Tag: Widens

Kenya ‘cult’ investigation widens as death toll reaches 90

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The death toll at a ranch in Kenya owned by a pastor who is accused of leading a religious cult and ordering his followers to starve themselves in order to “meet Jesus” has reached 90, as the country’s interior minister announced an expanded operation at the site.
The new figure came after police exhumed 17 more bodies. The total number of those rescued while starving at the ranch now stands at 34. The Kenya Red Cross Society’s latest figure on the number of missing is 213.
Pastor Paul Mackenzie Nthenge, who heads the Good News International church, is accused of luring his followers to the ranch near the coastal town of Malindi. He allegedly told them to fast until death in order to meet Jesus before burying them in shallow graves spread across his land. He was arrested after police raided the property earlier this month, and he remains in police custody pending a court appearance.
Interior minister Kithure Kindiki said the security team will “upscale search and rescue missions to save as many lives as possible”. “The entire 800-acre (320-hectare) parcel of land that is part of the Shakahola ranch is hereby declared a disturbed area and an operation zone,” Kindiki said while visiting the area.
The minister said there would be a turning point on how the country handles threats caused by religious extremism and was looking into another suspected cult in the same county.
“We have cast the net wider to another religious organisation here in Kilifi. We have opened a formal inquiry on this religious group and we are getting crucial leads that perhaps [this] is a tip of the iceberg,” Kindiki said.
The teams digging at the site have found decomposed bodies buried in mass and single graves marked with a cross.
Some living in mudwalled houses inside the ranch have fled ahead of rescue teams, and it is mostly those who cannot walk or talk who have been rescued so far.

A rescued follower (R) from the forest is supported by a volunteer Photograph: Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images
The Mombasa-based Muslims for Human Rights Group called on the government “to consider the option of using aerial surveillance by use of helicopters to rescue more people and make the process quicker”.
The autopsies on the bodies are set to begin on Thursday with local media reporting that government morgues in Kilifi are filled to capacity.
It is Kenya’s worst recorded case of alleged “cult” deaths.
The pastor had been arrested twice before – in 2019 and March this year – in relation to the deaths of children. Each time, he was released on bond, and both cases are still proceeding through the court system.
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( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )

April 26, 2023
Zomato’s net loss widens to Rs 347 cr in December quarter

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Delhi: Online food platform Zomato’s consolidated loss widened to Rs 346.6 crore (year-on-year) for the quarter ended December 31, against a loss of Rs 63 crore in the same period last year, the company said on Thursday.
The company said that adjusted revenue witnessed a 66 per cent growth to Rs 2,363 crore (YoY).
Zomato Founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal said that the long-term opportunity remains large and exciting.
“We think that the current slowdown is a result of a few temporary factors – a) macro slowdown for the mid-market segment, b) boom in dining out for the premium-end, and c) boom in travel at the premium-end,” he said in the company’s earnings results.
“We continue to stay focused on our long-term growth vectors without worrying too much about near-term growth pressures,” he added.
Zomato’s adjusted EBITDA loss increased to Rs 265 crore in the December quarter as against Rs 192 crore in the September quarter.
Excluding Blinkit, the operating loss was Rs 38 crore compared with Rs 272 crore a year ago, according to the company.
The company added 23 million new customers in CY22 as compared to 23.6 million in CY21.

“These are customers who placed at least 1 order on Zomato in the year. Even in the last quarter of CY22, while the overall demand was soft, the pace of new customer addition was strong,” said Zomato.
The company said that Hyperpure revenue grew 26 per cent QoQ to Rs 4.21 billion in Q3FY23.
Zomato launched a brand-new membership programme called Zomato Gold in late January.
“We expect this programme to drive loyalty and higher frequency of ordering going forward,” said Goyal.
In less than a month, the Zomato Gold program has scaled to 900k+ members.
On dine-out business, Goyal said the business is starting to take off, “but still doesn’t contribute meaningfully to the overall size of the business”.
“That should happen over time. We will share more when we have more to share,” he added.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 10, 2023
India’s Exports Fell 17% To $29.78 Bn In Oct, Trade Deficit Widens To $26.91 Bn

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India’s exports fell 17% to $29.78 billion in October, while its trade deficit increased to $26.91 billion.
According to data released by the commerce ministry on Tuesday, the country’s overall outbound shipments decreased by 16.65% to $29.78 billion in October as a result of a decline in some sectors’ merchandise exports, and the merchandise trade deficit increased to $26.91 billion from $25.71 billion the previous month, news agency PTI reported.
The report showed that imports for the month totaled $56.69 billion, compared to $53.64 billion in October 2021.
This year, from April to October, exports increased by 12.55 percent to $263.35 billion. Data show that imports increased 33.12% to $436.81 billion.
Between September 2022 and October 2022, both merchandise exports and imports slowed sequentially, which, in our opinion, was caused by more holidays associated with the holiday season.
In spite of the significant YoY decrease in the merchandise exports statistic, the trade deficit worsened in MoM terms during this time, albeit not alarmingly, according to ICRA Chief Economist Aditi Nayar who was quoted by Livemint.
When compared to November 2021, which had a later start to the holiday season, the sequential trend of exports in October 2022 is similar to what was observed in November 2021.
Given the current global demand issues, Nayar continued, “At this point, we anticipate some recovery in exports and imports in November 2022 relative to October 2022, albeit it may not be as substantial as the pattern seen in November and December of 2021.

(With inputs from agencies and more)

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November 16, 2022