In Photos: World Economic Forum Meet Kicks Off in Davos

Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya inaugurated the India Lounge at Davos on Monday, 16 January.

India Lounge for the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2023, in Davos. 

(Photo: Twitter/@StackhouseJohn)

Minister of Health and Family Welfare Mansukh Mandaviya inaugurating India Lounge at WEF 2023 with Minority Affairs Minister Smriti Irani Smriti Irani, Minister of Power and New and Renewable Energy RK Singh and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.

(Photo: Twitter/@mansukhmandaviya)

Minister of Power and New and Renewable Energy, Shri RK Singh along with Minority Affairs Minister Smriti Irani, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya held a discussion with representatives of industry and state government at Davos.

(Photo: Twitter/@OfficeofRKSingh)

Minister for Power and New & Renewable Energy, Shri R K Singh holds key meetings with industry leaders and startups, at the ongoing World Economic Forum 2023 in Davos.

(Photo: Twitter/@MinOfPower)

India Lounge for the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2023, in Davos. 

(Photo: PTI)

Union Ministers Mansukh Mandaviya and Smriti Irani during an event on sidelines of World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2023, at India Lounge, in Davos, on Monday,16 January.

(Photo: PTI)

AAP MP Raghav Chadha with Professor Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum.

(Photo: Twitter/@raghav_chadha)

MoUs worth Rs 45,000 crore were signed on the first day of Wold Economic Forum, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde tweeted. 

(Photo: Twitter/@CMOMaharashtra)

Davos: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde at the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting 2023, in Davos, Switzerland, on Monday,16 January.

(Photo: PTI)

The World Economic Forum meeting 2023 commenced on Monday 16 January, at Davos in Switzerland.

Thousands of leaders from across the globe have come together to discuss the economic, energy and food crises looming over different parts of the world.

The theme for this year's meeting is "Cooperation in a Fragmented World".

WEF 2023 commenced with the crystal awards ceremony on Monday and is scheduled to go on till Friday, 20 January.

More than 50 heads of governments or states are expected to attend the meeting, while four Union ministers — Mansukh Mandaviya, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Smriti Irani and RK Singh are present from India.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Raghav Chadha and Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde along with other officials and leaders have also flown to Davos for the meeting.

Indian business leaders like Gautam Adani, Sanjiv Bajaj, Kumar Mangalam Birla, N Chandrasekaran, Nadir Godrej, Ajit Gulabchand, Sajjan Jindal, Sunil Mittal, Roshni Nadar Malhotra, Nandan Nilekani, Adar Poonawalla, Rishad Premji and Sumant Sinha are also likely to be present, reported news agency PTI.

India’s Richest 1% Own More Than 40% Of Total Wealth: Oxfam Survey at WEF

Oxfam International, in its annual inequality report released on first day of WEF, revealed that the richest one percent in India now owns more than 40 percent of the country's total wealth, while the bottom half of the population together share just 3 per cent of wealth.

The report further added that taxing India's ten-richest at 5 per cent can fetch entire money to bring children back to school.

"A one-off tax on unrealized gains from 2017–2021 on just one billionaire, Gautam Adani, could have raised Rs 1.79 lakh crore, enough to employ more than five million Indian primary school teachers for a year," it said.