Prime Minister Narendra Modi, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and the chief executive officer of the Serum Institute of India (SII) in Pune Adar Poonawalla were listed in the Time magazine’s 100 most influential people of the year, according to the list released by the magazine on Wednesday.

Among global leaders, US President Joe Biden, US Vice President Kamala Harris, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, Israel’s Naftali Bennett, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi were also listed among the 100 most influential people this year. Former US President Donald Trump and the Taliban government’s deputy PM Abdul Ghani Baradar of Afghanistan also were among the leaders.

PM Modi, who has found himself in the list a few times in previous years, was called one of the pivotal leaders of the country by the magazine. “Despite mishandling COVID-19—the death toll has been estimated to be much higher than the official count—his approval rating has slipped to a still sky-high 71%,” wrote Fareed Zakaria, of US news channel CNN, in the magazine.

SII CEO Poonawalla has been listed among the 15 people whom the magazine called “Pioneers” inside the influential 100 list. “Vaccine inequality is stark, and delayed immunization in one part of the world can have global consequences—including the risk of more dangerous variants emerging,” the Time said while briefing on how Poonawalla could help the world in its fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee was also among the list of leaders after her victory in the state assembly elections earlier this year, which her party the Trinamool Congress won. The election was tightly contested between her and Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Taliban’s Abdul Ghani Baradar, the current deputy PM of Afghanistan, was called “a charismatic military leader and a deeply pious figure,” by the magazine. Further the magazine also said “Now he stands as the fulcrum for the future of Afghanistan” and “represents a more moderate current within the Taliban.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday topped the approval rating chart of world leaders as per a survey conducted by Morning Consult Political Intelligence. As per the survey conducted, the Prime Minister of India is the most approved of 13 of the world leaders, which include heavyweights like President of the United States Joe Biden, United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson among others. 

PM Narendra Modi most approved among 13 global leaders

According to the data published by the global enterprise, PM Narendra Modi was the most approved with 70 per cent approvals, followed by Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Italy Prime Minister Mario Draghi with 64 per cent and 63 per cent approvals respectively. 

Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, stood at number 4 with 52 per cent approval. With 48 per cent approval each, the 5th and 6th spots were taken by United States President Joe Biden and Prime Minister of Australia Scott Morrison. Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Canada, was on 7th with 45 per cent approval while United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson, lagging 4 per cent behind at 41, was on the 8th. Jair Bolsonaro, President of Brazil, featured on the list at number 9 with 39 per cent approval, and the 10th was Moon Jae-in, President of South Korea with 38 per cent approval. 

The last three spots on the list were acquired by Prime Minister of Spain Pedro Sánchez, President of France Emmanuel Macron, and Prime Minister of Japan Yoshihide Suga with 35 per cent, 34 per cent, and 25 per cent respectively. 

Global Leader Approval: Among All Adults https://t.co/dQsNxouZWb

Modi: 70%
López Obrador: 64%
Draghi: 63%
Merkel: 52%
Biden: 48%
Morrison: 48%
Trudeau: 45%
Johnson: 41%
Bolsonaro: 39%
Moon: 38%
Sánchez: 35%
Macron: 34%
Suga: 25%

*Updated 9/2/21 pic.twitter.com/oMhOH3GLqY

— Morning Consult (@MorningConsult) September 4, 2021

According to Morning Consult, they conduct more than 11,000 daily interviews globally about leadership approval. Daily global survey data is based on a 7-day moving average of all adults in a given country with a margin of error of between (+/-) 1-3 per cent.

As US forces left Afghanistan, the Taliban fighters erupted in joy. They marched on the tarmac of Kabul airport, the last stronghold of the western forces till August 31, even fired in the air expressing their happiness.

But just days later, all that has changed.

According to a report in Al Jazeera, the Taliban have said that they “feel betrayed” because Americans disabled military helicopters and planes before their departure from Kabul.

The fighters said they expected the Americans to leave helicopters in one piece for their use, according to Al Jazeera report. “We believe it is a national asset and we are the government now and this could have come to great use for us,” the report added.

Early on Tuesday (August 31), Kabul airport was littered with artifacts of the withdrawal. Inside the terminal were scattered piles of clothes, luggage and documents. Several CH-46 helicopters used by American forces were parked in a hangar. The US military said it disabled 27 Humvees and 73 aircraft before leaving.

The Taliban are now left with 48 aircraft, though no information is available on how many of these are operational.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid on Wednesday that their technical teams are “repairing and cleaning” the airport and advised people to avoid the area for the time being.

For now, the Taliban appear to be engaged in getting Afghanistan running again, a task that could prove challenging to fighters who have spent most of their lives waging an insurgency in the countryside.