil refinery”. One of the contenders is Pichai, who took charge as the tech giant’s CO.
In a separate poll, Modi was pitted against Chinese President Xi Jinping, while Ambani has been pitted against Nigerian President Muhammudu Buhari. Time asked its readers to vote for the individual who they think should bag the honour.
The winner of the reader’s choice poll will be announced in December before Time’s editors choose the individual from the 58 candidates as the Times Person of the Year.
Modi has so far got 1.3pct of the votes, the same as Pichai and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Ambani has garnered a mere 0.2pct of the votes cast. The other candidates in the fray include US President Barack Obama, French PresidentFrancois Hollande, Xi Jinping, IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Democratic Presidential front runner Hillary Clinton and last year’s winner Pope Francis.
From Mahatma Gandhi to Adolf Hitler and Elizabeth 2, Time has named a Person of the Year for the past nine decades. Time said 2015 is filled with newsmakers who have defined the year.
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