
Pakistan unveiled first National Carbon Market Policy in November this year to attract green investment The federal cabinet on Friday approved policy guidelines for carbon market trading on recommendations of the Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination, a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said. Pakistan unveiled first National Carbon Market Policy in November this year to attract green investment. “Pakistan is now ready to lead, innovate, and collaborate with local private sector as well as international partners for the development of carbon markets to attract investments in green initiatives for achieving climate goals under the Paris climate pact,” Coordinator to Prime Minister on Climate Change Romina Khurshid Alam said while addressing at ‘Launch of Pakistan’s Carbon market Policy & Panel on Coordinated Access to Net Zero Development Financing Through Paris-Aligned Carbon Markets’ at Pakistan Pavilion on the sidelines of COP29 global climate conference in Baku in November. Pakistan, the fifth most populous country in the world, faced one of its most significant natural calamities in 2022 as climate-induced floods affected one-third of its population, causing an estimated $40 billion in damages. International donors pledged over $9 billion in the aftermath of the disastrous floods that left nearly a million people without safe and adequate housing, food, and shelter. However, experts have noted that the actual disbursement of funds has been slow, representing less than a quarter of the estimated damages. Carbon credits or offsets are traded after certification by a government or independent body. Carbon offsetting allows entities to compensate for their greenhouse gas emissions by supporting projects that reduce emissions elsewhere, such as forests and promoting renewable energy. By participating in such markets, Pakistan can incentivise businesses and industries to adopt cleaner technologies and practices, according to Romina Khurshid Alam. Speaking to Business Recorder earlier this year , Faraz Khan, CEO of US-based SpectrEco – a technology, data, and advisory firm that simplifies and accelerates sustainability and ESG transitions for companies – emphasised the need for Pakistan to transition from the grant and aid model to a value proposition investment pitch. “Investment is one thing, and grant/aid is another. We really need to move from the grant and aid model to a value proposition investment model, whether it is climate-related, renewable energy, or any other sector. “After some tough years, Pakistan is gearing up to create a conducive environment for FDI (Foreign Direct Investments), carbon-related investments, and climate-related investments,” Faraz Khan said then.Greg Schiano doesn’t hold back about losing to Illinois
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"Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum." Section 1.10.32 of "de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum", written by Cicero in 45 BC "Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam, eaque ipsa quae ab illo inventore veritatis et quasi architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem quia voluptas sit aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia consequuntur magni dolores eos qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt. Neque porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt ut labore et dolore magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem. Ut enim ad minima veniam, quis nostrum exercitationem ullam corporis suscipit laboriosam, nisi ut aliquid ex ea commodi consequatur? Quis autem vel eum iure reprehenderit qui in ea voluptate velit esse quam nihil molestiae consequatur, vel illum qui dolorem eum fugiat quo voluptas nulla pariatur?" 1914 translation by H. Rackham "But I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system, and expound the actual teachings of the great explorer of the truth, the master-builder of human happiness. No one rejects, dislikes, or avoids pleasure itself, because it is pleasure, but because those who do not know how to pursue pleasure rationally encounter consequences that are extremely painful. Nor again is there anyone who loves or pursues or desires to obtain pain of itself, because it is pain, but because occasionally circumstances occur in which toil and pain can procure him some great pleasure. To take a trivial example, which of us ever undertakes laborious physical exercise, except to obtain some advantage from it? But who has any right to find fault with a man who chooses to enjoy a pleasure that has no annoying consequences, or one who avoids a pain that produces no resultant pleasure?" 1914 translation by H. Rackham "But I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system, and expound the actual teachings of the great explorer of the truth, the master-builder of human happiness. No one rejects, dislikes, or avoids pleasure itself, because it is pleasure, but because those who do not know how to pursue pleasure rationally encounter consequences that are extremely painful. Nor again is there anyone who loves or pursues or desires to obtain pain of itself, because it is pain, but because occasionally circumstances occur in which toil and pain can procure him some great pleasure. To take a trivial example, which of us ever undertakes laborious physical exercise, except to obtain some advantage from it? But who has any right to find fault with a man who chooses to enjoy a pleasure that has no annoying consequences, or one who avoids a pain that produces no resultant pleasure?" Thanks