Year in review - Part 4

He has had a busy year at the top. In January, when Barack Obama moved into the White House, the hopes of the world and many of its burdens rode on his shoulders.

Barack Obama

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He has had a busy year at the top. In January, when Barack Obama moved into the White House, the hopes of the world and many of its burdens rode on his shoulders.

As President, Obama has kept to some of his inspiring words. He has reached out to the world; his style has been inclusive rather than unilateral. His first formal interview in office was with an Arabic language channel, his first call was to Mahmoud Abbas of Palestine. This month, his administration pushed through a healthcare reform at home extending benefits to the needy.

But much of Obama’s soaring oratory is yet to be translated into action. The Guantánamo base is not yet closed, Afghanistan is still caught in its cycle of violence, and Pakistan has teetered closer to collapse. As the world noted in his Nobel peace prize acceptance speech, Obama seems to have learnt the limits of a well-delivered speech. What people want now is matching action.

Madhu Koda
His unprecedented rise and more dramatic fall from power is the stuff of Bollywood fables.

From a labourer at the Steel Authority of India’s iron ore mine at Gua, Jharkhand, to India’s longest serving independently elected chief minister, Madhu Koda’s incredible journey left an indelible impact on India’s tribal population.

In just 12 years, Koda, 38, moved from being mine worker to an owner of mines across the world.

In October this year, the Enforcement Directorate accused Koda of laundering over Rs 4,000 crore, owning houses in Thailand, Kolkata and Mumbai, and a coal mine in Liberia.

With political allies across the spectrum disowning him, the only one still standing by him is his wife, Gita. She won the assembly seat from Jagannathpur, which her husband had won twice before.

“People are unable to digest my husband’s meteoric rise in politics at a young age and hence they implicated him in corruption cases,” she says. Well, not everyone can be accused of an ‘upside-down’ view of things.

Rahul Gandhi
This was the 39-year-old leader’s reply to an Aligarh University student’s question on whether a Muslim could ever be prime minister of India.

Oh what a distance Rahul has traversed in the last five years. From being known as his mother’s son when he joined politics in 2004, Rahul has emerged as a youth icon in the mould of a statesman. In his bid to revive the Grand Old Party, Rahul has tried to democratise the Youth Congress. He has reached out to grassroots workers in all states. His political acumen was questioned in the prelude to the 2009 general elections, particularly his decision to go solo in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The results, however, cemented his role as a strategist.

After the elections, when other leaders were either clamouring for designations or clinging to their fiefs, Rahul stood out by declining a ministerial berth offered by the prime minister.

Kate Moss
Supermodel Kate Moss offered up her “personal motto” only to be trashed by campaigners battling to fight eating disorders among teenage girls

Jane Fonda
She may have turned 71 this year, but the woman behind the Jane Fonda Workout proves she’s lost none of her sass

Silvio Berlusconi
For the Italian Prime Minister, 2009 began with a sex scandal and ended with a knock on the face. Through the year, however, he remained his buoyant and incorrigible self

Manish Tiwari
Stung by criticism of overindulgence in the time of recession, 2009 saw the ordinary Congressman pull every string to appear threadbare. Some were content to fly economy class; Congress spokesman Tiwari offered to go beyond

Rupert Murdoch
The News Corp chairman speaks ‘fondly’ of a future where devices such as Kindle, the
e-reader, will completely replace newspapers

Somnath Chatterjee
He insisted on continuing as Speaker of the 14th Lok Sabha long after the CPI(M) withdrew support and expelled him from the party. In retirement, Chatterjee continued to shoot from the lip

Sourav Ganguly
The Indian Premier League proved to be less compelling in its second innings. But the Prince of Kolkata — and an anonymous blogger — provided much-needed excitement by hitting out at the Kolkata Knight Riders’ selection policy of “multiple captains”