10 key events to watch for in 2023: Part I

New Delhi: After two years of a pandemic that brought our lives to a near-standstill, 2022 was the first year that gave us a sustained semblance of normalcy. If 2022 was an action-packed year, what could be in store for 2023? In a two-part series, the Plain Facts team presents you 10 key events to watch for in 2023. The first part looks at the state elections lined up before the big Lok Sabha polls in 2024, India’s third mission to the moon and the Women’s Indian Premier League, among others. Watch out for the second part on Thursday.

The last lap

Nine states will go to polls next year: Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland in February, Karnataka in May, and Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Rajasthan and Telangana in November and December. The stakes are high as the results will set the tone for the big Lok Sabha elections of 2024. The Congress rules two of these states, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), by itself or through regional allies, is in power in six, including all four northeastern states. Telangana is run by a regional party whose chief is eyeing a bigger national role.

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Much of the BJP’s political success ahead of 2024 will rely on how it keeps regional alliances intact. In Karnataka, it needs to stave off anti-incumbency and leadership issues if it has to retain power in the only South Indian state it has a government in.

Jammu and Kashmir could also see elections this year, the first since it was turned into a Union territory.

Recession looming?

In 2022, central bankers across the world came out fiercely against raging inflation. But there were serious spillovers that will carry into the new year, chief among them being slowing growth. If inflation and interest rate hikes dominated the economic discourse this year, 2023 could see the narrative shift towards ensuring a soft landing for economies. The global economy, particularly developed countries, is staring at a sharp downturn, even as economists expect prices to stay elevated for some time across the world.

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Amid all this gloom and doom, the Indian economy appears to be better placed than its peers. Most high-frequency indicators have been resilient so far: the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for manufacturing and services are showing an upward trend, and credit offtake, tax mop-up and e-way bill issuances remain robust. Still, in an interconnected world, will the country remain insulated for long? Dismal exports numbers and climbing joblessness rate don’t portend well for the economy.

Mission moon

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is gearing up for its third mission to the moon next year. The “moon vehicle” aka Chandrayaan-3 is likely to be launched in August 2023 after delays due to the pandemic. The move will help the organization in its future interplanetary explorations. With a more robust lunar rover on board, this mission is a follow-up of Chandrayaan-2, where India had failed in its maiden attempt to land a rover on the moon in September 2019.

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ISRO has also lined up the first test flight of the ‘abort mission’ for Gaganyaan, the country’s first human spaceflight, early next year.

As of date, the Indian space agency has carried out four dedicated scientific missions catering to space science and planetary exploration: Chandrayaan-1, Chandrayaan-2, Mars Orbiter Mission and ASTROSAT. With a share of around 2% in the space economy, India has made significant strides in successfully launching space technology missions.

Bollywood’s long intermission

After a gap of four years, Bollywood’s biggest star, Shah Rukh Khan, is returning to the silver screen with three movies, starting with Pathaan, set to release on 25 January. Khan’s return comes at a time when the Hindi movie industry has lost its charm at the box office to regional-language cinema. Of the top domestic grossing films in 2022, only four were in Hindi, whose collections were a third or less of K.G.F: Chapter 2’s 1,000 crore. While Khan’s three movies—Pathaan, Jawan, and Dunki—have a total estimated cost of 550 crore, Salman Khan will also come back with Tiger 3 with an estimated cost of 225 crore.

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Bollywood enters the new year in an increasingly politically-charged environment. Amid calls of a boycott, Aamir Khan’s Laal Singh Chaddha failed to draw audiences. Pathaan is already facing calls of a ban by right-wing groups. All this could weigh on success even as competition from regional cinema is unlikely to drop.

Women’s IPL

In October, the Board of Control for Cricket in India approved the launch of the women’s edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in March 2023. The women’s version of the popular money-minting tournament is expected to feature five franchises playing 22 games. The women’s IPL could give India’s female cricketers a much-needed push, bring in new talent, make the sport aspirational for young girls, and force big money into the game.

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India’s women cricketers have come of age in recent years, winning key matches and earning praise in multi-team tourneys. The team has yielded formidable world-beating stars such as Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma and Jhulan Goswami among others. Stadiums have started attracting crowds, and more Indians are tuning in for live telecasts. The 2022 women’s World Cup recorded 1.64 billion views to become the third-most digitally engaged cricket event ever. A women’s IPL was only a matter of time, and it’s here.

 

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