India's Top Newsmakers for 2009

Manmohan Singh :

*
Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh made a crucial visit to the US from October 22 to 26, 2009. During his visit, India and the US signed six important bilateral agreements.

G. Madhavan Nair :

*
The then ISRO Chief, Dr.G. Madhavan Nair, was elected President of the International Academy of Astronautics on August 31, 2009.
*
He was instrumental in the success of Chandrayaan - 1, which had found traces of water on the Moon.

Kapil Sibal :

*
HRD Minister Mr.Kapil Sibal inaugurated the Right to Education Bill on August 4, 2009.

*
He also initiated CBSE's new education system, which envisages doing away with Class X board exams, on September 7, 2009.

Pranab Mukherjee :

*
Union Finance Minister Mr.Pranab Mukherjee presented the 2009 - 2010 Budget on July 6, 2009 in the Lok Sabha. In the Budget, he stressed on fiscal sops and rural spending programs.

Meira Kumar :

*
Ms. Meira Kumar was elected as the Speaker of the Lok Sabha on May 3, 2009.
*
She is the first woman Speaker of the Lok Sabha.

A.R. Rahman :

*
India's noted musician A.R. Rahman won two Oscar Awards in Los Angeles, USA on February 22, 2009.
*
He was awarded for Original Score and for Best Song in Slumdog Millionaire.

Ratan Tata :

*
Mr.Ratan Tata, MD of Tata Motors, launched the Tata Nano in Mumbai on March 23, 2009.
*
Nano, the Rs.1 lakh car, is the cheapest four - wheeler in the world till date.

Nandan Nilekani :

*
Mr. Nandan Nilekani was appointed as the Chairman of the Unique Identification Authority (UIA) on June 25, 2009.
*
The UIA has been set up to provide unique identification numbers to all citizens of India.

Nirupam Sen :

*
Mr.Nirupam Sen was appointed on April 6, 2009 as Special Senior Adviser to the President of the UN General Assembly on the world financial and economic crisis.
*
He was formerly the Indian ambassador to the US.

Nirupama Rao :

*
Ms.Nirupama Rao was named as the Foreign Secretary with effect from July 31, 2009. With this, she became the second woman to hold this important post.

Sachin Tendulkar :

*
Sachin Tendulkar has become the first cricketer to score 30,000 runs in international cricket.
*
He achieved this feat during the first test of the India - Sri Lanka series in Ahmedabad on November 20,2009.

K. Radhakrishnan :

*
Dr. K. Radhakrishnan became the Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on October 24, 2009. He took over from Dr. G. Madhavan Nair.

Mukesh Ambani :

*
Mr. Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of RIL, topped the Forbes' Richest Indians list released on November 19, 2009. According to the list, he currently has a net worth of $32 billion.

M.S. Dhoni :

*
Team India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was named by Wisden on April 8, 2009 as the captain of its first - ever Dream Test XI.
*
He has led Team India to the No. 1 spot in the ICC Test Rankings.

Prakash Raj :

*
Noted actor Mr. Prakash Raj won the Best Actor award at the 55th National Film Awards for 2007 on September 7, 2009.
*
He won the award for his role in Tamil movie Kanchivaram.