Politics: Manmohan Singh

Mario Tama/Getty Images

Politics: Manmohan Singh

Age: 76
Prime Minister

An unlikely Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh has been an economist and civil servant for most of his life, moving from degrees from Oxford to jobs at the IMF and then the Indian government. Less flamboyant than most Indian politicians, he is nevertheless popular for being apparently incorruptible and obviously intellectual. He was originally considered a compromise candidate put up by Congress Party leader Sonia Gandhi because of her foreign birth, but has since then become a key plank for Congress' reelection.