Thursday, August 20, 2009

100 Most Powerful Women in the World

Forbes magazine has come with the list of 100 Most Powerful Women in the world for this year. That magazine measures “power” in combination with public profile and financial weight.

Again, for the third year consecutively, German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, is rated number one. Sheila Bair, Chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, USA, is rated number two. Indra Nooyi, Chief Executive of Pepsi, is rated number 3.

There are five Indian/Indian Origin/Naturalized Indian women in that top 100 list. They are:

3. Indra Nooyi, Chief Executive of Pepsi

13. Sonia Gandhi, President, Indian National Congress Party

20. Chandra Kochhar, Chief Executive, ICICI Bank

63. Navanethem Pillay, High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations (South Africa)

91. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairman, Biocon

Congratulations to all five of them.

Let us hope next year this number will double.

Oh by the way, Hillary Clinton is 36, Michelle Obama is 40, and Queen Elizabeth is 42.

I am surprised Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, is ranked only 35. She is 2nd in line to succeed Barack Obama as President of the United States, after Joe Biden, Vice President. The role of the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives is very different from the role of the Speaker of British or Indian Parliament. Speaker is chosen by the U.S. House of Representatives, and he/she is usually the leader of the majority party in the House.

U.S. Presidents cannot make law. It is the job of the House and Senate. Whether we like it or not, laws made in the U.S. affect every country in the world. No law can be passed in the U.S. House of Representatives without the blessings from the Speaker. Therefore, in my opinion, the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, is a very powerful person.
Posted by at
Labels:

24 comments:

  1. shilpaAugust 20, 2009 at 3:17 PM

    This was amazing i loved it .Its nice to know that somebody appreciates women

    ReplyDelete
  2. Who Posted This?August 20, 2009 at 3:33 PM

    This list is a joke.
    Why isn’t my name near the top? In fact, where is my name?

    I’m already the most powerful MILF in the world.
    I’m also #1 on the most powerful Cougars list.
    In about 3.5 years I’ll be #1 on this list as well.

    Regards,
    Sarah Palin

    ReplyDelete
  3. VivekAugust 20, 2009 at 3:42 PM

    I see two of the five women are of Tamil origin. Indra Nooyi and Navanethem Pillay. All we are waiting for the Tamil Nadu Government to claim responsibility that this is the personal achievement of Mr. Karunanidhi and have a week long celebration. If someone should ask what did he do, then a statement will be issued that he wrote to Malcolm Steve Forbes, Jr. recommending inclusion of these two names in the list.

    ReplyDelete
  4. SGAugust 20, 2009 at 5:10 PM

    Thanks for your comments Shilpa.

    ReplyDelete
  5. SGAugust 20, 2009 at 5:14 PM

    Thanks for your comments Sarah. Yes, they made a mistake. You should have been in the top 10. In fact they should have given you the top spot for just answering the question, what is the role of a Vice President.

    You replied: I can't answer that question until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the VP does every day?"

    ReplyDelete
  6. SGAugust 20, 2009 at 5:21 PM

    Thanks for your comments Vivek.

    Just curious. Where do you live? I am just interested to know because some of your comments are made in the afternoon USA time and some are made in the afternoon India time. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Varsha ShroteAugust 21, 2009 at 12:58 AM

    Great,SG! Good to know your opinion about these women. But I still feel a glass ceiling still exists for women in every field.But congratulations to all five of them...Indian women rock!!
    Well,in my list of the powerful women-Mother Teresa and Kiran Bedi are all-time toppers:-)

    ReplyDelete
  8. InsigniaAugust 21, 2009 at 1:22 AM

    So sad...Mayawatiji and Jayalalithaaji didn't make it to the list....sob...sob

    ReplyDelete
  9. sujata senguptaAugust 21, 2009 at 2:42 AM

    That was a great post. really feel proud of all the five Indian women!

    ReplyDelete
  10. SGAugust 21, 2009 at 5:51 AM

    Thanks for your comments Varsha. This is this year's list.

    ReplyDelete
  11. SGAugust 21, 2009 at 5:54 AM

    Thanks for your comments Insignia. Mayawatiji and Jayalalithaaji are a notch behind Sarah Palinji. Did you forgot to mention Mamtaji?

    ReplyDelete
  12. SGAugust 21, 2009 at 5:55 AM

    Thanks for your comments Sujata. We are all proud of these five women.

    ReplyDelete
  13. InsigniaAugust 21, 2009 at 7:27 AM

    Mamtaji is a lil' behind these two. Two is a company, three is a crowd you see :-P

    ReplyDelete
  14. SGAugust 21, 2009 at 7:54 AM

    Thanks for your explanation Insigniaji. I stand corrected.

    ReplyDelete
  15. NRAugust 21, 2009 at 7:55 AM

    Oh definitely nice to see Indians on the top!!!
    Who know they may be targeting the Indian market..so ranking them on the top as this gets them eyeballs in the Indian Market!! Can be ?

    ReplyDelete
  16. SGAugust 21, 2009 at 8:19 AM

    Thanks for your comments Nazish. In this commercial world anything is possible. So, you could be right.

    ReplyDelete
  17. NehaAugust 22, 2009 at 1:49 AM

    quite informative I must say...U have put in a lot of effort in this and thts evident...good job..tc :)

    ReplyDelete
  18. SGAugust 22, 2009 at 6:44 AM

    Thanks for your comments Neha. I appreciate it.

    ReplyDelete
  19. AparnaAugust 22, 2009 at 7:07 AM

    That was a real good read.
    I understand about all these women but queen Elizabeth? Why is she powerful?
    Good to see some Indian women in that list, hopefully next year there will be some more. ( But please not mayawatiji, jayalalithaji and mamataji).

    ReplyDelete
  20. SGAugust 22, 2009 at 7:29 AM

    Thanks for your comments Aparna. I think they rank women based on their public profile (name appearing in newspapers and TVs) and the amount of money they control. Queen Elizabeth’s name appears in newspapers and TVs for one reason or other.

    I agree with your views on this triumvirate.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Ankita August 22, 2009 at 7:37 AM

    hii
    arrey yaar dont believe this list, the FBI and the governments conspired to remove my name from the very first position ...they are soo partial ...;D


    hahah!!

    ReplyDelete
  22. SGAugust 22, 2009 at 7:56 AM

    ASji,

    Don't worry. Next year I will talk to Steve Forbes personally and make sure your name is included.

    ReplyDelete
  23. SmithaAugust 25, 2009 at 7:22 AM

    That was very interesting!

    And that bit about Nancy Pelosi was news to me!

    ReplyDelete
  24. SGAugust 25, 2009 at 2:35 PM

    Thanks for your comments Smitha. Nancy Pelosi is soft spoken but a tough cookie.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)