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Reliance-backed Addverb to launch first humanoid robot for diverse workflows by 2025 using Jio’s AI platform​

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The homegrown robotics major, Addverb, on Tuesday (November 19, 2024) announced its foray into humanoid robotics. The Noida-based company is expected to launch its first humanoid robot by 2025. “The new humanoid robot will be an advanced AI agent capable of processing vast volumes of multi-modal data from vision, audio, and touch inputs.”

Addverb will develop its first humanoid robot with Reliance, using Jio’s AI platform and 5G services. Reliance invested in Addverb in 2021. And the company deployed its advanced robotic solutions across Reliance’s businesses, including grocery, fashion, petrochemicals, and healthcare.


Addverb’s first humanoid robot will navigate complex environments, perform intricate tasks, make real-time decisions, and adapt to diverse workflows across industries—including warehouses, defence, and healthcare, Addverb said.

It will use GPU, energy-efficient actuators, and dual-arm capabilities, to execute complex tasks requiring bipedal mobility across multiple terrains. It will also integrate Visual and Language Action (VLA) technology, enabling full autonomy in dynamic settings, the company said.

Previously, Addverb introduced India’s first quadruped, AI-powered robot with autonomous navigation, modular payload that can traverse various terrains.

“Our foray into humanoid robotics is driven by our ambition to eliminate ‘3D’ jobs—those that are Dull, Dirty, and Dangerous. This project focuses on integrated processing and decision-making capabilities, enabling the humanoid to perform complex tasks with human-like dexterity and strength,” said Sangeet Kumar, Co-Founder and CEO of Addverb.

This initiative will boost humanoid robot density in India and support global adoption of this technology. We are embarking on an exciting journey towards transformative progress in robotics, he added.

Addverb has operations across the US, Europe, and Asia.


About the company

LOGISTICS: Behind the scenes of India’s largest robotics company: Addverb​


Talks about making products for defence sector also @4:10 of this Bloomberg Video
 
Global music stars head to India as young, affluent Indians pack concerts

By Jaspreet Kalra
December 6, 20242:01 PM GMT+5:30
Updated 9 days ago
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Girls hold posters outside the venue of the Dua Lipa concert in Mumbai, India November 30, 2024. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights

Summary

  • Number of live events in India up 35% year-on-year
  • Affluent, globally connected Indians snapping up tickets beyond major cities
  • Industry insiders say India could soon rival Australia, Canada, China and UK for live tours

MUMBAI, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Young, well-to-do Indians’ booming appetite for live entertainment is attracting global music stars as they seek out new audiences in the world’s most populous nation.

Dua Lipa and Maroon 5 performed in India's financial capital Mumbai in the past seven days, while Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, Shawn Mendes and Green Day have concerts planned over the next three months.

"We've been listening to these artists online for years so seeing them in real life is quite exciting," said Aseem Khan, a 23-year-old from Bhopal in central India, as he queued with three friends to see British-Albanian pop star Dua Lipa.

About 20,000 people went to the Mumbai concert. Like Khan, many were in their early to mid 20s, and had travelled from across India to see the show. Two-thirds of the country's 1.4 billion population is under the age of 35.

Performances are a great way to spend "a weekend with multiple groups of friends as everyone is going to concerts these days," Khan said.
Affluent, globally connected Indians are driving the demand, according to executives at event management and ticketing firms.

"India is the second largest audio streaming market for most global artists around the world, translating very effectively to heightened demand on-ground for music concerts," said Anil Makhija, chief operating office for live entertainment and venues at BookMyShow, India's largest online ticketing platform.

The interest has changed how global stars are looking at India, said Adam Wilkes, president and chief executive for Asia Pacific at AEG, a live entertainment firm.

"What's been interesting the last few years is that it's gone from us saying, 'Hey, you ever think about India?' To them (artists) saying, 'Hey, I want to go to India,'" Wilkes said.

