Sunday, April 10 2005 19:22 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Chinese President Hu Jintao and North Korean leader Kim Jong II have been named by 'Time' magazine as among the 100 most influential people of the world along with US President George W Bush and secretary of State Condoleeza Rice.

The 'Time 100' list, featured in the latest issue of the magazine, also includes Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama, former US President Bill Clinton, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Palestinian leader Mahmood Abbas, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, African National Congress president Thabo Mbeki and US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

An article in the magazine on Prime Minister Singh by Nobel laureate Amartya Sen says, "The man in the blue turban, despite his great success, has remained approachable and ready to listen and instinctively sympathetic to the underdogs of society."

Some interesting names in the list include Al Qaeda terrorist Abu Mousab al-Zarqawi, possible successor to the papacy Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger and Dina Astita, an Indonesian teacher who survived the December 26 Tsunami waves and has been elected to coordinate the effort to restart schooling in her town Calang.

Of the 100 politicians, revolutionaries, businesspersons, actors, artists, scientists and heroes on the list, 49 are from North America, 19 from Europe, 12 from Asia, eight from the Middle-East, four from Africa and eight from the rest of the world, a release issued by 'Time' magazine said today (Apr 10, 2005).