The year 2016 has ended on a tumultuous note for the country even as it recovers from the shock of demonetization, which can easily be called the most polarizing decision taken this year. However, the year has not been all bleak as many may wish to believe – on the security front India has been able to reply in kind to the terror attacks emanating from Pakistan, to the extent where allegedly its Defence Minister has asked India to show mercy. On the sporting front, our Paralympic and Olympic athletes have made us proud alongwith our cricket team that continues to scale the heights as always.
Now let’s look at the people who have done well this year:
Narendra Modi
One of the major decisions taken by Narendra Modi this year has been the demonetization initiative. It came into being at midnight on 9 November, 2016, and we have all seen the effect it has had on the country. Apart from this, however, the Prime Minister of India has initiated several programmes in his tenure to revive the manufacturing sector in India and modernize the country with the Smart Cities’ programme. He has attempted to clean up our rivers and also improve the infrastructure all around.
Arun Jaitley
If PM Modi is the face behind all that’s happening in India, Jaitley can be regarded as the brains behind several of those initiatives. This decorated politician has already served a number of roles and his influence behind the demonetization initiative can’t be disregarded either. He has also been giving people a proper idea of how long it may take for things to get back to normal. In his budget speech this year, he also announced a number of measures keeping the highly-crucial farm sector in mind.
Sonia Gandhi
Sonia Gandhi’s role as the leader of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) can’t be ignored in spite of the drubbing the party endured in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. True to popular opinions, she has maintained an important position in the party and even taken on detractors who have always objected to her role in the Indian political scenario given her Italian background. However, it is being said that she may quit politics following the ensuing elections in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.
Pranab Mukherjee
Pranab Mukherjee, as the President of India, had a major role to play in the demonetization scheme coming into being as it was his approval that paved the way for its implementation. One of the highlights of our President this year has been his Nepal visit during November. The very way he ascended to this post was filled with controversy, even though none of it could be attributed to him.
Rajnath Singh
As the Union Home Minister – as well as the premier leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – Rajnath Singh has occupied an important place in national politics of late. One of his major actions this year was to claim in May that infiltration originating from Pakistan has decreased at a rate of 52% in the last two years. This is incidentally the period BJP has been in power at the centre.
Arvind Kejriwal
The Chief Minister of Delhi has always been in news, starting from his days as an activist to the time he voluntarily quit the post of CM on his very first outing, citing failure and incapability as reasons. One of his major steps this year was to state that the national government was being alienated from its people because of its attacks on Pakistan, a statement which drew considerable criticism. He has also asked PM Modi to prove the authenticity of the surgical strikes launched post Uri, a move which has led him to become a hero in Pakistan and a darling for its media.
Rahul Gandhi
Rahul Gandhi had urged for a revisit of approach and action following the disastrous results of 2014 nationwide elections and he has really come good on his words after he took a break from politics after that incident. He has been in BJP’s face and the recent demonetization scheme has only added further fuel to his fire. He has also shown much interest in taking up the farmers’ cause and contested the land bill BJP has been trying to pass since 2015.
Sushma Swaraj
Sushma Swaraj has been playing a major role ever since she was instituted as the Union External Affairs Minister in 2014. She has always had her plate full considering the visits PM Modi has made in his tenure. In 2016, she has been to Sri Lanka, Nepal, Iran, Russia, Myanmar, and Italy. She has also been recently named on the Global Thinkers 2016 list of FirstPost, an honour for which she has been congratulated by Narendra Modi as well. She is also regarded by many as one of the finest India has produced in her position.
Nitish Kumar
Nitish Kumar is easily one of the best policymakers in India – a much-ignored and taken-for-granted aspect of politics in India. He is also remarkable in the way he has shied away from going national, instead choosing to focus solely on Bihar. In this role he has been able to improve the educational scenario in the state by appointing plenty of teachers, make sure that doctors were working in the primary health centres, electrify the villages, pave roads, and reduce illiteracy among women. He also improved law and order in the state and improved the income of common people in Bihar.
