Sonia among top 10 powerful people in world

WASHINGTON - India’s ruling Congress chief Sonia Gandhi is among the top 10 most powerful people in the world, according to Forbes magazine which placed Chinese President Hu Jintao on the top of the list.

Sonia, who is ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (18th), comes in ninth on the list of World’s Most Powerful People released Wednesday.

The other Indians who made it to the list are telecom mogul Sunil Mittal (44th) and industrialist Ratan Tata (61st).

Chinese President Hu Jintao has been named the most powerful person, ahead of US President Barack Obama, who topped last year’s rankings.

According to the magazine, the list comprises “the 68 who matter” of the 6.8 billion people on the planet.

The Forbes 2010 list contains heads of state, major religious figures and entrepreneurs. Forbes said they were chosen “because, in various ways, they bend the world to their will”.

The top 10 also included Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al Saud (3rd), Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (4th), Pope Benedict XVI (5th), German Chancellor Angela Merkel (6th), British Prime Minister David Cameron (7th) and chairman of the US Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke (8th).