REIMAGINING THE FUTURE
RAHUL GANDHI PRESIDENT, INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS
By leading a vigorous election campaign in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat, steering his party to important by-election victories, displaying sharp political thinking to form an alliance in Karnataka, and reaching out across political lines to establish the idea of a Grand Alliance, Congress president Rahul Gandhi has emerged as India’s principal Opposition leader. The 48-year-old has launched an aggresive campaign against one of India’s most powerful governments, and given shape to a new Congress.
PELÉ FOOTBALL LEGEND
Among the many descriptions of Pelé, the one by Henry Kissinger perhaps best explains his longevity: “Most of today’s fans have never seen him play, and yet they feel he is part of their lives.” Pelé remains the only footballer to have won three World Cup titles. He has been named Fifa Player of the Century, and made Citizen of the World by the UN.
CAPT AMARINDER SINGH CHIEF MINISTER OF PUNJAB
Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh is a man of many talents: A scion of the erstwhile Patiala royal family, a former soldier and a prolific military historian and a consummate politician. He led the Congress to a spectacular comeback in the 2017 Punjab assembly elections, and took the helm of the state for the second time. One of the few politicians who are not afraid to speak their minds, Amarinder has churned out several books on war and Sikh history.
PV SINDHU BADMINTON PLAYER
The first Indian to reach the Olympics badminton final, the first to do the same at the Asian Games, the first to reach two world championship finals, Pusarla Venkata Sindhu is one of India’s greatest sporting stars. At the age of 23, she has already won the Khel Ratna, the Arjuna award and the Padma Shri. Her breakthrough year was 2013, when she won in Malaysia and Macau and bagged bronze in the world championship, the first by an Indian. In 2016, she played the final of the Olympics. She lost, but became India’s youngest individual silver medallist.
DEEPIKA PADUKONE ACTOR
Deepika Padukone has taken Mumbai by storm. She is considered one of the most bankable leading ladies in the Hindi film industry. Deepika’s career progression is defined by the fact that top directors have written films with her as the protagonist.
TWINKLE KHANNA AUTHOR, COLUMNIST AND FILM PRODUCER
Twinkle Khanna is an author, columnist, film producer, former actor and interior designer. Known for her witty style of writing, she was named India’s highestselling female writer of 2015 for Mrs Funnybones. She followed it up with a second successful book, The Legend of Lakshmi Prasad. Her latest book, Pyjamas are Forgiving, is now getting rave reviews.
DR SHEKHAR SAXENA VISITING PROFESSOR, HARVARD TH CHAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Dr Shekhar Saxena is a psychiatrist with about 30 years of experience in research and programme management, service delivery and information systems in the area of mental health. Dr Saxena was one of the writers of the World Health Report 2001 on mental health.
ARUN JAITLEY MINISTER OF FINANCE AND CORPORATE AFFAIRS
When it is to do with fuel price rise, the government turns to one man to explain the global context of the crisis. When it is under attack on the Rafale deal, it is him again, articulating a strong case on behalf of the government. When the government is being criticised over allegations of interfering in the judiciary, he defends its record. When it comes to portraying achievements, or launching a fierce attack on opponents, few can do a more eloquent job. And these are just a few reasons why finance minister Arun Jaitley is the BJP’s troubleshooter.
WILL SMITH ACTOR, PRODUCER AND MUSICIAN
American actor Will Smith has been ranked as one of the world’s most bankable stars. Smith gained prominence as a rapper and actor during the ‘80s, with a starring role in the hit sitcom, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. He is a two-time Oscar nominee for his roles in The Pursuit of Happyness and for playing legendary boxer Muhammad Ali in the 2001 biopic.
HD KUMARASWAMY CHIEF MINISTER OF KARNATAKA
Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy, the third son of former prime minister HD Deve Gowda, is considered his father’s political heir. Having taken charge as the CM for the second time, Kumaraswamy has already bettered his father’s record. He is credited with bringing many popular programmes, especially the Janata Darshan, where he regularly meets people to address their problems directly.
