Top personalities of the year

The Uttar Pradesh elections in February- March 2017 saw Yogi Adityanath being appointed as the new chief minister of the state. Days after taking charge, Yogi Adityanath ordered shut down of 'illegal' slaughter houses and a blanket ban on smuggling of cows in the state. To keep a vigil on the eve- teasing in the state he directed the state police to form anti-Romeo squads. Yogi on April 4, 2017, waived off the Rs 30,729 crore worth loan of small and marginal farmers in the state which came as a big relief to the farmers of the state. (PTI photo)

The Team India captain is the leading run-getter in ODI cricket this year with 1460 in 26 innings, with six centuries (the most for any batsman), and the third highest in Tests with 1059, with five centuries. In all, Kohli scored 2818 international runs this year, the third most ever. In ODIs, he moved to second in the all-time list of most hundreds (32). (PTI photo)

The Swiss champion left the tennis world in awe once again by returning from a six-month injury layoff to win an 18th Grand Slam title at the Australian open as 2017 began, and then, hardly a month before his 36th birthday, he won his eighth Wimbledon. That made him the first man to win Wimbledon eight times.

Veteran Hindi film actor Shashi Kapoor passed away on December 4, 2017 after prolonged illness. He was 79 years old. The actor-producer took his last breath at the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital in Mumbai. Shashi was the youngest of the three Kapoor brothers - Raj and Shammi being the others - in what's regarded as Bollywood's family No 1. Now, all three are gone.

Popularly known as Akshara of Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai, Hina Khan is undoubtedly one of the most talked about celebrities this year. The actress took everyone by surprise when she decided to quit her debut TV show Yeh Rishta after 8 long years. Post staying away from the small screen for some time, Hina decided to return with adventure-based reality show, Khatron Ke Khiladi. She went on to be one of the finalists and missed the season 8 trophy by a small margin. The actress is currently making headlines for her participation in Bigg Boss 11.

Nadal came back from injury to win the year’s other two Grand Slam title, including a 10th French Open crown and his second US Open, to end the year as the world No 1. The ‘King of Play’ eased his way through the draw to win ‘La Decima’ and then hammered Kevin Anderson in the US Open final. (Getty Images photo)

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had a mixed bag year, to be fair. But, he will go down the books as the man at the helm of affairs during whose regime, the single biggest tax reform of the nation’s history- GST- was launched. In the days that followed, teething problems of GST meant that India’s GDP slumped to a three-year low in the October quarter. Price rise and resultant inflationary pressure meant Jaitley stayed under the steam. In October he took another unprecedented decision of stimulating PSU banks with a Rs 2.11 lakh crore package. With the economy yet to emerge out of the woods and the last full budget to be delivered ahead of the 2019 general elections, Jaitley continues to adorn the crown of thorns. (PTI photo)