for your interest in Kalkine Media's content! To continue reading, please log in to your account or create your free account with us.Montreal-based Acrylic Robotics is utilizing a robot’s arm to paint fine art on canvas using AI software that emulates the actual painter’s brush strokes. The startup showcased its technology with demos at AWS re:Invent , Amazon’s cloud service conference held in Las Vegas, where an AI robot dutifully worked on a painting, or “Auragraph,” live. Holding a brush, it would carefully dip into the different pools of acrylic paint below and then position the brush to apply a stroke at just the right spot. In a sense, it felt a little like watching an automated assembly, only in a very obvious artistic context. Acrylic Robotics is trying to meld the worlds of artificial intelligence, engineering, robotics and art into a practical form of production. The idea is not to just produce replicas of an artist’s pieces, but to also bring digital creations to canvas without resorting to simple prints. At the same time, the company’s ethical approach is to ensure artists get paid for what they create. Walker Singleton (left), head of engineering at Acrylic and Chloë Ryan (right), the CEO and founder Chloë Ryan is an artist who studied robotics engineering at McGill University, going on as the founder and CEO of Acrylic Robotics starting in 2021. Her vision was to offer a different outlet for artists that bypasses the “scarcity-driven gallery system” and makes art more accessible to both artists and consumers. As she sees it, the “archaic” art market only truly serves the top 1%, where fine art pieces can be out of reach for the average person who wants art but lacks the funds to purchase it. Some stats exemplify the uphill climb involved. The entire fine art industry is estimated to be worth $70 billion USD, though a large portion of that is taken up by sought-after pieces bought and sold by the wealthiest investors or collectors. Statcan estimates the Canadian art market was estimated to be worth $1.5 billion as late as 2020 when including sales from auctions, galleries and private sales. Those numbers underpin the fact more than half of Canadians have never bought a piece of art before. Acrylic’s goal is, in effect, a two-pronged one because it aims to increase access to art for everyone, while enabling artists themselves to not only increase exposure but also sell multiples of the same piece without actually painting it each time. That’s where the robot comes in. It uses AWS’s machine learning service called Sagemaker to connect the startup’s own AI algorithms into a user-friendly platform artists can use. Thus, artists have two ways to make this work. For digital artists, Acrylic’s tech can track each stroke applied to an art piece created on a tablet or other device with an illustration app. The robot can then replicate the exact process, including scaling up to a larger canvas size. For artists painting on canvas, the AI determines the best way to create a painted replica with proper strokes, mixing colours and doing it layer by layer. Interestingly, this also includes AI-generated pieces. Artists need to consent, as Ryan says Acrylic doesn’t train on their data without their knowledge. With everything in place, artists can expect “credit and fair compensation” for their creations. The “Acrylic” in the company’s name has a literal connotation. Its technology currently only works with acrylic paint because of its texture and the robot’s ability to consistently dabble in it. Watercolour paint is water soluble and best done on specific paper types. Oil-based paint requires more preparation because of the chemicals involved. “We pick acrylic over oil because it’s a lot less toxic,” says Ryan in an interview with MobileSyrup . “We don’t need to have our staff wearing masks in the office and use turpentine to remove oil from the brushes, so it’s hard to work with and not very good for you.” She adds most buyers don’t know the difference anyway, but if she and her team want to get into “really expensive art replication,” they will eventually need to find a way to work with oil. The robot also can’t replicate all art styles. Finger painting is out because there’s nothing on the unit that can match a human finger. Abstract expressionist pieces of the likes of Jackson Pollock and Jean-Paul Riopelle are a no-go because there’s no chance of the robot splattering paint on a canvas. This is partly why Acrylic Robotics curates pieces compatible with the robot’s capabilities. Matching the artist’s input is a challenge, though some variations already apply, as in how the robot can perform a thicker stroke in one layer and thinner one with less pressure on another. Replicating a historic painter like Rembrandt would be hard because of the accuracy involved. “The limitation is less about the robot’s hardware, and more that it’s just really, really hard to get the exact, perfect amount of paint on the brush in a calculated, reliable way for the perfect dry brush stroke,” she says. “We have certain styles that work better for the robot right now and we just continue to increase the robotic capabilities every day.” The company doesn’t design or manufacture the robot, so the mechanics of the arm aren’t easy to alter. Newer robots could conceivably change how this process works down the line, though Ryan wouldn’t speculate on what that might look like. To maintain consistency, Acrylic will have to “freeze” the process with which the robot actually paints to ensure multiple copies of the same piece look the same. Assuming these types