Mehbooba Mufti
Mehbooba Mufti became the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir this year with a record victory in the by-elections from her constituency in Anantnag. This happened on June 25, 2016. One of the major highlights of this yet-short reign has been the way she has now changed her stance on militancy on Kashmir. Whereas before becoming the CM she had been soft on insurgency in the state, now she is not averse to calling them militants.
Justice TS Thakur
Justice Tirath Singh Thakur, the forty-third Chief Justice of India (CJI), ascended to the post on November 18 last year and ever since has been in the news for a number of judgments that have had major impact on the country. He has negated meat ban during a Jain festival in Maharashtra and is supposed to change the landscape forever in the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI). This year also saw him launch an emotional appeal to PM Modi for the legal system to be armed with greater resources.
Raghuram Rajan
Even though he called it a day on June 18 this year as the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), he has left an indelible imprint on Indian economy as a whole. Rajan has been able to battle ills such as inflation, foreign exchange reserves, and the condition of the Indian National Rupee (INR), and deal with the issue of bank licenses. All this while he has operated under immense heat as is expected for someone in his position.
Ajit Doval
As the National Security Adviser of India, Doval has played a major role in the surgical strikes that followed the insidious Uri attacks. He is regarded as perhaps one of the finest spies India has ever produced. He has planned a number of attacks on terror elements in other countries and thankfully they have all been successful, with the recent operations in Myanmar being cases in point. It can be said with a degree of certainty that he is playing a major role in shaping the foreign policy of India.
Justice RM Lodha
Rajendra Mal Lodha has previously served as the CJI – he was the forty-first person to have adorned this position. This year he has created quite the sensation with his Committee Report on the BCCI, one that is set to see the centuries-old organization changed in the year ahead. What has been commendable is the way he has sought to restore equity and parity among all the affiliate and associate members of the board and aimed to do away with old office-bearers, instead asking cricketers to take up administrative posts.
PK Mishra
PK Mishra serves as the Additional Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister. This Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer was a member of the 1972 batch Gujarat cadre and now plays an important role in the various appointments announced by the central government. There is no bureaucratic reshuffle or appointment at a senior level that can be done without his consent. He has also provided the brains behind schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana.
S Jaishankar
The Foreign Secretary of India has made the headlines this year perhaps for a wrong reason. He has admitted to Dr. Martin Ney, the German Ambassador to India, that India did not launch any surgical strike in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir after the Uri Attacks. This was a complete contradiction to the claims of the Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar. This particular statement can jolly well be interpreted as loss of face for the national government.
Dr. Arvind Panagariya
Dr. Panagariya has been the Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog and in that role he plays a major role in the economic policymaking of India. There was talk that this year he would become the new Chairman of RBI, but eventually that post went to Urjit Patel. It is his mandate to make this body an independent economic think-tank and act as the pivotal link between states and the centre.
Arvind Subramanian
Arvind Subramanian, the Chief Economic Adviser, has not been in the limelight recently because of his difference of opinions with the central government on the demonetization issue, especially with regards to the way it has been implemented. He has played a major role in creating the JAM (Jan Dhan, Aadhaar, and Mobile) trifecta in order to help subsidies reach the intended beneficiaries. He has also played a role in determining a uniformly-applicable rate to be levied in case of Goods and Services Tax (GST).
Nripendra Misra
Nripendra Misra, the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister came to the limelight this year when he stated that the good work done by the Indian Government under BJP never receives coverage in the media. He has also said that the media is, however, hyping all the areas of failure. He is also known to be quite the difficult taskmaster. This IAS officer from the 1967 batch is also the most trusted person for PM Modi.
JS Khehar
Justice JS Khehar is expected to become the forty-fourth CJI once the incumbent Justice Thakur ends his reign. He has been recommended by the outgoing CJI, which shows how highly he is rated. As and when he assumes the post, which is likely to be sometime in 2017, he will also have the honour of being the first Sikh to have graced the prestigious position. He played a major role in the CJI retaining the right to appoint the judges of the Supreme Court by effectively quashing the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC).
