British PM Rishi Sunak reverses decision on COP27, says will attend climate summit
London (PTI): British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced on Wednesday that he will attend the COP27 climate summit in Egypt next week, reversing his previous decision to skip the meeting in Sharm El Sheikh to focus on domestic issues and the economic crisis in the UK.
Sunak took to Twitter to reveal his plans after criticism from climate activists and within the government from Indian-origin COP27 President Alok Sharma, who said it was important for the prime minister to be present to show the UK's commitment on the issue of climate action.
The pressure mounted further as his ex-boss, former prime minister Boris Johnson, confirmed that he would be attending the summit scheduled between November 6 and 18.
"There is no long-term prosperity without action on climate change, tweeted Sunak.
"There is no energy security without investing in renewables. That is why I will attend COP27 next week: to deliver on Glasgow's legacy of building a secure and sustainable future," he said, with reference to the COP26 summit chaired by the UK in Scotland last November.
The Opposition Labour Party described the reversed decision to attend as Sunak being "dragged kicking and screaming into doing the right thing; embarrassing".
The Green Party called it a "screeching U-turn" and "an embarrassing mis-step on the world stage" to initially announce plans not to attend.
Earlier this week, Downing Street said Sunak's attendance at the summit was under review as progress was being made with Chancellor Jeremy Hunt on the preparation of a crucial economic statement scheduled for November 17.
Many world leaders, including US President Joe Biden and France's Emmanuel Macron, are due to go to the 27th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
India's Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav will lead an 18-member delegation at COP 27, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's attendance yet to be confirmed.
King Charles III, a passionate climate campaigner who will not be attending, is to host a COP27 pre-summit reception for world leaders at Buckingham Palace on Friday. It is planned as a review of progress made since the UK hosted the COP26 summit in Glasgow last November, with Sunak and Sharma among those attending alongside international business leaders and decision-makers.
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BharatPe fraud case: Delhi HC quashes lookout circular against Ashneer Grover, wife
New Delhi, Nov 12: The Delhi High Court has ordered cancellation of a lookout circular (LOC) issued against Ashneer Grover, the former MD of payment app BharatPe, and his wife Madhuri Jain Grover, noting that the FIR lodged against them over allegations of cheating and forgery has already been quashed.
Justice Sanjeev Narula passed the order on Monday after the court was informed that another bench of the high court quashed the FIR on the same day.
The FIR was quashed by Justice Chandra Dhari Singh after considering a plea moved by the Grovers stating that they have arrived at a settlement with the fintech company.
In his order, Justice Narula said, "Although the copy of the order (quashing the FIR) is not available as of now, the aforenoted fact is not disputed by the counsel for the parties.
"In light of the fact that the underlying FIR has been quashed, the LOC issued by respondent No. 3 (Bureau of Immigration), in the opinion of the court, will not survive."
The LOC was issued by the Bureau of Immigration at the instance of Delhi Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) in view of the investigation against the Grovers in the cheating and forgery FIR.
The court was hearing a plea moved by Grover and his wife Madhuri Jain Grover seeking quashing of the LOC issued against them in connection with the investigation into the cheating and forgery case.
"Accordingly, the present petitions are disposed of with a direction to the respondents to cancel the LOC against the petitioners in their records," the court noted.
Earlier, the Grovers claimed that they were informed about the LOC for the first time when they were detained at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here on November 16, 2023, while they were scheduled to travel to the US.
After being detained, they were informed that the LOC was operational from November 6, 2023.
In May last year, the EOW filed an FIR against Grover, his wife Madhuri, and others under eight sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating and dishonesty), 467 and 468 (forgery), and 471 (using forged documents as genuine) for an alleged Rs 81 crore fraud after a complaint was lodged by BhartPe, the fintech unicorn.
In its complaint, BharatPe alleged that Grover and his family caused damages to the tune of Rs 81.3 crore through illegitimate payments to bogus human resource consultants, inflated and undue payments through pass-through vendors connected to the accused, sham transactions in input tax credit and payment of penalty to GST authorities, illegal payment to travel agencies, forged invoices by Madhuri, and destruction of evidence.
Madhuri was the head of controls at BharatPe before she was fired in 2022 after a forensic audit revealed several irregularities.
Subsequently, Grover resigned as the chief executive officer of the fintech firm in March 2022.
