IT stalwart Roshni Nadar Malhotra, biotechnology pioneer Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, media mogul Shobhana Bhartia and actor Priyanka Chopra have been named among the world's 100 most powerful women by Forbes in a list topped by German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Merkel, 64, a four-time Chancellor, retained the top spot in The World's 100 Most Powerful Women 2018. It is the eighth consecutive year and 13 times in total in the 15 years of the annual list she has topped.
She is followed by UK Prime Minister Theresa May, who for the second year in a row has retained the No 2 spot on the list. May, 62, is followed by International Monetary Fund managing director Christine Lagarde (No 3), General Motors CEO Mary Barra (No 4), and Fidelity Investments CEO Abigail Johnson (No 5).
Nadar Malhotra, CEO, HCL Technologies is ranked 51st on the list. The 37-year old is responsible for all strategic decisions for the USD 8.1 billion enterprise, which operates in technology, healthcare and infosystems.
Nadar Malhotra is also the Vice Chairperson of the board of HCL Technologies and the Chairperson of its CSR Committee. She is a trustee of the Shiv Nadar Foundation, which is focused on education and has established some of India's top colleges and schools.
Mazumdar-Shaw, Founder and Chair, Biocon, is ranked 60. India's richest self-made woman had founded the country's largest biopharmaceutical firm in 1978.
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The firm has successfully forayed into the lucrative US biosimilars market, catching the attention of investors and creating a surge in market cap, Forbes said.
Biocon became the first company to gain approval from the USFDA for two different biosimilars of drugs used in certain cancer treatments.
The 65-year old business woman has invested in research infrastructure and scientific talent with the aim of building a deep R&D-based biotech firm, not a copycat generics maker.
Bhartia, 61, Chairperson and Managing Director, HT Media, is ranked 88th. In 2013, Bhartia launched the business weekly MintAsia in Singapore and then bought Webitude, a social and digital media outfit. HT Media's tutoring arm, Studymate, has expanded into coaching students for the admissions exam required by India's elite engineering schools.
Chopra, who married American singer and actor Nick Jonas this week, comes in at the 94th spot.
Forbes said Chopra, 36, is "arguably the most successful Bollywood actor to cross over to Hollywood".
Chopra made her US big-screen debut in 2017's "Baywatch" and became the first Indian actor to lead a drama series on American television as the former star of ABC's "Quantico."
"The world's most powerful women are leading amidst a tumultuous time where geopolitical tensions are on the rise, key economies are facing instability, and where trust in institutions is at an all-time low."
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