Thousands shelter from Kyiv missile barrage, hours after Biden’s national security adviser visits
- By Diksha Madhok,
- Thu March 21, 2024
New Delhi:A popular food delivery app in India has sparked controversy, and an abrupt retreat, after launching an initiative to attract vegetarian customers.
Earlier this week, Zomato announced plans to introduce a curation of restaurants that serve only “pure vegetarian food.”
This list “will exclude all restaurants which serve any non-veg food item,” the company’s founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal said on X on Tuesday.
“Non-veg,” short for “non-vegetarian,” refers to any food that contains meat, poultry or seafood.
“India has the largest percentage of vegetarians in the world,” Goyal wrote on X, adding that many of them are “very particular” about how their food is cooked and handled.
In order to further cater to these strict dietary preferences, their food would be delivered by a “dedicated pure veg fleet.” These riders would wear new green uniforms, as opposed to the red ones worn by the rest of the delivery workers, the company said.
“This means that a non-veg meal, or even a veg meal served by a non-veg restaurant will never go inside the green delivery box meant for our pure veg fleet,” Goyal added.
Many of the most widely followed religions in the world’s most populous country require adherence to strict dietary laws.
Jains and many Hindus stick to a vegetarian diet, following the principle of “ahimsa,” or non-violence and respect for all life.
Almost four in 10 Indian adults say they are vegetarian, according to the Pew Research Center.
Valentyna Ivanivna, an 80-year old living in Kyiv’s central Podil district, told CNN she was woken at 5 a.m. by a loud blast that shattered her windows.
“I don’t know whether it was a missile or what it was, but now I have holes instead of windows. I’m alright, but my kitchen and a living room are now windowless. I was sleeping in the bedroom, which is behind another wall, which saved me from the shrapnel,” she said.
Anastasia Shulha showed CNN inside her flower shop, which had also had its main window blown out and front door damaged.
“Actually, this is the second time my shop has suffered an attack. Last time it was late spring last year,” she said.
Pointing to the damaged shop door, she added, “Everything is wide open, and anyone could get in. it. I am going to need to stay here until the window and the door are replaced.”
Ruslan Kravchenko, head of the Kyiv region military administration, said there were no hits to critical infrastructure facilities or residential buildings – though pictures suggest at least one close call.
Videos and images show a large crater just meters away from high-rise residential buildings. One image shows nearby cars covered in soil thrown up by the impact.