The concert boom has lifted other forms of live entertainment. There have been 27,000 live events, from music to comedy shows and theatre, in India so far this year to November, 35% more than in the same period last year, according to BookMyShow data.

Economists predict spillover effects into the wider economy as concert-goers splash out on transport, hotels, food and merchandise.
There will be a "significant boost to overall spending and consumption," Dipanwita Mazumdar and Jahnavi Prabhakar, economists at Bank of Baroda, wrote in a report on Dec. 3.

At the current pace, they estimated concert-linked spending could total between 60 billion rupees ($708.5 million) and 80 billion rupees on an annualized basis over the next 12 months.

AEG's Wilkes says infrastructure improvements have also reduced the logistical challenges of staging shows in India, helped by the success of major sporting events such as cricket's IPL.

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Map graphic showing cities which are hubs for live entertainment in India

BEHIND THE BOOM

Affluent Indians' disposable income has been increasing even as growth in the world's fifth largest economy sees a slowdown and the middle-class reins in spending on consumer goods.

While India's average per capita income remains low at close to $2,500 a year and there is significant inequality, the number of Indians earning more than 1 million Indian rupees ($11,807.77) a year has more than doubled to over 12 million over the last five financial years to March 2024, according to government data. India's financial year runs from April to March.

The cheapest tickets for Coldplay's upcoming shows were 2,500 rupees ($29.50) and the most expensive 35,000 rupees ($414). By comparison, prices for a Coldplay concert in South Korea were priced between $46.63 and $761.

Tickets for the initial two India shows sold out within minutes, prompting the band to add three more dates including two in the northwestern city of Ahmedabad.

Announcing the Ahmedabad performances would take place in a 130,000-seater stadium named after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Coldplay said it would be their "biggest ever show".

It was a sign of how the appetite for live events has spread beyond India's most prominent cities.

"Tier 2 and 3 cities are now the thriving hubs for out-of-home entertainment," said Makhija of BookMyShow.

Bryan Adams is set to perform in the northeastern city of Shillong next week while Ed Sheeran kicks off his 2025 tour of India from Pune, a city about 150 km (100 miles) southeast of Mumbai.

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Stacked bar chart showing income distribution of individuals earning over 1 million rupees per year in India

Aggregate revenue from India’s live entertainment market is expected to reach about $1.7 billion by 2026, growing at a compounded annual growth rate of more than 20% over the next three to five years, according to estimates from consulting firm Ernst and Young.

"If India can become 5-6 plus cities, like what Ed (Sheeran) is doing, then you're sort of in the same bucket as Canada, UK, Japan, Australia, China. Those are the top, top markets for live entertainment after the United States," said AEG's Wilkes.

Sheeran, who first played in India in 2015, has talked enthusiastically about the country and the joy of performing there.

"I really feel the love here, in India. People are so excited! I have a similar personality, so I resonate with that," he said in a media interview earlier this year.

https://www.reuters.com/world/india...ng-affluent-indians-pack-concerts-2024-12-06/
 
I am not person to grumble, but there should be basis for allocation of resources.

Gujarat is getting lion share in everything.
Even in Olympics Gujarat had 400 cr allocation, rest of the states were less.

I am not against spending more in needy places. But couldn't agree anymore.
Even though I am BJP supporter.

Are bhai ye to dekho Gujarat kitane time return kar ke deta hai? If you can not hold olympaic in Gujarat than which batter place is there in your mind?
 
Rupee will cross 100 soon..... Disaster of epic proportions is coming..... Muh! Supa power 2050......Importing more than exporting.........muh! high population is our strength.......I mean strength for dhandho sure ...... Free loading bureaucracy..........going back to pre 90s reform is a must........Rural economy is keeping things little bit afloat but for how long, they can't rescue urban leeches from their incompetency every time.
 
A very interesting thread on india's exports & imports.


