Private Jets, Choppers Ferry Global Elite to WEF Meet

With the World Economic Forum's annual meeting starting here on Tuesday, nearly 2,000 private jets are on the job to ferry the rich and powerful of the world to this Alpine resort town, while the Swiss Army is using its own choppers to carry many public figures.

Once famous for being a summer health resort, Davos has gradually emerged as a major winter sport hub on Alps, but its biggest claim to fame for the past four decades has been World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting every January, beginning 1971.

A sharp plunge in oil prices is likely to transfer $1.5 trillion of wealth to consumers, bringing the US back as global growth engine while India is the most promising story among emerging markets, says a study.

Isha Ambani, daughter of billionaire industrialist Mukesh Ambani, is among the youngest business leaders present and her name incidentally comes first among Indians on the official list of participants at this year's WEF Annual Meeting, arranged alphabetically.

The annual Edelman Trust Barometer, released in Davos, showed a sharp decline in trust across the board with faith in governments, business, media and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) below 50 per cent in two-thirds of countries.

The armed forces' operation here includes protecting facilities and individuals, safeguarding air sovereignty, securing Swiss airspace, and with logistics, primarily through its Coordinated Medical Services (CMS), the Swiss Army said.

The increased valuation of Swiss franc -- to its highest level in about 30 years -- has led to costs moving up the slope for everything. From taxi to hotels to stay to food, cost of everything is going up for about 3,000 persons, including 2,500 business and political leaders from across the globe, who are here for World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting.

International Labour Organization Director-General Guy Ryder, speaking in Geneva before heading to attend the Alpine conference, said a feature of the annual meeting was the glaring gap between words and actions of participants over the issue.

Speaking on the eve of an annual gathering of the world's financial and political elites in Switzerland's Davos, Klaus Schwab also told The Associated Press that the big risk now is the world moving into a cycle of deflation.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu will leave for Davos early on Tuesday to attend the World Economic Forum (WEF) as a special invitee at the annual meet that sees dozens of heads of state, corporate leaders and experts discuss a range of issues.

LIVE Updates from Davos: World Economic Forum 2015

In its 2015 Global Risks Report, published Thursday, the WEF found "interstate conflict with regional consequences" to be the top risk facing the world, ahead of extreme weather, the spread of infectious diseases, climate change and sky-high youth unemployment levels in some parts of the world.

The richest one per cent's share of global wealth increased from 44 per cent in 2009 to 48 percent in 2014, the British charity said in a report, adding that it will be more that 50 per cent in 2016.

More than 1,500 business leaders and 40 heads of state or government will attend the January 21-24 meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) to network and discuss big themes, from the price of oil to the future of the Internet.

Wealth accumulated by the richest one per cent will exceed that of the other 99 per cent in 2016, the Oxfam charity said today, ahead of the annual meeting of the world's most powerful at Davos, Switzerland.

The annual congregation of the global elite for the World Economic Forum (WEF) in the coming week will have a strong India presence with senior Union ministers Arun Jaitley and Piyush Goyal, along with over 100 top corporate leaders, set to leave for the Swiss ski resort town of Davos.

The annual congregation of rich and powerful people at the high profile WEF annual meeting at Davos next week will see over 2,500 corporate and political leaders including Finance Minister Arun Jaitley as also 40 heads of states and governments from across the world.

Move over India Adda. The Modi government has now decided to do away with the Adda legacy (in many ways identified with the UPA's presence at Davos) and rechristen the space as the Make In India Lounge to highlight and promote the Prime Minister's pet project.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will meet state finance ministers on Friday to elicit their views on the forthcoming budget to be presented in Lok Sabha in February-end.

The 45th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) will take place from January 21 of 24 in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, with 'The New Global Context' as its theme.