New York, Mar 10 (PTI): Chinese President Hu Jintao, who rules over one-fifth of world's population, has topped the list of world's most powerful person while UPA chairperson and Congress president Sonia Gandhi has been ranked ninth by the US Forbes magazine.
Jintao has been described by the magazine as a person who "unlike Western counterparts, can divert rivers, build cities, jail dissidents and censor Internet without meddling from pesky bureaucrats, courts."
US President Barack Obama, who last year topped the list, has been placed behind Hu at second, while Saudi King Abdullah stands third most powerful man in the world.
Sonia Gandhi, at ninth place, has been described as a person who wields unequaled influence over 1.2 billion Indians and "after being elected as Congress president for the record fourth term she has cemented her status as true heiress to the Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty.
