The most powerful indians in 2010: No. 31-40

33 :Kapil Sibal,61
Union Education Minister
Why
He makes it to the list because in seven months he undid almost all of what his predecessor Arjun Singh did to education. From making Class X boards optional to cleaning up the education sector (allowing the CBI to act against AICTE head) to passing the Right to Education bill to the crackdown on deemed universities,Sibal has been busy and effective.
Power punch
He pushed through the proposal to make Class X Boards optional in all 10,000 CBSE schools. He took on all the grandees who benefited from the deemed university racket.
What next
Topmost on his agenda are laws and rules that will allow foreign universities into India. He wants to put traction in the proposals of the National Knowledge Commission and the Prof Yashpal-led committee on higher education.

34 :L K Advani, 82
BJP Parliamentary Party chairman
Why
He drops down the list for obvious reasons: an election lost,a party-parliamentary post lost,a new leadership in the party. But he makes it in the top 40 because his word is still important in the BJP. RSS bosses have negotiated peace with him.
Power punch
He installed key confidantes Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley as leaders of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha respectively and ensured that neither Murli Manohar Joshi nor Rajnath Singh gained from his marginalisation. RSS-backed Nitin Gadkari became the party president also because his name figured in Advani’s list.
What next
When senior BJP leaders refer to him as their patron,they wish to deprive him of a hands-on role. He is not succumbing to these hints.

35 :Anil Ambani, 51
Industrialist
Why
Comes up a bit in our list although his flagship Reliance Communications is facing profit margin pressure,like any other telecom company. His plus is his big foray in global cinema. The third richest Indian,after elder brother Mukesh and LN Mittal,has big Hollywood plans. He owns a controlling stake in Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks studio and has struck deals with stars like Brad Pitt,Jim Carrey,Julia Roberts and George Clooney to finance their films.
Power punch
Reliance Infrastructure bagged the Rs 11,000 crore Mumbai Metro Line II project from Maharashtra government. He also bagged the Tilaiya Ultra Mega Power Project in Jharkhand that involves an investment of Rs 16,000 crore.
What next
Reliance Infratel is planning to launch a mega IPO this year.

36 :Shivshankar Menon,60
National Security Advisor
Why
Makes the list this year because he’s the new and,as PM hopes,improved NSA. His scheduled retirement came soon after the Sharm-el-Sheikh controversy. But he was kept in the loop on critical foreign policy discussions,especially on China. Menon’s Pakistan experience —he has been High Commissioner in Islamabad and used to have direct access to General Pervez Musharraf—will be crucial because Pakistan will be PM’s foreign policy priority.
Power punch
When MK Narayanan was eased out as NSA,he was PM’s first and only choice as replacement. He got Pranab Mukherjee’s support as well.
What next
Big thinking on Pakistan and China. He will also head the executive committee of the Nuclear Command Authority.

37 :G.M. Rao, 60
Chairman of GMR Group
Why
He makes it to the list because he owns one of the biggest infrastructure companies in the country. He is also one of the richest Indians (13th on the 2009 Forbes list). The group started as a jute mill in 1978 and has grown to one with interests in airports,energy,highways and SEZs.
Power punch
His company won the bid to privatise the Indira Gandhi International Airport,New Delhi,as well as to build and operate the country’s most modern Rajiv Gandhi International Airport near Hyderabad. He also owns the Delhi Daredevils team.
What next
The first phase of the Delhi airport will be commissioned in time for the Commonwealth Games. The GMR group’s first global project is to modernise the Istanbul airport.

38 :Arun Shourie, 68
BJP leader
Why
He makes it in this year’s list and in the top 40 because he has publicly and severely critiqued the BJP,and the party has let him do it. He is the intrepid crusader-intellectual who engages with the big questions of his time,often taking on holy cows,unafraid to put himself in the firing line for his convictions.
Power punch
In an interview with Indian Express editor-in-chief Shekhar Gupta on NDTV 24/7,after BJP’s defeat in the May 2009 polls,he spoke about the “great pygmyisation” of leadership and described the party as a kati patang. He urged the RSS to swiftly take hold of the BJP. And the RSS did.
What next
It remains to be seen if his candour and the BJP’s tolerance of it means that the party is moving towards a resolution of the vital questions.

39 :Aamir Khan, 44
Actor
Why
He has risen in the list this year,thanks to 3 Idiots that grossed Rs 375 crore (and still counting) in just four weeks,breaking his own film record of Rs 200 crore for Ghajini. Aamir’s production Peepli Live has been selected for the Sundance Festival. It will also be competing at the 60th Berlinale Festival. He continues to be associated with good causes that adds to his profile.
Power punch
He has signed a Rs 35 crore- endorsement deal with Etisalat mobiles—a UAE-based cellular giant set to launch its service in India. It is the biggest endorsement deal in Indian advertising history.
What next
Aamir,the actor,will be seen in wife Kiran Rao’s directorial debut,Dhobi Ghaat,his producing prowess will be seen in Delhi Belly and Peepli Live.

40 :Naveen Patnaik,63
Orissa Chief Minister
Why
He comes up in the list because he won the Orissa elections for the third time,this time by dumping the BJP. Probably the best advertisement against the anti-incumbency hypothesis,this urbane politician is a potential national politician,provided the coalition dice falls right for him some time.
Power punch
No one questions his clout. He’s got rid of powerful rebels like Srikant Jena. He took two minutes flat to tell central BJP emissary Chandan Mitra ahead of the Lok Sabha and the Assembly elections that he had decided to part company with the party.
What next
Faces the twin challenge of Maoists and Hindu fundamentalist organisations. Orissa is still underdeveloped. The onus is on him to take it out of its current state.