Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja, lauded by many for leading the state's fight against coronavirus, is now among the twelve that leading British daily Financial Times (FT) has selected from a list of nominations sent by their readers.

The list also includes New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, US Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, President of Taiwan Tsai Ing-Wen, Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel, Late Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court Ruth Bader Ginsburg, musician Taylor Swift and others.

KK Shailaja was nominated by a FT reader who goes by the name 'LondonReader'. Invoking the moniker 'Coronavirus slayer' that another leading daily The Guardian made popular, the reader writes: 

'I nominate Kerala’s coronavirus slayer and rock-star health minister for remarkable health outcomes in India’s fight against COVID-19.'

The list is part of FT's special series Women of 2020 which aims to profile some of the influential women of the year from across the globe.

However, the paper adds that the list is not exhaustive. 'Each year there are far more women who deserve to be included that we can possibly fit,' the paper adds.

For a full list of all the women chosen by FT editors thus far, click here.

Earlier, British magazine Prospect had ranked KK Shailaja first in its list of 50 top thinkers for the COVID age.