TIME magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people of 2022 includes billionaire Gautam Adani, advocate Karuna Nundy, who has been championing the cause of the criminalization of marital rape in India, and human rights activist Khurram Parvez, who is currently in jail as part of an investigation in a terror-funding case in Kashmir.
Apart from them, Indian American Bela Bajaria, the head of Global TV at OTT platform, Netflix, is also part of TIME’s list.
Adani, who recently featured in the Forbes richest people in the world at rank 11, is among the “Titans” featured in the TIME’s list. He also ranked seventh on The Indian Express’ list of 100 most powerful Indians this year, having built the third Indian business conglomerate worth over $100 billion in no time.
Adani is an industrialist, who had just last month, edged past Warren Buffet to become the 5th richest man in the world, and is the owner of multiple top brands across sectors. “Adani’s once regional business now spans airports, private ports, solar and thermal power, and consumer goods,” read his profile by TIME.
According to the magazine, Adani Group is now a national behemoth in the world’s sixth-largest economy, even though Gautam Adani stays out of the public eye, “quietly building his empire”.
Nundy and Parvez found their place under the Leaders category with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
The magazine called Karuna Nundy “not just a lawyer but also a public activist who ably—and bravely—uses her voice both inside and outside the courtroom to bring about change”.
What Magzine says
The billionaire’s profile in TIME states: “Like many countries that have in the past created global conglomerates this way, India is also undergoing an unprecedented concentration of economic and political power that reinforce one another.
On the other hand, have been featured on the list of “Leaders”. Nundy’s profile, written by Supreme Court advocate Menaka Guruswamy, states: “Karuna Nundy is not just a lawyer but also a public activist who ably—and bravely—uses her voice both inside and outside the courtroom to bring about change.”
Nundy on Twitter wrote that she was “startled and most deeply honored” to be part of the list.
Parvez’s profile, written by journalist Rana Ayyub, states: “The soft-spoken Khurram is almost a modern-day David who gave a voice to families that lost their children to enforced disappearances, allegedly by the Indian state.
Khurram is the story and the storyteller of the insurgency and the betrayal of the people of Kashmir.”
Parvez was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in November last year in connection with a case filed under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), including terror funding. In March this year, the NIA court extended the investigation period and the detention of the accused by 50 days.
The 100 people in categories such as Icons, Pioneers, Titans, Artists, Leaders, and Innovators. Top global leaders include US President Joe Biden, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Some of the Titans include Apple CEO, Tim Cook, US television show host Oprah Winfrey and Indonesian Michelle Yeoh; Icons included tennis pro-Rafael Nadal, while Artists included actors Mila Kunis and Sarah Jessica Parker of the Sex and the City fame.
