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Baku (Azerbaijan): Azerbaijan, the host of this year's United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 29), has set a lofty goal of ring-fencing the annual talks from geopolitical strife.The incoming presidency is proposing a two-week moratorium, COP truce, modelled on the Olympic truce, to bring all countries together to work in the spirit of cooperation and collaboration to tackle the existential crisis that is climate change. According to Hikmet Hajiyev, foreign policy adviser to Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, the geopolitical polarisation that the world is seeing is a throwback to the Cold War era."In a way, it is a worse manifestation of the Cold War conundrum," Hajiyev told visiting journalists on Wednesday. "Unfortunately, the world is divided by recent developments, and under these circumstances reaching the goal through consensus is very difficult." 110775930The Azerbaijani view of the climate issue is that it is "the wizard on the political and geopolitical issues", and while countries could be on opposing sides of issues, climate change is an issue that puts every country on the same side, because it affects everybody, everywhere in the world."No one is immune, it affects everybody, everywhere, therefore, we need an inclusive process that builds a unanimous global approach on the issue," the senior Azerbaijani official said. The COP truce is one way of leaving the geopolitical polarisation at the door to focus on working together in a common endeavour. "It's like the Olympics truce. So, during the period of the COP, all cannons should stop, and we should work on the climate issue. Not because of us, but because of our children and grandchildren," said Hajiyev.Hajiyev appeared not to rule out the inclusion of the idea in the negotiated agreement at Baku.working to build coalition What is clear from the foreign adviser's emphasis is that the idea of a COP truce will be an important element of the COP29 presidency's Action Agenda. The idea is to get a buy-in to the idea from a sizable number of countries. The Azerbaijan team is already working on building a coalition around the idea, and is talking to different countries and the United Nations. "We have had positive reactions. I think there will be a lot of like-minded countries that will support it. It will be an open-ended process allowing countries to join in at different points," said Hajiyev.What gives the Azerbaijani official the confidence that it will be able to pull off the truce is the experience of striking a peace deal with its neighbour Armenia. The Action Agenda refers to a set of priorities and sectors that the host identifies to mobilise action by bringing together non-party stakeholders, such as businesses, academia, intergovernmental agencies, and state and local government representatives.The Action Agenda is aimed at encouraging efforts to tackle climate change, as well as giving a signal to negotiators on the extent of the willingness and commitment of different stakeholders to take on measures to deal with climate change. Another item on the presidency's list is a global stock take of the declarations and pledges made under the Action Agenda. Last year, countries completed the first global stock take under the Paris Agreement, which included an evaluation of all the climate commitments made by countries in the nationally determined contributions (NDCs). It also included measures that countries agreed to take and incorporate in their next round of nationally determined contributions (NDCs). Assessment of Action AgendaAzerbaijan is proposing undertaking a somewhat similar assessment of the Action Agenda. "This is taking the stock-taking approach, streamlining everything to see what has been achieved and what has not," said Hajiyev. "We will also work with the countries that initiated declarations and initiatives to establish what are the next steps under these declarations and initiatives, determine the measure of success, identify where the emphasis needs to be, or what adjustments need to be made."He cautioned that this is an idea still under development and that it is "a little too early to say" if the stock take would culminate in a report. Agenda Being finalisedThe COP29 presidency is still in the process of finalising its agenda. "As you know, it was only in December that it was agreed that Azerbaijan would host COP29," said Hajiyev. Unlike most countries that host the annual UN climate talks, Azerbaijan has less than a year to prepare for the November meeting. The host country rotates among the five United Nations regional groups (Africa, Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe, Latin American and the Caribbean, and Western European and Others).Within the regional group, the decision on the host is taken by the member countries of the designated region. The 2024 meet, or COP29, was designated to be held in Eastern Europe. The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 made a consensus decision on the COP29 host virtually impossible, with Russia blocking offers by EU member states putting Bulgaria out of reckoning. Offers by traditional Russian allies, Serbia and Moldova, too were blocked by Russia, as the two countries moved into closer partnership with the EU. (The journalist is in Baku at the invitation of the COP29 presidency)