HIMA DAS ATHLETE
Before July 12 this year, not many would have known where Dhing was. That changed after a track run in Tampere, Finland, which fetched Assam girl Hima Das the 400m gold in the world under-20 championship, the first by an Indian. The journey from relative obscurity to fame took all of 51.46 seconds. Given the gap she opened up on the home stretch, it could actually have been shorter. Hima hasn’t looked back since. They now call her the Dhing Express.
RANVEER SINGH ACTOR
Ranveer Singh is the quintessential Bollywood hero — he can play the boy next door in a romantic comedy, transform into a warrior for a period drama, and then beat up baddies to pulp in a masala entertainer. Several of his films have been box-office successes.
AMISH TRIPATHI AUTHOR
Titles from the Shiva Trilogy and the Ram Chandra series by 44-year-old Amish Tripathi are permanent fixtures on the Indian fiction bestseller lists. His books take off from Hindu mythology and feature fresh and imaginative retellings of episodes from the lives of deities. Tripathi brings a sensibility to his work that is both traditional and modern.
DAVID SPIEGEL MD, WILLSON PROFESSOR AND ASSOCIATE CHAIR OF PSYCHIATRY AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES, STANFORD UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
Dr David Spiegel has been a member of the academic faculty at Stanford since 1975, and was Chair of the Faculty Senate from 2010 to 2011. He has 40 years of clinical and research experience, studying psycho-oncology, stress and health, pain control, psychoneuroendocrinology, sleep, hypnosis, and conducting randomised clinical trials involving psychotherapy for cancer patients. He has published 12 books, 383 journal articles and 167 book chapters on hypnosis, psychosocial oncology and other topics.
RAJNATH SINGH MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS
Rajnath Singh’s stature in the National Democratic Alliance drives him to perform multiple roles. As home minister, he has taken the initiative to tackle threats of Left-wing extremism and insurgency in the north-east. The Bharatiya Janata Party’s chief when it stormed to power in 2014, Singh is an interlocutor used by the Prime Minister to reach out to key actors across party lines.
PIYUSH GOYAL MINISTER OF RAILWAYS AND COAL
Few leaders have been entrusted with the range of responsibilities in the National Democratic Alliance government as Piyush Goyal. He was a key backroom strategist who played a role in resource mobilisation as the Bharatiya Janata Party treasurer in the run-up to the 2014 elections. But it is in the government that Goyal’s skills and professionalism came to light. As minister of power, he was responsible for the flagship initiative of electrifying villages. As minister of coal, he brought about a shift towards transparency in the coal policy. After a series of rail accidents, he was brought in as minister in charge of railways.
DEVENDRA FADNAVIS CHIEF MINISTER OF MAHARASHTRA
Devendra Fadnavis, 48, is the 18th chief minister of Maharashtra and the second youngest to hold the top job in the state. A four-term legislator from Nagpur and a former Bharatiya Janata Party state president, Fadnavis began his political career in the 1990s. One of his key initiatives that could potentially transform rural Maharashtra is the Jalyukt Shivar programme that aims to make the state drought-free by 2025.
HEENA SIDHU SHOOTER
In April 2014, Heena Sidhu, now 29 years old, became the first Indian pistol shooter to be the World No. 1. In the same year, she set a world record in the 10m air pistol event, securing a score of 203.8. Sidhu has a total of four World Cup medals, an equal number of medals from the Commonwealth Games, three medals spread over three editions of the Asian Games, a Commonwealth Championship gold and a gold and a silver medal from the Asian championships.
ANGELA MISSONI CREATIVE DIRECTOR, MISSONI
Angela Missoni is the creative director and president of one of the most renowned knitwear brands, Missoni. She debuted her first line for the label in 1997. She is now grooming her daughter Margherita, who is working on accessories and a swim line, as her successor.
