The Newsmakers of 2025

From politics to business, culture and sport, icons who shaped conversations through the year

Dec 31, 2025, 16:14 IST5 min

1/15

In May, Banu Mushtaq won the International Booker Prize for Heart Lamp, marking the first time a Kannada work and a short-story collection received the honour. The win brought unprecedented national attention to regional-language literature, translation, and voices from India’s margins. Her stories, rooted in the lived realities of Muslim women and social inequities in southern India, sparked renewed debates on inclusivity, linguistic diversity, and whose stories shape India’s literary canon today. Photo by Kate Green/Getty Images

2/15

Zohran Mamdani drew wide attention in India in 2025 after becoming the mayor-elect of New York City, the first Muslim and first South Asian to hold the office. Born to an Indian-origin family and the son of acclaimed filmmaker Mira Nair, his rise sparked interest not just politically but culturally, with frequent Bollywood and cinema references in Indian media. His progressive agenda on housing, workers’ rights and inclusion underscored how Indian-origin leaders are shaping global politics while influencing conversations on identity back home. Photo by Spencer Platt / Getty Images North America / Getty Images via AFP

3/15

As chairman of Tata Trusts, Noel Tata navigated boardroom and leadership battles to assert control over Tata Trusts after Ratan Tata’s passing. Since Tata Trusts control 66 percent of Tata Sons, the successful push to remove Mehli Mistry from the Tata Trusts in October was, in particular, seen as a decisive move to establish his authority over the strategic direction of the group. Photo by Amit Verma

4/15

Col Sofiya Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh gained prominence for leading the official tri-services briefing on Operation Sindoor. Their roles in detailing the precision-strike outcomes represent a significant shift in India’s military public relations. Photo by Arun SANKAR / AFP

5/15

Hired from KLM to expand IndiGo’s operations, Pieter Elbers faced a crisis that exposed cracks in planning at India’s biggest and only profitable airline, making 2025 the year his leadership—and IndiGo’s aura of invincibility—were put to the test. Photo by Amit Verma

6/15

In 2025, Peyush Bansal found himself in the eye of the storm when Lenskart went public at a Rs 70,000 crore valuation, drawing criticism over his purchase of shares months earlier at a far lower price. Yet, investors seem to believe in the growth story, with the company closing the year at a market cap of nearly Rs 80,000 crore. Photo by Amit Verma

7/15

Divya Deshmukh (right) kicked off the year of the world-beaters by becoming the first Indian to win the FIDE women's World Cup in July; para-archer Sheetal Devi (left) followed soon after, scripting history as a world champion and becoming the first woman armless archer to win the World Para Archery Championship--later, Devi also qualified for the able-bodied national team, finishing third among 60 archers at the trials; in a year dominated by women athletes, India Test and ODI captain Shubman Gill (centre) stood out as the most prolific international run-getter across formats and Tests, scoring seven centuries and three fifties. Photo credit: Divya Deshmukh: Frans Peeters/FIDE; Sheetal Devi: Madhu Kapparath; Shubman Gill: Mexy Xavier

8/15

(From top) The Indian women's cricket team, led by Harmanpreet Kaur (with the trophy), clinched the ICC Women's ODI World Cup in November, a triumph that evoked memories of the paradigm-shifting 1983 victory of the men's team; close on its heels, the Indian blind women's cricket team lifted the inaugural women's T20 World Cup for the Blind. Photo by: Ishara S. KODIKARA / AFP; Nikhil Patil/Getty Images

9/15

Abhiraj Singh Bhal, Varun Khaitan and Raghav Chandra, Co-founders of Urban Company and Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra, Co-founders of Zepto. Urban Company is a category leader as a services provider to list on India’s public markets. The platform which employs gig workers in blue-collar jobs has come a long way since 2014. Quick commerce company Zepto has taken the confidential route to filing its DRHP with plans of raising Rs 11,000 crore from the public markets in the run for its IPO. Urban Company & Zepto Photo by Madhu Kapparath

10/15

(Left)Tarun Mehta, Swapnil Jain, Co-founders of Ather and Vidit Aatrey, Sanjeev Barnwal, Co-founders of Meesho. Ather Energy debuted on the public markets in the midst of a stock market slowdown and has managed to deliver good returns, showing steady appetite for reliable EV companies. Meesho made history as the ecommerce player is the only one among the top three to list on the bourses. Ather Photo by Nishant Ratnakar for Forbes India; Meesho: Selvaprakash Lakshmanan for Forbes India