Kathmandu – In its prestigious Time Magazine list of the world’s most influential personalities for the year 2023, Mayor Balendra (Balen) Shah of Kathmandu Metropolitan City has been included. Time Magazine has included Mayor Shah in its list of “Time 100 Next” featuring one hundred emerging leaders from around the world who have the potential to shape and define their respective fields in the future. Since 2019 Time has been compiling a list of emerging leaders, including politicians, scientists, top executives of various organizations, artists, and even astronauts.
In the local elections held in April 2079 (Baisakh 2079), Balen Shah, a 33-year-old structural engineer who ran as an independent candidate, successfully defeated experienced politicians with the help of social media platforms like TikTok, Twitter, and Instagram, as stated by the magazine. In the election campaign, he pledged to address the ongoing effects of the 2015 earthquake in Kathmandu, improve waste management, ensure clean drinking water, maintain clean roads, and preserve the city’s cultural heritage. Time Magazine mentions that this commitment had a significant impact on the urban poor, and his criticism of illegal encroachments on the homes of urban poor raised eyebrows.
After taking office as mayor Balen also made various agreements to manage the use of landfill sites and categorize waste for efficient waste management, as noted by Time.
Balen on Time Magazine’s 100 Rising People list, said- ‘The glasses and clothes worn by Balen are the brand’
In Time’s list, the youngest European Parliament President, Roberta Metsola, Scotland’s First Minister Humza Yousaf, Ukraine’s First Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Yulia Svyridenko, Indian women’s cricket player Harmanpreet Kaur, American environmental administrator Michael Regan, Grammy-winning singer Kelsea Ballerini, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Mona Chalabi, Kerala’s architect Bhinu Dyanial, and Roj Zang, who won her first Ladies Professional Golf Association title in her debut competition, are also featured. Additionally, among the astronauts, one of the four space tourists set to be sent to the moon by the United States in the coming year, including a virgin astronaut, Jai Glover, has also successfully made it to the list.
- Mayor Balendra (Balen) Shah – Kathmandu Metropolitan City
- Roberta Metsola – Youngest European Parliament President
- Humza Yousaf – First Minister of Scotland
- Yulia Svyridenko – First Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister of Ukraine
- Harmanpreet Kaur – Indian women’s cricket player
- Michael Regan – American environmental administrator
- Kelsea Ballerini – Grammy-winning singer
- Mona Chalabi – Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
- Bhinu Dyanial – Architect from Kerala
- Roj Zang – Ladies Professional Golf Association title winner
- Jai Glover – One of the four space tourists set to be sent to the moon by the United States
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