Rajat Sharma
Rajat Sharma remains one of the most respected as well as recognizable names in the Indian media circuit. He has established India TV, one of the leading Hindi news channels of the country. However, his claims to fame remain his TV shows – Breaking News and Aap Ki Adaalat. He has been in this industry for a number of years and yet happens to be one of the youngest print editors around.
Barkha Dutt
Barkha Dutt has been in the news this year for some well-publicized spats with the likes of Arnab Goswami and Anupam Kher. Recently, she has also launched a case for the hacking of her Twitter account. Her clash with Goswami has led to her being criticized on Twitter. She came to national recognition with her coverage of the 1999 Kargil War. Dutt happens to be a well-known columnist as well.
Prabhu Chawla
Chawla is the Editorial Director of The New Indian Express and has, among other things, this year accused Modi of choosing media-persons who are sure to listen to him and not cross him. Chawla is known well for his political judgment that tends to veer on the sharp and his analytical approach to news. The 1946-born also hosts a talk show named Seedhi Baat with celebrities as guests, and Sachchi Baat on ETV.
Richa Anirudh
Anirudh is well known for her show Zindagi Live, which she hosts on IBN 7. She is one of the leading news anchors at the site and also happens to be one of the most prominent members of her fraternity. The much-awarded news anchor normally occupies a primetime slot, a clear indicator of her quality, and is known for her revolutionary shows. She has previously worked for Channel 7 and Headlines Today.
Ravish Kumar
The Senior Executive Editor of NDTV India, Ravish Kumar, is well known for his shows Prime Time – the flagship weekday show of the channel – Ravish Ki Report and Hum Log. He is known for his out-of-the-box methods such as getting mime artists on Prime Time or just leaving the screen black – things that have got him plenty of controversy. Even Suhel Seth has stated that the black screen strategy was nothing but bluff.
Mukesh Ambani
This year Mukesh Ambani has launched Jio – a 4G phone service – that has led to a price war of sorts in the telecom market of India, which is already much more competitive than it should be. This was done at a Reliance Industries shareholders’ meeting during September. At present, his organization is earning revenues worth $44.7 billion but is engaged in a legal battle with the Indian Government over getting back the costs it incurred for developing a gas field.
Dilip Shanghvi
The earnings of the wealthiest pharma baron of India may have come down by around $1.1 billion in 2016 – the prices of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries shares have come down as well. However, Dilip Shanghvi still remains the second richest businessperson in India and his company is still the fifth biggest maker of generic medicine in the world. The company is getting back on track, thanks to Gilivec’s sales in the US.
Hinduja Family
The Hinduja Family remains one of the leading business conglomerates of the world. It is third on the list of richest businesspersons in India. The group has, in July this year, commissioned a thermal power unit in southern India. It is supposed to produce an output of 1040 megawatt. The family itself operates across several countries and deals various businesses such as trucks, banking, lubricants, and cable television.
Azim Premji
Wipro, with revenue amounting to $7.7 billion, may have seen a decrease of 6% in net earnings that have now gone down to $304 million, but the company still remains the third biggest provider of outsourcing services in India. Much of this decrease can be amounted to sales that have remained sluggish. It has recently bought HealthPlan Services, a Florida-based firm dealing in insurance technology for $460 million.
Pallonji Mistry
The Shapoorji Pallonji Group led by Shapoor – the elder son of Pallonji Mistry – has supposedly entered negotiations to buy a stake of 51% at the Karaikal Port in southern India. Pallonji Mistry – an 87 year old reclusive tycoon – is the fifth richest Indian businessman for the year. His organization has been a major name in construction and engineering for the past 151 years. He is presently based out of Ireland.
Lakshmi Mittal
The past couple of years may not have been so good for Lakshmi Mittal, but after ArcelorMittal registered a quarterly profit of $1.1 billion recently, the steel baron has literally come back screaming! This is the best the company has done in the last five years. His company is still the largest maker of steel and associated products in the world and has benefited from the increase in demand for steel and the import tariff placed on the same by Europe and the US.
