15 January 2023

• G20: India's G20 Think-20 meeting opened in Bhopal and the Infrastructure Working Group began in Pune, launching the policy dialogue track of India's G20 presidency.
• Transport: The Visakhapatnam-Secunderabad Vande Bharat Express began commercial service, extending the high-speed rail network in Andhra Pradesh.
• Finance: Japan's SMBC and Oaktree Capital submitted Expressions of Interest for a strategic stake in IDBI Bank, part of the government's privatisation push.
• Army Day: India observed its 75th Army Day. The event was held outside Delhi for the first time, in Bengaluru.

GS area: International Relations, Governance

India assumed the G20 presidency on 1 December 2022 and launched the policy engagement process with the Think-20 (T20) inaugural meeting in Bhopal on 13 January 2023. The G20 Infrastructure Working Group (IWG) opened in Pune around the same time.

• T20: The think-tank engagement group of the G20. It produces research and policy recommendations for the G20 leaders' summit. The Bhopal meeting focused on inclusive development, child welfare, women-led development and narrowing the North-South gap.
• G20 composition: 19 nations and the European Union. Collectively represents about 85 per cent of global GDP, 75 per cent of global trade and 67 per cent of world population.
• India's presidency theme: "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam" (One Earth, One Family, One Future), drawn from the Maha Upanishad.
• IWG focus: Infrastructure financing through innovative models including blended finance and public-private partnerships. India seeks global support for its infrastructure push.
• Leadership summit: Scheduled for New Delhi in September 2023.

Static linkage: International organisations, India's foreign policy (GS Paper 2).

GS area: Polity (defence), Culture

India observed the 75th Army Day on 15 January 2023. The parade was held in Bengaluru, the first time in independent India's history that the main Army Day event was not held in Delhi.

• Army Day significance: Marks the day in 1949 when General KM Cariappa became the first Indian Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army, replacing the British General Sir Francis Butcher. India gained complete control of its Army.
• Theme (2023): "Indian Army: Transforming Towards Technology-Led Change." Showcased indigenous weapons and equipment including VSHORAD, Pinaka rocket systems and Akash surface-to-air missiles.
• Women officers: Women officers led contingents in the march-past for the first time.
• 75th anniversary context: Coincided with India's Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav (75 years of independence).

Static linkage: Modern history, defence (GS Paper 3).

GS area: Economy (banking, disinvestment)

The government received Expressions of Interest from Japan's SMBC Bank and Oaktree Capital Management for strategic stake acquisition in IDBI Bank as part of the disinvestment programme.

• IDBI Bank's status: IDBI Bank was reclassified from a development finance institution to a universal bank. Life Insurance Corporation of India holds about 49 per cent, and the government holds about 45 per cent.
• Disinvestment plan: The government plans to sell its 45.48 per cent stake and LIC's stake to a strategic buyer who would run the bank commercially.
• RBI's fit and proper criteria: Any buyer must meet the RBI's fit and proper criteria for bank ownership, which restricts industrial houses and foreign ownership above certain thresholds.
• Policy significance: IDBI Bank privatisation would be one of the largest bank privatisations in India's history. It reflects the government's preference for reducing direct bank ownership.

Static linkage: Disinvestment, banking (GS Paper 3).

GS area: Economy (transport infrastructure)

The Visakhapatnam-Secunderabad Vande Bharat Express began service, extending the semi-high-speed rail network to Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

• Vande Bharat Express: India's first semi-high-speed train produced domestically by Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai. Operates at up to 160 km/h. Has automatic doors, bio-vacuum toilets, diffused lighting and onboard Wi-Fi.
• Make in India: The train set is entirely domestically manufactured. An upgraded version with sleeping berths (Vande Bharat Sleeper) was under development.
• Expansion target: The government planned to deploy 400 Vande Bharat trains by 2024 across different corridors.
• ICF: Integral Coach Factory, Chennai, is one of India's oldest and largest railway production facilities under Indian Railways.

Static linkage: Infrastructure, economy (GS Paper 3).

GS area: Economy, Society (inequality)

An Oxfam India report "Survival of the Richest" released at the Davos World Economic Forum in January 2023 highlighted India's wealth concentration.

• India figures: The richest 1 per cent own 40 per cent of total wealth. The bottom 50 per cent share only 3 per cent (data: 2012 to 2021 period).
• Global figures: The richest 1 per cent globally gained nearly twice as much wealth as the rest of the world combined during the two pandemic years.
• Tax policy recommendation: Oxfam recommended implementing a wealth tax and a windfall profits tax on corporations that benefited from the pandemic.
• Gender angle: Female workers earn 63 per cent of male worker income in India.
• Billionaires: India had 166 billionaires at the time of the report, up from 106 in 2020.

Static linkage: Inequality, social justice (GS Papers 1 and 3).

• Swiggy ambulance service: Swiggy announced ambulance access for delivery partners and their dependants in January 2023. The gig economy's absence of social security is a recurring policy theme.
• T+1 settlement: India and China are the only two countries to have moved to T+1 (trade-plus-one-day) settlement for equity transactions. Most global markets use T+2. SEBI implemented T+1 for all equity shares from January 2023.
• Asian Waterbird Census: Held annually every January, counting waterbirds across Asia. India participates through the Bombay Natural History Society and state forest departments.