While Nooyi was listed among Time’s 100 most influential people in the world in 2007, Pachauri-headed the Nobel Peace Prize-winning UN climate body. Sarin has been instrumental in influencing the wireless industry’s global growth and Nair’s latest film —The Namesake premiered in 2006— added to her long list of acclaimed films.

In the business category, five reputed names— Chairman and MD of Suzlon Energy Tulsi Tantil, Chairman of the Aditya Birla Group Kumar Mangalam Birla, President, DLF Group KP Singh, Chairman and CEO of Wipro Limited Azim Premji and Chairman and MD of Reliance Industries Mukesh Ambani — won nominations.

Music director-duo Vishal and Shekhar, Singer Sukhwinder Singh, Bollywood Music director and composer Pritam Singh, playback singer Sunidhi Chauhan and award-winning composer, record producer and musician AR Rahman have been nominated for awards in the Music category.

And in the unsung heroes category, the nominees include woman activist from Manipur Irom Sharmila, famous for her campaign against the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, Auto Raja, an ex-auto driver, and the Indian Soldier, the strength behind the Indian Army.

The winners will be decided by public vote through one of the four mediums — SMS Poll, Online Votes, Opinion Polls and TV shows. While NDTV announces nominations through advertisements in various mediums like TV, Radio and Print, Ernst & Young tabulates and validates the votes.