I would suggest people to read it in full. A few observations:

1. India's merchandise exports have drastically changed in the last 5 years. Refined petroleum used to have the largest share in merch exports. Cyclic changes in oil prices made earnings highly volatile. It might soon be dethroned by telecom gear, which is a finished good with stable prices.

2. The rumours about Modi-Hasina deal seem to be true. Modi kept India's textile sector underfunded/underdeveloped so that Bangladesh can capture it without much competition which led to their boom in exports. Higher prosperity for bangladesh in return for political alignment away from Pakistan/China. That deal seems to be off the table now. Couple it with increase in PLI subsidies for textile sector, it seems India will now cannibalize RMG sector growth from Bangladesh.

Similarly, the PLI scheme for textiles has received a substantial boost, with Rs 1,148 crore allocated, compared to just Rs 45 crore in the previous budget estimate

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2. The rumours about Modi-Hasina deal seem to be true. Modi kept India's textile sector underfunded/underdeveloped so that Bangladesh can capture it without much competition which led to their boom in exports. Higher prosperity for bangladesh in return for political alignment away from Pakistan/China. That deal seems to be off the table now. Couple it with increase in PLI subsidies for textile sector, it seems India will now cannibalize RMG sector growth from Bangladesh.

Such a silly conspiracy theory. The textile industry was limited to micro, small, and medium sectors running on subsidies before Modi. Modi removed all subsidies so the textile industry became less competitive. Plus UPA had limited the growth of big companies in textiles to protect the little guys, which made sense considering today we have 45 million directly employed in it, with another 100 million via retail.

The real difference is BD's labor laws are more supportive of exploitative policies, the same as Vietnam and China, which is what made them more competitive. When you turn labor resources into 70-hours or 90-hours a week slave laborers living in pens, the alternative is a lot of capital investment to compensate for the difference. Hence the switch to constructive subsidies like PLI.

In any case the PLI scheme was approved in 2021. Something around 11k cr was approved and almost 10k cr was disbursed until last year. So the amount allocated was to fulfill the original pledged amount to complete the 5-year investment plan made back then. Next year will require a new plan.
 
Energy security need to be top priority..... Solar power is the oil of India..... Schemes like PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana should be forced upon every household in country. Increase in share of EV is a must. Solar EV combo alone will save 100 of billion of $ in long run for India & will guarantee make India energy independent.

Factsheet Details:
 
Energy security need to be top priority..... Solar power is the oil of India..... Schemes like PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana should be forced upon every household in country. Increase in share of EV is a must. Solar EV combo alone will save 100 of billion of $ in long run for India & will guarantee make India energy independent.

Factsheet Details:
while all this is good, what India needs the most is a breakthrough in Thorium reactor design. That has been excruciatingly slow. Chinese might even leap-frog Indian designs due their massive funding. Indian govt needs to let pvt sector in. Govt tightly controls the nuclear sector, while this has led to a very regulated environment where no major accident has occured, it also stifles any dramatic progress.

Other than that India needs a massive civilizational revamp. A 2nd Republic sort of thing. We need to shed our past behind, which requires some fundamental changes in governance, lifestyle, everything. A country's source of power is its economy, always has, always will be. For that you need trade & commerce, which requires production centres on the coast. India is blessed to have a peninsular shape, it gives us access to ocean on a massive scale. We are fools not to fully utilize it.

In an ideal scenario, India should move its entire 1.5 Billion population to its shores. Make massive megacities of 50 million population capacity each. 30 of these 50 million pop cities will be enough for all our population 30*50 mil=1500 mil. Something like this:
1738618526531.png

This will solve so many of our problems. New planned cities with all out rail based Public Transport[metro], 100% urbanization. Decrease private vehicle ownership to almost 0. Proper environmental rules & regulations to reduce pollution. A massive coastal HSR line along with a DFC line to connect all cities.
[Sidenote - Also, why I think inland DFCs - WDFC & EDFC are a waste of money. You are going the opposite way. No large scale manufacturing can happen 1000km away from your ports. Instead of bringing factories into gangetic plain, we should move people out to the coast]

Essentially a country-wide reset. We could completely eliminate our societal divisions. Elimination of identitarian issues like caste, religion, language, etc. A single national identity, no sub-national identities based on caste/language/religion. A new language & script for entire south asia that everyone has to learn from scratch[no imposition of one identity over other]. Complete eradication of english language from the sub-continent as a bridging language.