Godrej family
With Adi Godrej at the helm, Godrej Consumer Products has increased its presence in Africa by buying three personal care companies in Zambia, Kenya, and Senegal. The family is presently seventh on the list of richest businessmen in India and its wealth is estimated at $12.4 billion. It presently earns revenues worth $4.6 billion. It was established in 1897 by Ardeshir Godrej, a lawyer who became a manufacturer of locks.
Shiv Nadar
HCL Technologies, a software outfit developed entirely in India by Shiv Nadar, is now looking to get listed on the stock exchanges across the US. Headed by the IT trailblazer, HCL has during February this year bought for $130 million the IT outsourcing division of Volvo. It has also signed an agreement with an automaker in Sweden for providing software services. In April the company also bought Geometric, a Mumbai-based software firm, previously under the control of Godrej family.
Kumar Birla
Kumar Birla, widely recognized as the commodities king of India, is presently in the midst of an empire reconstruction. His company, Aditya Birla Group, presently earns $4 billion in revenue. During August, Birla merged Aditya Birla Nuvo and Grasim Industries, which was earning plenty of cash. He also demerged the financial services business to form a separate entity. These decisions caused some friction between Birla and the shareholders, but Kumar Birla is still the ninth richest businessman in India.
Cyrus Poonawalla
The Serum Institute of India – established by Poonawalla in 1966 – earned revenues worth $695 million in 2016, which helped it earn a record profit of $360 million in the financial year 2015-16. The company is presently expected to make investments worth $150 million to build a factory that will make a new range of vaccines to deal with diseases like dengue, diarrhea, and pneumonia.
Virat Kohli
The year 2016 has been kind to the captain of the Indian test team, in the sense that he is yet to taste any major failure in that form of the game. His record as a skipper has been exemplary – he has won an away series in West Indies, which is easier said than done and then defeated New Zealand and England at home, which was not exactly a walk in the park. Throughout all this his record as a batsman has been exemplary, with four centuries in tests as well as three in one-dayers.
Ravichandran Ashwin
The Indian test team has gone places this year and much of that has to do with Ravichandran Ashwin finding his bearings as a player. Assured of a spot in the team as the premier spinner, his batting has flowered to such an extent that he has scored a couple of centuries in West Indies! He has also picked up three ten-wicket hauls in a match – two against the Kiwis and one against England at Mumbai. This year, he also became the first Indian to have grabbed 50 T20 (International) wickets. He has also become, in this year, the third quickest to the twentieth five-wicket haul. During November, he completed the magic double of 50 wickets and 500 runs in a calendar year, becoming the second Indian cricketer to have achieved the record.
Mariyappan Thangavelu
Thangavelu won the gold medal at the Rio Paralympics 2016 in the finals of the men’s high jump T42 category. His jump was measured at 1.89 m. This was comfortably better than his distance of 1.78 m at the same category in the IPC Grand Prix held in Tunisia during March 2016. It was this performance that helped him qualify for Rio. Since 2004 he is the first Indian athlete to have won a gold medal at the Paralympics.
Devendra Jhajharia
Jhajharia made the country proud at the recent Paralympics with a gold medal winning performance in the F46 javelin throw event. This was his second gold medal following his exploits at Athens 2004. This performance made him the second para-athlete from India to have bagged a gold medal at this event. In fact, his throw in 2016 exceeded the one in 2004. At present, he is being aided through the Para Champions Programme by GoSports Foundation.
Deepa Malik
In the 2016 Rio Paralympics, Malik became the first Indian woman para-athlete to have bagged a medal when she won the silver medal in the shot put event. Malik is already known and much lauded for participating actively in adventure sports. She is connected to Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) as well as Himalayan Motorsports Association (HMA). Recently as part of Raid de Himalaya she took part in a driving (1700 km) and climbing (till 18000 feet) programme that lasted for eight days.
Varun Singh Bhati
Varun Singh Bhati won the bronze medal at the para high jump event in Rio Paralympics 2016. Here he recorded a jump of 1.86 metres, which was his best performance till date. This year he also took part at the IPC Athletics Asia-Oceania Championship. Here, apart from setting a new record in Asia, he bagged the gold medal as well. He suffered from polio at a very young age, but that never deterred him from joining sports as a school student.
