Merkel is "Most Powerful Woman"

For the fourth straight year, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been ranked as the most powerful woman in the world by Forbes magazine while the US First Lady Michelle Obama made her debut in the top 100 list.

According to Bussiness Standard website, the league of World's 100 Most Powerful Women compiled by the magazine features US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Chairperson Sheila Bair at the second place and India-origin Chief Executive of Pepsico Indra Nooyi at the third.

Led by Indian National Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi at the 13th spot, the list has three Indians. While ICICI Bank CEO and Managing Director Chanda Kochhar has made her debut in the list at 20th position, Biocon's Chairman Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw is at the 91st place.

"In assembling the list, Forbes looked for women who run countries, big companies or influential nonprofits. Their rankings are a combination of two scores: visibility -- by press mentions and the size of the organisation or country these women lead," the magazine said.

Nooyi retained her third position in the list.

Other prominent names in the ranking include Yahoo!'s CEO Carol Bartz (12th), Co-Chairman of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Melinda Gates (34), Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi (35), US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (36), Queen Elizabeth (42) and Jordan's Queen Rania (75).

About Merkel, the publication said that at the first position for the fourth consecutive year, she is up for re-election and is the leader of the world's fourth-largest economy (Germany).