Three Indians were featured in Time Magazine’s list of ‘100 most influential people of 2021’. Whose name was NOT included in the list?

Correct — B. Read the stem twice: it asks whose name was NOT on the list.

The Indians in TIME's 2021 list of the 100 Most Influential People were Narendra Modi, Mamata Banerjee and Adar Poonawalla, the Serum Institute chief whose vaccine output made him a 2021 story.

Amitabh Bachchan is not among them, and the odd one out is what the question wants — option (b).

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Mamata Banerjee — Mamata Banerjee was on the 2021 list, following her party's return to power in West Bengal that year, so she is not the missing name the question is after.
• (c)
  Narendra Modi — Narendra Modi appeared on the 2021 list as well, which makes him a wrong pick here however familiar the name.
• (d)
  Adar Poonawalla — Adar Poonawalla, who heads the Serum Institute of India, was named for the same year — the pandemic vaccine manufacturing story of 2021.

TIME publishes its 100 Most Influential People every year, grouping the honourees under headings such as Leaders, Innovators, Titans and Icons.

It is an editorial selection, not a ranking or a measurement, so nothing about the list can be reasoned out — it has to be recalled by year.

The 2021 Indian names sit around two events: the state elections of that spring, and India's role in manufacturing COVID vaccines.

Key facts

• TIME's 2021 list of the 100 Most Influential People included Narendra Modi, Mamata Banerjee and Adar Poonawalla.
• Amitabh Bachchan was not on the 2021 list.
• Adar Poonawalla heads the Serum Institute of India, the vaccine manufacturer based in Pune.
• TIME issues the list annually and sorts it into categories such as Leaders and Innovators.

Common traps

• Missing the NOT and picking the first name you can confirm was on the list.
• Assuming a very famous person must have been included.

No directly related past PYQ was found.