PV Sindhu
Right now Sindhu is regarded as the face of Indian badminton, which is an incredible feat when you consider that the likes of Saina Nehwal are still on the prowl. She might have been performing really well all the year round but her crowning glory definitely has been the silver medal at Rio 2016 where she went toe to toe with Carolina Marin, the top seed from Spain. She gained a measure of revenge by defeating her at the BWF World Super Series Finals in Dubai. She has also won Malaysia Masters and China Open this year.
Sakshi Malik
At Rio, the 25 year old Malik became the first woman wrestler from India to bag a medal at the Olympics, when she won the bronze medal at the 58 kilo event. This medal also made her one of the few women from India to have bagged a medal at the Olympics placing her at par with the likes of Saina Nehwal and Mary Kom. The freestyle wrestler had won the bronze medal at the 2015 Asian Wrestling Championships organized at Doha and silver at the 2014 Commonwealth Games held at Glasgow.
Dipa Karmakar
Karmakar may not have bagged a medal at the Olympics but she did make her presence felt at the gymnastics event by finishing at the fourth place and performing the dangerous Produnova Vault to such perfection that it even led Simone Biles – the gold medalist in that category – praise her. This year, she also became the first Indian woman gymnast to qualify for the Summer Olympics and the first Indian gymnast at the Games since Tokyo 1964. She received the Khel Ratna Award in August.
Smriti Mandhana
On December 14th Smriti Mandhana – one of the top batswomen in the Indian team that boasts the likes of Mithali Raj and Harmanpreet Kaur – was included in the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Women’s Team of the Year. Inclusion in this team is meant to mark and welcome a player for her contribution across a season and this only shows how well Mandhana has performed.
Aamir Khan
Aamir Khan may not have had a release this year but he is set to take the screens by storm when Dangal – his latest movie – releases during the Christmas weekend. This is more or less the norm for him – known for the preparation that goes into each and every role he essays. In fact, the perfectionist Khan has prepared extensively for the film – gaining and then dropping weight in an eye-popping manner, staying for days on the end with Mahabir Phogat, whose role he essays in the film, and learning Haryanvi. He also auditioned thousands of girls before finalizing the ones who would the play the roles of his daughters.
Shah Rukh Khan
Shah Rukh Khan has had a quiet year by his standards – one where his films have not been blockbusters. However, his work as an actor has been praised in all the films where he has had some substantial appearance. His work in Fan – a film that failed to meet box office expectations – saw perhaps his finest work in a long time. His turn as a psychiatrist in Dear Zindagi was a performance in the order of what he did in Chak De, regarded by many as one of his best works till date.
Salman Khan
Salman Khan had just one release this year – Sultan. It was as usual a mega hit but this film also saw the superstar experiment with his look, even sporting a paunch (by his lofty standards) to portray an out-of-luck ex-wrestler, who is trying to make a comeback in life through mixed martial arts (MMA). The film was received warmly by critics as well and its success was of epic proportions. He is next supposed to work in a couple of films with Kabir Khan.
Alia Bhatt
Right now, easily one of the top actors in her generation, Bhatt has had a varied 2016 to say the least. If 2015 had Highway, this year she kicked off with Udta Punjab where her turn as a sexually-abused Bihari immigrant was easily the high point of the film glossing over someone of the calibre of Shahid Kapoor. She was also appreciated in Kapoor & Sons. In Dear Zindagi she actually outshone someone as experienced and capable as Shah Rukh Khan, which in spite of an author-backed role is not easy to do.
Anushka Sharma
Anushka Sharma had a good year in 2016 with both her releases Sultan and Ae Dil Hai Mushkil doing well at the box office and on the criticism front. Her work in Sultan was highly praised with many critics saying that she was easily the best aspect in a film that was essentially male-centric. Her look in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil was highly praised with many saying that she is easily the most gorgeous female actor in Bollywood today.