India Special: Movers and Shakers in 2015

Meet some Indians whose actions - and acts - are going to dominate &public psyche and be talking points THIS YEAR. In a country going through a great deal of churn on every front, they stand out as the faces of change, every move monitored, every breath measured

Arvind Kejriwal
The self-confessed anarchist now appears more serious about governance. He is &also a more typical &Indian political leader than the idealistic image he portrayed until recently. Having ousted co-founders Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav, Arvind Kejriwal is now the undisputed supremo of the Aam Aadmi Party. While his critics keep slamming him for tall promises not being kept, his supporters point out how the water and electricity subsidies provided by his government are actually benefiting tens of thousands of families. Being chief minister of Delhi, where the national media is based, means Kejriwal will always be in the news.
Rahul  Gandhi
In many ways, 2015 could be the make-or-break year for Rahul Gandhi, the fifth generation scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty that has dominated Indian politics since independence in 1947. During the 2014 elections, Rahul led the Congress party to its worst ever defeat (winning a mere 44 out of 543 seats in Parliament). There were whispers and rumours about a palace coup against him. But 2015 is seeing a refreshed and re-energised RaGa hitting the streets in protest against the Narendra Modi government. If Congress workers and supporters help him enthusiastically, Rahul will be the Boss of Congress by the end of this year. If not, then all bets are off.
Nirmala Sitharaman
In India, politicians believe that you remain &credible only when you are loud, aggressive, noisy and controversial. Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is the antithesis of this image. &She rarely gets into a war of words with rivals and seldom indulges in rhetoric. Quietly and effectively, she has been busy implementing some key policies of the central government - like Make in India. She has &played a key role in trade negotiations and in integrating India with trade blocs like Asean. By the end of 2015, observers in Delhi expect her to emerge as a key pivot &in the government.
Cyrus Maistry
Apart from Narendra Modi, he arguably faces the most challenging job in India. While his predecessor Ratan Tata struggled for more than two decades to modernise and globalise the Tata conglomerate, current chairman Cyrus Mistry has the formidable task of consolidating the process. &The Tata group is the only business group in India that has &interests and investments in sectors ranging from infrastructure to consumer goods and services. It has also invested massive sums in many European companies ranging from Corus to Jaguar Land Rover. Cyrus Mistry has the unenviable task of transforming this sprawling and unwieldy conglomerate into a more focused business group. Easier said than done.
Raghuram Rajan
Celebrity columnists like Shobha De went into raptures &when this "American" economist became the governor &of the Reserve Bank of India. Self-styled "nationalist" economists slammed him as a fifth columnist planted by imperialist forces. But Raghuram Rajan has surprised both gossip columnists and serious economists with the understated gravitas with which he has gone about his job. He has single-mindedly focused on tackling inflation - that destroyed the credibility of the UPA regime. Many also thought he will be shunted out by Narendra Modi. But Rajan has stuck to his job and his mandate: to implement an independent monetary policy.
Rahul Bhatia
About ten years ago, when middle class India fell in love with the idea of flying, the superstars of civil aviation were the flamboyant Vijay Mallya and his larger-than-life Kingfisher Airlines along with the more down-to-earth promoter of &Air Deccan, Captain CK Gopinath. Nobody had heard of Rahul Bhatia. The fact is that beyond civil aviation circles and corporate boardrooms, many are still unfamiliar with his name. Of course, any Indian who has ever taken a flight knows IndiGo, the airline promoted by Bhatia which has emerged as the undisputed market leader in India. His single-minded focus on costs and punctuality has made IndiGo a global brand. By the end of this year, IndiGo will be flying high in the global arena.
Arnab Goswami
His admirers hail him as the messiah of fearless television journalism. His critics say he is a symbol of the worst kind of jingoistic and irresponsible journalism to have infected India. Either way, you simply cannot ignore Arnab Goswami, the editor-in-chief of Times Now, the number one English news channel by a wide margin. It is strange, but such are the passions he arouses that magazines actually write cover features on him. For years, his daily show The News Hour has dominated both discourse and rankings. Some critics compare him with anchors of shows on Fox News. But Arnab goes on in his inimitable style.
Deepika Padukone
Whether she wants it or not, this Bollywood superstar somehow manages to create controversies. Last year, she earned some brickbats and many more bouquets for her public spat with the newspaper &The Times of India over her 'cleavage' gallery. This year, she starred in a short video about choice that fired up social media. Feminists cheered her while others slammed her for advocating extramarital affairs in the name of choice. Then again, her interview to TV anchor Barkha Dutt about how she battled her depression became a talking point. But the fact remains that Deepika is now amongst the most popular and bankable female stars of Bollywood. After many alleged relationship, she seems to have settled into a steady one with fellow actor Ranveer Singh.
Ektaa Kapoor
Indian television serials were staid and sober affairs till she came along. After Ekta Kapoor decided to throw her young hat into the ring, TV serials have never been the same. Smriti Irani, the lead star of one of her first soaps, is now the Union Human Resource Development minister of India! Thanks to Ekta Kapoor, over-the-top theatrics, loud background music and "evil" women became the staple of soaps. She has answered her critics by producing and promoting many 'alternative' films that have done well at the box office. And she will continue to dominate television entertainment this year.
Saina Nehwal
Compatriot Sania Mirza has always got more attention with her exploits on and off the tennis court. But Saina Nehwal, the quiet and determined badminton player, has eventually emerged as the real sports star. In 2015, she created history by becoming then first woman shuttled from India to become the number one ranked player in the world. Saina deserves a lot of credit for demolishing the myth that badminton players from China were simply invincible. She is currently at the peak of her career and fans are expecting that Saina will bring home many more gold medals in 2015. For a nation starved of sports heroes except overrated cricket stars, Saina remains a true champion. 

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