of robots improve in speed and accuracy in the coming years, paintings done on the current system would have to remain that way. It’s one instance Ryan says the company is trying to plan for in case production needs grow. Speed will be a factor going forward, though she adds there may be a need to maintain consistency at the expense of efficiency. The number of brushstrokes and a painting’s complexity largely determine how long it takes to finish. “You’re looking at a few hours to up to 12 if it’s a really complex work, but it continuously gets faster,” she says. “Our first collection that we launched about a year ago took us two weeks of round-the-clock operation to make every painting. We’d have to babysit the robot, where me and some of our other team members would sleep in the office and wake up every three hours to put more paint in the pots because it would run out.” The system now runs autonomously with automated paint refills, along with custom systems to avoid running out of paint throughout the process. Ryan says there’s a waitlist of 500 artists around the world to use the service, much of which grew through word of mouth in arts communities. Acrylic will slowly onboard artists as capacity allows — a mostly manual process that requires working with each artist in a sort of white glove treatment. Once approved, artists can use the self-service platform to produce work that Acrylic can sell to interested buyers. Artists can also sell their work themselves since Acrylic only produces a painting based on an actual purchase. That could include corporate and commercial opportunities as well, like a hotel looking to harmonize artwork at multiple locations, for example. To date, Acrylic sold a digital piece created by Claire Silver, an AI artist from Montreal, for $100,000 USD (about $141,600 CAD) in November 2024. Silver, who stays anonymous, has had her work displayed in galleries and museums across the globe, including Sotheby’s in London and Christie’s in New York. “My goal from a company mission standpoint is to allow all artists to contribute,” she says. “I don’t want to just continue to propagate the same sort of snooty gallery system of, ‘who and where have you exhibited?’ Most artists can’t afford to buy a robot outright and I want all all of them to be able to use this technology.”
Budget 2025: The electronics industry has sought a reduction in import duty in the upcoming budget on key components used to manufacture mobile mobiles, such as inductor coils, mic and printed circuit board (PCBA). ET Year-end Special Reads Two sectors that rose on India's business horizon in 2024 2025 outlook: Is it time for cautious optimism or rekindling animal spirits? 2024: Govt moves ahead with simultaneous polls plan; India holds largest democratic exercise The industry has also sought subsidies for mandatory testing and certification of products, extension of the 15% corporate tax waiver for manufacturing companies, a technology acquisition fund and dedicated manufacturing clusters for components. Phone makers have pitched for a cut in the duty on mic, receiver, speaker and flexible printed circuit assembly to 10% from 15% now. They have also asked for duty-free imports of parts of printed circuit board assembly, which are subject to 2.5% duty at present. This is crucial as India's effective tariffs on mobile phone inputs still range from 7% to 7.2%, which is significantly higher than China and Vietnam, they said. The industry raised these issues at a pre-budget meeting with finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday. 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Industry has sought concessions on those parts as there is no duty on some of these components in China," said an official. Pushing for a simplified tariff structure, the India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) has suggested duty-free import of inputs and sub-parts of sub-assemblies/components, 5% duty for certain component parts and 10% tariff for sub-assemblies and components. The Electronic Industries Association of India (ELCINA) said the government should consider providing financial incentives or establish subsidised testing and certification facilities, specifically for MSME companies, along with increasing testing capacity. It asked to extend the 15% corporate tax waiver for manufacturing companies till March 31, 2029 to encourage establishment of new manufacturing ventures in the component sector. This should be combined with a dedicated incentive package to build the component ecosystem in dedicated clusters, ELCINA said. India's domestic smartphone market stagnated in 2024, with shipments flat for the second consecutive year at approximately 152 million units, as reported by Counterpoint Research and IDC. "A modest 1-2% growth during the festive season was insufficient to offset the decline in demand for sub-$100 devices, whose share fell from 30% in 2023 to under 20% in 2024," ICEA said in a representation to chief economic advisor V Anantha Nageswaran. Duty cuts on key components would be crucial for India to benefit from the tariff changes as US president-elect Donald Trump has proposed tariffs as high as 60% on Chinese imports. Trump began a trade war with China in 2018 during his first term as US president. Nominations for ET MSME Awards are now open. The last day to apply is December 31, 2024. Click here to submit your entry for any one or more of the 22 categories and stand a chance to win a prestigious award. (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel )
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