{"id":16402,"date":"2017-04-22T00:38:17","date_gmt":"2017-04-22T07:38:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/?p=16402"},"modified":"2017-04-22T00:39:18","modified_gmt":"2017-04-22T07:39:18","slug":"modi-paytm-founder-in-time-most-influential-people-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/modi-paytm-founder-in-time-most-influential-people-list\/","title":{"rendered":"Modi, Paytm Founder in Time ‘Most Influential People List’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks during Civil Services Day 2017 function in New Delhi, April 21. (Manvender Vashist\/PTI)<\/em><\/p>\n

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@Siliconeer #Siliconeer #India #Paytm #NarendraModi #NaMo @narendramodi #VijayShekharSharma #TimeMostInfluentialPeople \u2013\u00a0Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma were the only two Indians to make it to an annual list of ‘100 most influential people in the world’ this year released by the Time<\/i> magazine, April 20, writes Yoshita Singh.<\/b><\/p>\n

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The list features pioneers, artists, titans, leaders and icons from around the world honored for \u201cthe power of their inventions, the scale of their ambitions, the genius of their solutions to problems that no one before them could solve.\u201d<\/p>\n

The magazine has also included U.S. President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and British Prime Minister Theresa May in the new list of 100 most influential people.<\/p>\n

The profile of Modi, 66, written by author Pankaj Mishra, said that in May 2014 – long before Trump seemed conceivable as a U.S. president – Modi became the prime minister of the world\u2019s largest democracy.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce barred from the U.S. for his suspected complicity in anti-Muslim violence, and politically ostracized at home as well, this Hindu nationalist used Twitter to bypass traditional media and speak directly to masses feeling left or pushed behind by globalization, and he promised to make India great again by rooting out self-serving elites,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

Nearly three years after he came to power, Modi\u2019s vision of India\u2019s economic, geopolitical and cultural supremacy is far from being realized, the profile read, but his \u201cextended family of Hindu nationalists have taken to scapegoating secular and liberal intellectuals as well as poor Muslims.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYet Modi\u2019s aura remains undimmed. He is a maestro of the art of political seduction, playing on the existential fears and cultural insecurities of people facing downward or blocked mobility,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

Modi\u2019s elections victory in Uttar Pradesh, India\u2019s most politically significant state, by a landslide confirmed that \u201celected strongmen are the chief beneficiaries of a global revolt against elites.\u201d<\/p>\n

For 43-year-old Sharma, Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani wrote that when India\u2019s government unexpectedly scrapped 86 percent of the country\u2019s currency notes in November, Sharma \u201cseized the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Indians scrambled to exchange the banned notes for new currency, Paytm, Sharma\u2019s digital payments startup, went on a promotional spree, inviting Indians to start using Paytm\u2019s digital wallet to pay for everyday goods and services.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt worked. By the end of 2016, Paytm had 177 million users, compared with 122 million at the beginning of the year,\u201d Nilekani wrote.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
A sign advertising Indian electronic and cellphone-based payment system PayTM hangs at a roadside vegetable stall in Mumbai, Feb. 25. (Punit Paranjpe\/AFP\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sharma had \u201ccatapulted himself into a nation\u2019s consciousness. It was a masterstroke by a small-town boy who studied in a Hindi medium school before conquering the country\u2019s Anglophone startup world,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

Paytm is now backed by the chief of China\u2019s Alibaba, Jack Ma, and Sharma is branching out into the more heavily regulated world of banking, with plans to offer digital accounts. \u201cHe will face new challenges from deep-pocketed and more-experienced competitors. But knowing Vijay, he will win the next time around too,\u201d his profile read.<\/p>\n

Modi had been named among the probable contenders for Time <\/i>magazine\u2019s annual honor this year but had not got any votes in the online reader\u2019s poll.<\/p>\n

The final list of the 100 most influential people is chosen by Time<\/i> editors.<\/p>\n

The Indian leader was named among Time\u2019s<\/i> 100 most influential people in 2015 and former U.S. president Barack Obama had written a profile for him for the magazine.<\/p>\n

Last year, Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan, tennis star Sania Mirza, actress Priyanka Chopra, Google\u2019s India-born CEO Sundar Pichai and founders of Indian e-commerce major Flipkart Binny Bansal and Sachin Bansal were among Time\u2019s<\/i> 100 most influential people.<\/p>\n

This year, the list includes America\u2019s new president, his daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner, Pope Francis, Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.<\/p>\n

In a profile of Trump, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Paul Ryan said the real-estate tycoon \u201calways finds a way to get it done.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen so many, including me at times, didn\u2019t see how he could pull it off, Donald Trump won a historic victory. And in becoming the 45th<\/sup> president of the United States, he completely rewrote the rules of politics and reset the course of this country,\u201d Ryan said.<\/p>\n

The list also includes Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, philanthropist Melinda Gates, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, FBI Director James Comey, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, British actor Rizwan Ahmed, American actress Emma Stone, musician Ed Sheeran and Oscar-winner Viola Davis.<\/p>\n

Controversial Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who had won Time<\/i> magazine\u2019s readers\u2019 poll of the 100 most influential people, was also on the list, along with Trump\u2019s chief strategist Stephen Bannon and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who won the much-debated referendum that increased his governing powers.<\/p>\n

Time<\/i> Editor Nancy Gibbs said this year\u2019s list includes \u201cactive opponents\u201d \u2013 not only Trump and the North Korean leader, but also the Philippine president and his nemesis Senator Leila de Lima, whose denunciation of Duterte\u2019s bloody crusade against drug dealers has landed her in prison.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd there are several people on the list whose influence is the subject of heated debate, from WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to FBI Director James Comey to White House adviser Stephen Bannon. Each has champions and critics; all are shaping the course of this turbulent year,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn divisive times, it\u2019s tempting to nestle in a comfort zone, surrounded by people who look like us, think like us, pray like us, vote like us. Yet many of the men and women on this year\u2019s list are calling us out, using the technologies that connect us to expand how we see the world,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks during Civil Services Day 2017 function in New Delhi, April 21. (Manvender Vashist\/PTI) @Siliconeer #Siliconeer #India #Paytm #NarendraModi #NaMo @narendramodi #VijayShekharSharma #TimeMostInfluentialPeople \u2013\u00a0Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma were the only two Indians to make it to an annual list of ‘100 most influential people in…<\/p>\n

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