Sunday, December 14, 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

    U.S. Sperm Bank Sued By Canadian Couple Says It Didn't Verify Donor Information

    U.S. Sperm Bank Sued By Canadian Couple Says It Didn't Verify Donor Information
    A U.S.-based sperm bank says it didn't verify the information of a donor that is at the heart of a lawsuit by a Canadian couple who allege they weren't told their donor was a schizophrenic with a criminal record.

    U.S. Sperm Bank Sued By Canadian Couple Says It Didn't Verify Donor Information

    Crews Work To Contain Fuel Spill In Vancouver's English Bay

    Crews Work To Contain Fuel Spill In Vancouver's English Bay
    VANCOUVER — A fuel spill has spread over areas of Vancouver's English Bay, coating waters in an oily sheen.

    Crews Work To Contain Fuel Spill In Vancouver's English Bay

    Taxpayers Not Made To Foot The Bill For Harper Makeup Artist: Government Source

    Taxpayers Not Made To Foot The Bill For Harper Makeup Artist: Government Source
    OTTAWA — The prime minister might have had his makeup done alongside Sen. Mike Duffy in 2010 on one of their many appearances together, but a government source says the taxpayer didn't pick up the tab for that type of service.

    Taxpayers Not Made To Foot The Bill For Harper Makeup Artist: Government Source

    Ontario Still Has Concerns About Prostitution Law Despite Constitutionality

    TORONTO — Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne says her government's review of Canada's new prostitution law may have found it to be constitutional, but it hasn't "entirely" alleviated her concerns about the law.

    Ontario Still Has Concerns About Prostitution Law Despite Constitutionality

    Canadian CF-18 Jets Bomb Targets In Syria For The First Time: Jason Kenney

    Canadian CF-18 Jets Bomb Targets In Syria For The First Time: Jason Kenney
    OTTAWA — Canadian warplanes have bombed their first targets in Syria, Defence Minister Jason Kenney announced online late Wednesday.

    Canadian CF-18 Jets Bomb Targets In Syria For The First Time: Jason Kenney

    Fellow Suspendee Patrick Brazeau Shows Up At Mike Duffy's Senate-scandal Trial

    Fellow Suspendee Patrick Brazeau Shows Up At Mike Duffy's Senate-scandal Trial
    OTTAWA — Suspended senator Patrick Brazeau is attending the trial of Mike Duffy, his former Conservative colleague.

    Fellow Suspendee Patrick Brazeau Shows Up At Mike Duffy's Senate-scandal Trial