Hu tops list of world's most powerful person; Sonia ranks 9th

New York, Mar 10 (PTI) Chinese President Hu Jintao,
who rules over one-fifth of world's population, has topped the
list of world's most powerful person while UPA Chairperson and
Congress President Sonia Gandhi has been ranked ninth by the
US Forbes magazine.
Jintao has been described by the magazine as a person
who "unlike Western counterparts, can divert rivers, build
cities, jail dissidents and censor internet without meddling
from pesky bureaucrats, courts."
US President Barack Obama, who last year topped the
list, has been placed behind Hu at second while Saudi King
Abdullah stands third most powerful man in the world.
President of Indian National Congress Sonia Gandhi, at
ninth place, has been described as a person who wields
unequaled influence over 1.2 billion Indians and "after being
elected as Congress President for the record fourth term she
has cemented her status as true heiress to the Nehru-Gandhi
political dynasty."
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been ranked 18th
among the world's top 20 powerful people.
Forbes has described Singh as 'Soft-spoken Oxford-trained
economist credited with transforming India's quasi-socialist
economy into world's second-fastest growing'.
The other Indian who have made to the list include
Reliance Industries CMD Mukesh Ambani and NRI industrialist
Lakshmi Mittal who are ranked 34th and 44th respectively.
Pakistan's Army Chief Ashfaq Pervez Kayani has been
placed at 29th in the list, while Osama Bin Laden is at 57th
and India's most wanted Dawood Ibrahim is at 63th spot.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin holds the fourth
place and Pope Benedict XVI has been placed fifth, while
German Chancellor is at sixth place, British Prime Minister
David Cameron at seventh and Chairman of US Federal Reserve
Ben Bernanke is at eight place in the list.