We have solutions for everything. We can probably learn a lot from what china has done. Learn from their successes & mistakes alike. We have the largest population in the world, we can do whatever the fucck we want as a democracy. We just need someone bold enough to do all this. We should probably start by reforming our judiciary. Start hanging/firing corrupt HC/SC judges, then on to beheading politicians & bureaucrats who are termites. Any country that cannot completely eradicate vested interests in its own population that are a hinderance to progress & change will be left behind or fail. Our babus are the biggest hinderance to our progress. We need a complete eradication of this class of un-elected rulers that answer to nobody.
 
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I like his way of thinking:
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I agree with him wholeheartedly on almost every point, especially the last point. Bureaucrats who have children studying outside of this country should be immediately fired. These people have no skin in the game. If your own progenies[future generations] are unaffected by your governance, why would you want to improve anyway??
 
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while all this is good, what India needs the most is a breakthrough in Thorium reactor design. That has been excruciatingly slow. Chinese might even leap-frog Indian designs due their massive funding. Indian govt needs to let pvt sector in. Govt tightly controls the nuclear sector, while this has led to a very regulated environment where no major accident has occured, it also stifles any dramatic progress.

Other than that India needs a massive civilizational revamp. A 2nd Republic sort of thing. We need to shed our past behind, which requires some fundamental changes in governance, lifestyle, everything. A country's source of power is its economy, always has, always will be. For that you need trade & commerce, which requires production centres on the coast. India is blessed to have a peninsular shape, it gives us access to ocean on a massive scale. We are fools not to fully utilize it.

In an ideal scenario, India should move its entire 1.5 Billion population to its shores. Make massive megacities of 50 million population capacity each. 30 of these 50 million pop cities will be enough for all our population 30*50 mil=1500 mil. Something like this:
View attachment 40098
This will solve so many of our problems. New planned cities with all out rail based Public Transport[metro], 100% urbanization. Decrease private vehicle ownership to almost 0. Proper environmental rules & regulations to reduce pollution. A massive coastal HSR line along with a DFC line to connect all cities.
[Sidenote - Also, why I think inland DFCs - WDFC & EDFC are a waste of money. You are going the opposite way. No large scale manufacturing can happen 1000km away from your ports. Instead of bringing factories into gangetic plain, we should move people out to the coast]

Essentially a country-wide reset. We could completely eliminate our societal divisions. Elimination of identitarian issues like caste, religion, language, etc. A single national identity, no sub-national identities based on caste/language/religion. A new language & script for entire south asia that everyone has to learn from scratch[no imposition of one identity over other]. Complete eradication of english language from the sub-continent as a bridging language.

We have solutions for everything. We can probably learn a lot from what china has done. Learn from their successes & mistakes alike. We have the largest population in the world, we can do whatever the fucck we want as a democracy. We just need someone bold enough to do all this. We should probably start by reforming our judiciary. Start hanging/firing corrupt HC/SC judges, then on to beheading politicians & bureaucrats who are termites. Any country that cannot completely eradicate vested interests in its own population that are a hinderance to progress & change will be left behind or fail. Our babus are the biggest hinderance to our progress. We need a complete eradication of this class of un-elected rulers that answer to nobody.
India is a union of state..... A bihari or Marathi has as much common with Kashmiri as Chinese with blacks, two different race & two completely different cultures....... What India need is nasbandi of useless subaltern population of India from cow belt to tamilnadu.... 99% of India problems will be solved guarantee.......... China has massive state enterprises & champions...... India has bhim-meem ka constitution & useless Pvt sector.