3 Indian businessmen in Forbes' world power list

Only three Indian businessmen feature in Forbes magazine's first-ever World's Most Powerful People list: Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani, ArcelorMittal chairman Lakshmi N Mittal, and Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata.

In a list of 67 people, Ambani is at 44th spot, Mittal in 55th place and Tata is ranked as the 59th most powerful person in the world.

It's a different matter that terrorists like Dawood Ibrahim and Osama Bin Laden and a Mexican drug trafficker Jaoquin Guzman too feature in the strange list at ranks 50, 37 and 41, respectively.

Strangely, in a separate list of India's seven most powerful people, only two businessmen have been named: Infosys co-founder and UIDAI chief Nandan Nilekani and Ratan Tata.

Forbes said that it had prepared the list with four primary criteria in mind:

1. The number of people that a person influences;
2. A person's ability to project power beyond his/her immediate sphere of influence;
3. What kind of financial resources does the person control of have access to; and
4. How actively does the person wields his/her power.

Among the other most powerful people in the world from the world of business and media are Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, legendary investor Warren Buffett, and Apple chief Steve Jobs.

So check out who from the spheres of industry, banking, economics and media are the most powerful people in the world. . . .

Ben S Bernanke, chairman, of the US Federal Reserve, is ranked the 4th most powerful person in the world by Forbes.

Jointly at number five are Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, followed by Mexican telecom czar and chief executive of Telmex Carlos Slim Helu at number 6.

News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch is the world's 7th most powerful person, while Wal-Mart Stores CEO, Michael T. Duke (in picture) takes the eighth spot.

Microsoft czar and co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation William 'Bill' Gates III takes the 10th spot, whileGeneral Electric Company chairman Jeffery R Immelt is ranked 13th.

Warren Buffett, chief executive, of Berkshire Hathaway is the 14th most powerful person in the world.

Laurence D Fink, chairman of BlackRock Inc; Lloyd C Blankfein, chairman, Goldman Sachs Group; and Michael Bloomberg, New York Mayor founder Bloomberg LP takes the 16th, 18th and 20th spots in the power list.

United States Treasury Timothy Geithner (in picture) is in the 21st position, while Rex W Tillerson, chairman, ExxonMo Corp comes in at 22nd.

Hutchison Whampoa chairman Li Ka-shing is the 23rd most powerful person in the world.

European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet (25th); Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa (26th); Abu Dhabi Investment Authority managing director Sheikh Ahmed bin Zayed al Nahyan (27th); Toyota Motor Corporation CEO Akio Toyoda (28th) and JPMorgan Chase chairman James S Dimon (30th) too feature in the list.

Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani (in picture) is ranked 44th followed by media personality Oprah Winfrey in the 45th.

International Monetary Fund managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn is the 47th position, followed by People's Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan in the 48th.

The New York Times executive editor William Keller is in 51st spot, Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy chairman Bernard Arnault in the 52nd, Al Jazeera director general Wadah Khanfar in the 54th, and ArcelorMittal chairman Lakshmi Mittal (in picture) is the world's 55th most powerful person.

Apple Inc chief executive officer Steve Jobs was ranked 57th in the power list by Forbes, followed by Canon chairman Fujio Mitarai in the 58th.

Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata (in picture) takes the 59th spot, followed by World Bank president Robert B. Zoellick in the 63rd.

British Broadcasting Corporation director general Mark John Thompson is in the 65th spot, while World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab has been ranked as the 66th most powerful person.