Personalities

Lula, almost never known as Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, is a Brazilian politician who was President of his country for eight years, till January 2011. The former President was detained on graft charges in 2016. The Brazilian Supreme Court suspended his appointment to a cabinet post. (Reuters photo)

Author Nelle Harper Lee, known t the world as Harper Lee, died on February 19, 2016, at the age of 89. Her first – and for a very long time only – novel, ‘To Kill a Mocking Bird’, was published in 1960 and has repeatedly been referred to as a ‘Great American Novel’. (Reuters photo)

Fidel Castro - Cuban revolutionary, enfant terrible to the USA and Nobel laureate. One of the most divisive figures of global politics in the post-World War II era, he died on November 25, 2016 at the age of 90. (Reuters photo)

Dilma Rouseff, an economist and politician, was Brazil’s first woman President. She led the country from 2011, until her impeachment and removal from office on August 31, 2016. (Reuters photo)

Bob Dylan, an American folk-rock singer and song writer who gave protest songs their day in the sun at the height of the Vietnam War, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. However, the 75-year-old anti-establishmentarian predictably didn’t even acknowledge it. (Reuters photo)

Deepika Padukone is an Indian film actress, counted among the highest paid and most popular personalities in Bollywood currently. The daughter of ace shuttler Prakash Padukone, Deepika also pursued badminton seriously during her younger years and played the sport at national level championships. She recently made inroads into Hollywood, filming her first ever project, xXx: The Return of Xander Cage, opposite Vin Diesel. (Reuters photo)

Kanhaiya Kumar is a leader of the All India Student Federation (AISF), the student wing of the Communist Party of India (CPI). He has been the President of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU). His tenure as president was marked by a major controversy after some students organised an event allegedly protesting capital punishment to Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. The incident and the subsequent reaction of the authorities were discussed and debated not just in India, but all over the world. (Reuters photo)

Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia, better known as Akshay Kumar, is among the most successful actors in Indian cinema. Kumar is also a martial artist who is known to often perform his own stunts in movies. While he is commonly perceived as an action hero, he has also acted in several hit comedy movies. He is married to late Bollywood superstar Rajesh Khanna's daughter, Twinkle. The son of a military officer, Akshay Kumar has been vocal in his support for the Army, especially in the context of the ban on Pakistani artistes in India. (Reuters photo)

Former Miss World Priyanka Chopra is one of the most popular and successful actresses in India. The Indian government recognised her achievements and in 2016 awarded her the Padma Shri. The actress made waves in the West with her TV show Quantico, which has won her praise. She is also making her Hollywood debut opposite actor Dwayne Johnson in the movie version of popular TVseries 'Baywatch' next year. (Reuters photo)

Kareena Kapoor Khan is an Indian actress noted for playing a variety of lead characters in a wide range of films. The critically and commercially acclaimed actress belongs to the iconic Kapoor family of Bollywood. She is married to fellow actor Saif Ali Khan and the couple was recently blessed with their first child - a baby boy. (Reuters photo)

Amitabh Bachchan is an Indian film actor who gained prominence in the early 1970s and is today counted among the biggest stars of Bollywood of all time. In December 2016, the iconic actor fell prey to a death hoax row; however, his family and relatives officially declared that the 73-year-old actor was very much fit and alive. (Reuters photo)

Karenjit Kaur Vohra, popularly known as Sunny Leone, is an Indian-Canadian model and actress. She made her Bollywood debut in the year 2012 with the movie Jism 2 and went on to act in films like Jackpot, Ragini MMS 2 and Ek Paheli Leela. In 2016, she was the most searched personality for the fifth consecutive year as per Yahoo! India's 'Year in Review' list. (Reuters photo)

Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani is an Indian business tycoon who is the chairman, managing director and largest shareholder of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL). RIL is a Fortune Global 500 company and India's second-most valuable company by market value. In 2016, Ambani was the only Indian businessman on Forbes' list of the world's most powerful people. With a net worth of $22.7 billion, he has topped the list of the richest people in India for a decade, according to Forbes magazine. (Reuters photo)

Sushma Swaraj is an Indian politician who is a member of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). She has been the Minister of External Affairs since May 2014. Swaraj is well-known - at home and in the world - for her extensive use of social media, especially 'Twitter diplomacy', to promptly help those in need. In fact, Foreign Affairs magazine named her one of the 'Global Thinkers' of the year. In late 2016, she underwent a kidney transplant and was said to be "stable" and convalescing. (Reuters photo)

J Jayalalithaa, popularly referred to as 'Amma', is a former Indian actress and politician who served as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu for five terms between 1991 and 2016. In May 2016, she became the first chief minister in 32 years to be voted back to office in Tamil Nadu. She was the general secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), founded by her mentor MG Ramachandran. In September 2016, Jayalalithaa was hospitalised after complaining of fever and dehydration. While on the road to recovery, she suffered a heart attack and was put on life support. She passed away on December 5, 2016. (TOI photo)

Fawad Khan is a Pakistani actor and singer who made his debut in the 2007 film 'Khuda Kay Liye'. Khan made his Bollywood debut opposite Sonam Kapoor in the 2014 film, Khoobsurat. However, it was with his role in Kapoor & Sons that he gained critical and commercial success in the Indian film industry. Following the Uri terror attack, as relations between India and Pakistan began to deteriorate, a movement to ban Pakistani artistes from India gained momentum. Khan was among those caught in the eye of the storm. (TOI photo)

Michelle Obama is the outgoing First Lady of the United States of America. A lawyer and writer, she is married to the 44th President, Barack Obama. She has been a popular and well-loved figure during her eight years as First Lady. Her popularity especially skyrocketed during the Presidential election of 2016, where many looked to her to run for President in 2020. As an advocate for healthy families, service members and their families, higher education, and international adolescent girls education, she launched several initiatives in the given areas. (Reuters photo)

Urjit Patel is an Indian economist who is the incumbent Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). He served as Deputy Governor of RBI till September 2016, after which he took over from Raghuram Rajan as the 24th Governor of India's central bank. Patel has previously been on deputation from the IMF to RBI during 1996-1997, and in that capacity, was an advisor on issues like development of the debt market, banking reforms, pension reforms. (Reuters photo)

Raghuram Rajan is an Indian economist and academician who served as the 23rd Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. He was also the chief economist at the International Monetary Fund from 2003 to 2007 and the youngest to occupy the position. The end of his three-year tenure was filled with conjecture on whether he would get a second term. By his own admission, a three-year term for the Governor was "short". However, his term was not renewed and he was succeeded by Urjit Patel as Governor of India's central bank. (Reuters photo)

Donald Trump is the President-elect of the United States of America, set to assume office in January 2017. Trump has been at the helm of several businesses and has also been a television personality. Representing the Republican Party, Trump beat out Democrat rival Hillary Clinton to win the election on November 9. Often seen to be a polarising personality, his campaign was the subject of controversy, because of the divisive rhetoric he employed. (Reuters photo)