Popularly known as a camera brand, Canon is in talks with Indian and global players for its semiconductor lithography equipment, which is the most crucial machinery required in chip fabrication, and shall compete with global leaders like ASML in the space.“We are in early stages of discussions with Indian and global semiconductor companies who have committed to invest in building semiconductor fabrication units in India as well as others who are expanding electronics manufacturing such as phones and laptops for assembling printed circuit boards and motherboards,” Canon Inc’s president and chief executive Manabu Yamazaki told ET.While the executive did not reveal any names of potential partners, the Tata Group, Taiwanese Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (PSMC) and Murugappa group's CG Power are known to have started work to establish semiconductor chip fabrication units in India.Canon, on Thursday, also incorporated its new India subsidiary, Canon Medical Systems India, based out of Gurugram to cater to the growing needs of medical machinery such as CT scanners, MRI equipment, ultrasound systems etc. 110765200“Our AI-enhanced imaging systems and medical equipment are currently installed in hospital chains such as AIIMS and Apollo Hospitals. But we see growing demands in key markets such as Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai and therefore decided to establish the segment as a separate line of business in India,” said Yamazaki.The Tokyo-based group, largely into the printing and imaging segment, counts India as its top three markets in Asia, and expects it to become number one by 2035.As per its estimates, the printing industry in India for home, office and industrial use encapsulates a market of Rs10,000 crore, growing at an annual rate of 3-5%. Canon’s current share of printing business is 22-25%, targeted to grow at 35% in next three years, the executives said. 110688837When asked about the government's growing push for local value addition in IT hardware such as laptops, and printer components such as toners and cartridges, Yamazaki said, “These are currently ‘what-if’ situations, and whenever they materialise we have to react to them. Us not having any manufacturing plant in India does not mean we don’t have a vision for it. And we will certainly make those decisions when there is something concrete on the legislation side.”As for cameras and imaging, 78% of its sales come from the enterprise segment dominated by businesses such as weddings, video-blogging, content creators, and fashion.The company is also optimistic about the growth of security systems, surveillance cameras and video analytics software as the government backs the mission to develop 100 smart cities with an investment of Rs 200,000 crore.

The Indian market closed in the green for the second day in a row on Thursday tracking positive cues.The S&P BSE Sensex rose nearly 700 points while the Nifty50 rose more than 200 points.Sectorally, buying was seen in capital goods, public sector, and realty stocks.Stocks that were in focus include names like UNO Minda which rose more than 13% to hit a fresh high, KNR Constructions closed with gains of more than 11% and Amara Raja Batteries that gained nearly 5% to hit a fresh record high.We have collated a list of three stocks that either hit a fresh 52-week high, or an all-time high or saw a volume or a price breakout.We spoke to an analyst on how one should look at these stocks the next trading day entirely from an educational point of view. Here’s what Priyanka Limaye (CA, CMT) had to say:UNO Minda: CMP 974.20This stock has been steadily moving higher in the last one year. In the last 2-3 weeks, the stock has picked up momentum.The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is in a super bullish zone. MACD is in a buy signal, and the volumes have also been good in the last couple of days.On the upside, the 1,020-1,065 zone will be a crucial technical hurdle. Clearing this hurdle will take this stock towards 1,265 levels.110774159KNR Constructions: CMP 378.65This stock has given a weekly channel breakout in the past few days.Indicators like RSI, MACD are in buy modes, and the volumes are also looking good.The stock has a minor technical hurdle around 430, and once it clears this hurdle, the stock will go higher towards 470-505.110774176Amara Raja Batteries: CMP 1,277.50This stock has recently given a breakout from weekly rounding bottom pattern. The pattern target would be around 1,600, and the technical indicators are slightly in an overbought zone.Any dip towards 1,120-1,020 can be utilised to add/buy for the given target.110774184(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views, and opinions given by experts are their own. These do not represent the views of the Economic Times)