Saturday, December 13, 2025
ADVT 
National

Obama Writes About PM Modi In Time Magazine, Calls Him 'India's Reformer-in-chief'

Darpan News Desk, 16 Apr, 2015 12:51 PM
    Headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whom President Barack Obama calls "India's reformer-in-chief", four people of Indian origin figure in the Time magazine's list of the World's 100 most influential people this year.
     
    Besides Modi, others on the influential magazine's list of 100 Titans, Pioneers, Artists, Leaders and Icons include Chanda Kochhar, managing director and CEO of ICICI Bank, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadela, and Vikram Patel, co-founder of the NGO Sangath.
     
    In his profile of Modi, the commander-in-chief of the world's most powerful country notes, "As a boy, Narendra Modi helped his father sell tea to support their family.
     
     
    "Today, he's the leader of the world's largest democracy, and his life story -- from poverty to Prime Ministera -- reflects the dynamism and potential of India's rise," Obama writes.
     
    Reflecting his close relationship with Modi, Obama referring to him by his first name recalls that when "he came to Washington, Narendra and I visited the memorial to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr".
     
     
    "We reflected on the teachings of King and Gandhi and how the diversity of backgrounds and faiths in our countries is a strength we have to protect," he wrote.
     
    "Prime Minister Modi recognises that more than one billion Indians living and succeeding together can be an inspiring model for the world," Obama wrote.
     
    "Like India, he transcends the ancient and the modern -- a devotee of yoga who connects with Indian citizens on Twitter and imagines a 'digital India'," Obama wrote.
     
    Chanda Kochhar is described by Anshu Jain, co-chief executive officer of Deutsche Bank, as "A banker with vision and reach."
     
    "She has brought India's largest private bank a global vision and impressive returns, while also reaching out to the nation's masses with branches in remote villages where banks simply didn't exist," Jain writes.
     
    Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is billed as "The turnaround artist" who is "setting Microsoft up for greatness again".
     
    "Changes that once would have been considered blasphemous -- releasing open-source software, building on iOS and Android and even making Windows free in some cases -- are turning Microsoft around," says Aaron Levie, the CEO of Box.
     
     
    Vikram Patel, co-founder of the NGO Sangath and the Centre for Global Mental Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, is described as a "Well-being warrior".
     
    "He helps spread the simple yet profound idea of mental health for all. He provides hope that mental illness and trauma make us neither weak nor unworthy of love and respect," writes Barbara Van Dahlen, founder of Give an Hour and the Campaign to Change Direction.
     
    The annual TIME 100 issue, the magazine says "tells 100 stories of individual influence. But taken together, these stories are an anthem to interaction, the convergence that occurs when you harmonise a good idea".
     
    For the third straight year, Pakistani education activist Malala Yousafzai, 17, is the youngest person on the list.
     
    The oldest person on the list is Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi, who at 88 finds himself the steward of the Arab world's youngest democracy.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Two UBC Scientists Resign Over Lack Of Women Nominations

    Two UBC Scientists Resign Over Lack Of Women Nominations
    Two female researchers tasked with helping to recognize the top scientists in the country have stepped down from their duties to protest lack of recognition for other women in the field.

    Two UBC Scientists Resign Over Lack Of Women Nominations

    Manitoba Kids In Care Stay In Jail Longer Due To Lack Of Foster Spots: Watchdog

    Manitoba Kids In Care Stay In Jail Longer Due To Lack Of Foster Spots: Watchdog
    WINNIPEG — Manitoba's children's advocate says kids in the care of social services are being kept in jail long after they should be released because there is nowhere else to put them.

    Manitoba Kids In Care Stay In Jail Longer Due To Lack Of Foster Spots: Watchdog

    Federal Government Kicks Off Another Auction For Wireless Spectrum

    OTTAWA — Smaller players — even some relatively obscure ones — in Canada's wireless market will likely gain a little ground on the bigger telecom companies through the federal government's latest auctioning of spectrum, says one industry expert.

    Federal Government Kicks Off Another Auction For Wireless Spectrum

    Patrol Ship To Be Named After Nurse Decorated For Gallantry In War

    Defence Minister Jason Kenney says the ship will be named after Margaret Brooke, who was decorated for gallantry in combat during the Second World War.

    Patrol Ship To Be Named After Nurse Decorated For Gallantry In War

    Not All Crudes Created Equal: University Of Calgary Researcher

    Not All Crudes Created Equal: University Of Calgary Researcher
    CALGARY — Some types of crude oil are much worse than others when it comes to their role in climate change.

    Not All Crudes Created Equal: University Of Calgary Researcher

    Most Premiers Attending Meeting On Climate Change In Quebec City

    Most Premiers Attending Meeting On Climate Change In Quebec City
    QUEBEC — Most of Canada's provincial and territorial premiers are meeting to discuss climate change, a day after Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne announced her province is joining Quebec and California in a cap-and-trade system.

    Most Premiers Attending Meeting On Climate Change In Quebec City