STEVE McCURRY PHOTOGRAPHER AND VISUAL STORYTELLER
With rolls of film stitched on to his clothes, Steve McCurry crossed into Afghanistan before the Russian invasion in 1979 to photograph the conflict and won the Robert Capa Gold Medal for Best Photographic Reporting from Abroad. His desire to document cultures led him to photograph the monsoon across Southeast Asia and Northern Australia. His portrait of the Afghan girl is possibly the most recognisable image in the world. He has brought the medium of photography to the masses.
DR HUIYAO WANG FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT, CENTER FOR CHINA AND GLOBALIZATION (CCG)
Dr Huiyao Wang is the Founder and President of Center for China and Globalization, the leading Chinese think tank that has made it into the world’s top 100 think tanks of the year 2017 ranked by the University of Pennsylvania. Dr Wang is Counselor of the China State Council.
DIPAK MISRA FORMER CHIEF JUSTICE OF INDIA
Justice Dipak Misra, who retired as India’s 45th Chief Justice on October 2, has presided over several important cases, and has been part of Supreme Court benches that have delivered landmark judgments, including those decriminalising homosexuality, establishing the constitutional validity of Aadhaar while protecting the rights of individuals, and allowing women of all ages to enter the Sabarimala hill shrine. He became the Chief Justice of India on August 28, 2017.
KAMAL HAASAN ACTOR, FILMMAKER AND FOUNDER, MAKKAL NEEDHI MAIAM
With the recent launch of his political party, Makkal Needhi Maiam, veteran actor Kamal Haasan has reinvented himself. Haasan, well known for his skills as an actor, played diverse roles in an illustrious career spanning several decades. Haasan began his acting career as a child artiste in Kalathur Kannamma, released in 1960. He starred in many iconic movies in Tamil, a language that is very dear to him. Haasan has more than acting to his credit — he has also directed and written the scripts for many movies. His fans fondly call him Ulaga Nayagan — The Hero of the Universe. Haasan has received the National Award for acting three times. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1990 and the Padma Bhushan in 2014.
S JAISHANKAR PRESIDENT, GLOBAL CORPORATE AFFAIRS, TATA SONS AND FORMER FOREIGN SECRETARY OF INDIA
S Jaishankar, who served as India’s foreign secretary from January 2015 to January 2018, is currently the president of global corporate affairs at the Tata group. During his stint as the foreign secretary, Jaishankar played a key role in fashioning the NDA government’s foreign policy that marked a break with the past. Jaishankar’s time in the position was the longest in almost four decades, and he left his mark on negotiations on key issues with China and the US.
RICHARD ALLAN VP POLICY SOLUTIONS, FACEBOOK
Richard Allan has the crucial task of finding policy fixes at Facebook for important issues such as privacy, freedom of expression and online child safety. Allan is vice president (policy solutions) at the social networking giant since March this year. He is focused on the conduct of politics online, the digital economy, Messenger services and global connectivity. Allan was an elected member of the UK parliament for eight years between 1997 and 2005, and was appointed to the House of Lords in 2010.
TARUN TAHILIANI FASHION DESIGNER
Designer Tarun Tahiliani is known for his signature style of infusing modern design sensibilities with the Indian heritage of draped form. Having spearheaded a fashion and retail revolution of sorts, Tahiliani has showcased his collections in several domestic and international markets.
JEAN-PIERRE CABESTAN PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNMENT AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES, HONG KONG BAPTIST UNIVERSITY
Jean-Pierre Cabestan is a professor at the Department of Government and International Studies, Hong Kong Baptist University. He is also an associate researcher at the Asia Centre, Paris and at the French Centre for Research on Contemporary China in Hong Kong. He has published a range of articles and papers on China’s political system and reform, Chinese law, the relations across the Taiwan Strait, and Taiwanese politics. His most recent book is China Tomorrow: Democracy or Dictatorship?