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Multiple old photos are being shared in the context of recent farmers’ protest in Delhi - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 1, 2020
A lot of images are being shared in the context of recent protests by farmers in Delhi against the new agricultural laws brought by the Central Government. Let’s fact-check the photos being shared on social media.
Claim: Photos related to recent farmers’ protest in Delhi.
Fact: The posted photos are old. They are not related to recent farmers’ protest in Delhi. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Photo 1: (archived)
When the photo was run through Google Reverse Image Search, the same photo was found to be posted by a user on Facebook in September 2017. Multiple news agencies have also published a similar photo in September 2017 in relation to the farmer protests in Rajasthan. Those news articles can be read here, here, and here. CPI(M) has tweeted the same photo on 5 September 2017 with the description – ‘Farmers led by AIKS in Rajasthan demand #loanwaiver, pension schemes & greater allocation for MNREGA’. Sitaram Yechury has also tweeted the same photo in September 2017. So, the photo is not related to the recent farmers’ protest in Delhi.
Photo 2: (archived)
The same photo was found to be tweeted by Mumbai Live (on the posted photo –  a watermark of ‘MumbaiLive.com’ can be seen) in March 2018 with the description – “About 25,000 farmers have been marching to towards #Mumbai to protest against the anti-farmer policies. They have gathered at the Eastern Expressway Highway, opposite Viviana mall in #Thane.” Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan has also tweeted the same photo in 2018. More details regarding the context of the photo can be read here.
About 25,000 farmers have been marching to towards #Mumbai to protest against the anti-farmer policies.
They have gathered at the Eastern Expressway Highway, opposite Viviana mall in #Thane. pic.twitter.com/ROlvkePsjH
Photo 3: (archived)
This photo was found to being shared on the internet at least since September 2016. Other old posts can be found here and here. While the exact details regarding the photo were not found, it can be concluded that it is not related to recent farmers’ protest.
Photo 4: (archived)
The ‘Hindustan Times’ has published an article in February 2017 with the same photo. The description of the photo reads – ‘Jat women protesters on way to Jassia village during their agitation for reservation in Rohtak. (PTI photo)’. The same photo can be also found on the ‘Outlook’ website.
While the posted photos are old, thousands of farmers are protesting in Delhi currently and the visuals related to the recent farmers’ protest can be seen here.
To sum it up, multiple old photos are being shared in the context of recent farmers’ protest in Delhi.

created: December 1, 2020


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Multiple old visuals are shared as those from the recent earthquake that hit Hokkaido Island in Japan - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
February 28, 2023
In the wake of an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.1 that hit Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido on 25 February 2023, multiple videos and images are being shared on social media stating that they show recent visuals from the earthquake-hit Hokkaido Island in Japan. Those posts can be seen here, here, here, here and here. Let’s verify the claims made by these posts.
Claim: Videos and photos showing the recent visuals from the earthquake-hit Hokkaido Island in Japan.
Fact: All these posts shared old videos and pictures taken during the past earthquakes in Japan and Taiwan. These posts do not show the latest videos and pictures from the earthquake-hit Hokkaido. Hence, the claim made in the post is False.
Video-1:
Social media users were sharing this video claiming it shows the tremors felt during the recent earthquake in Japan’s Hokkaido Island. On reverse image search of the screenshots of the video, a video with similar visuals was found published by a YouTube channel in February 2021. This YouTube channel described it as the visuals showing the tremors felt during the earthquake in Japan’s Fukushima in 2021. Many news agencies and journalists shared this video in February 2021.
Video-2:
On reverse image search, a video with similar visuals was found published by the ‘ANNnewsCH’ YouTube channel on 17 January 2020. The description of the video states, “Tsunami, Great East Japan Earthquake, Sendai airport, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan [11 Mar 2011]”. The video shows the tremors felt during the 2011 earthquake in Japan.
Image-1:
On reverse image search of the photo shared in the post, the same photo was found published on the ‘Alamy’ website with the description, “OFUNATO, Japan (March 15, 2011) A fishing boat is among debris in Ofunato, Japan, following a 9.0 magnitude earthquake & tsunami”. Britannica and a few other websites have also published this image confirming it to be a picture showing the wreckage after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan in 2011.
Image-2:
On reverse image search of the photo shared in the post, the same photo was found in an article published by ‘The Sun’ website on 18 September 2022. The description of the photo states, “A collapsed building following the earthquake in Taiwan”. ‘Zee Hindustan’ and a few other news websites have also shared this image of the collapsed building and confirmed it as wreckage from the 2022 earthquake in Taiwan.
Image-3:
On reverse image search of the photo shared in the post, the same photo was found in an article published by the ‘International Business Times’ news website on 16 April 2016. The description of the photo states, “The aerial view shows a collapsed road after an earthquake in Minami-Aso, Kumamoto prefecture, Japan, April 16, 2016”.
To sum it up, multiple old videos and pictures are being shared as visuals from the recent earthquake that hit Hokkaido Island in Japan.

source: news-factly

created: February 28, 2023

license: Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

author: Sai Krishna Muthyanolla


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Multiple Organizations, Including Islamic Groups, Supported Odisha Train Accident Relief Measures - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
June 12, 2023
In the context of the recent Odisha train accident tragedy, a post circulating on social media claims that only the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) participated in the rescue operations, while no Muslim organization helped despite the presence of several mosques at the accident site. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: No organisation associated with Islam participated in the relief work during the Odisha train accident.
Fact: Islamic organizations, such as Dawat-e-Islami India and Jamiat-Ulama-i-Hind, have actively participated in the relief work following the Odisha accident. They have provided essential supplies like food and water to the victims and facilitated transportation to nearby hospitals. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
Through an internet search using relevant keywords, it was discovered that, in addition to the RSS, Islamic organizations such as Dawat-e-Islami India and Jamiat-Ulama-i-Hind have participated in the relief operations for the victims of the Odisha train accident. They have provided assistance by supplying food and water to the affected individuals, as well as arranging transportation for victims to nearby hospitals, among other efforts. Visuals of relief work can be seen here, here, here, and here.
Likewise, individuals associated with churches near Balasore swiftly engaged in relief efforts following the accident, actively participating in rescuing the victims and ferrying them to nearby hospitals.
Based on the aforementioned evidence, it becomes apparent that individuals from all religious backgrounds have come together to actively participate in rescue operations, disregarding their religious affiliations.
To sum it up, in addition to the RSS, Islamic organizations have also been actively involved in the relief efforts for the victims of the Odisha accident.


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National Geographic did not pay a Million dollars each to purchase these videos - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
February 8, 2023
Update (08 February 2023):
Another video with multiple clips of different birds in the wilderness is being shared on social media, claiming it as a video shot on a cell phone at the Kruger national park. The post, like the previous one, claims that National Geographic acquired the footage by paying one Million Dollars. Let’s find out the truth behind this claim through this article.
Claim: National Geographic channel paid one Million dollars to acquire the viral video shot at the Kruger National Park.
Fact: The viral video contains multiple clips of birds in their natural habitat. A few of those clips are part of some documentaries, one of which is even shot in India. There is no reports on National Geographic channel paying one million dollars to acquire the viral video. Hence the claim made in the post is False.
On reverse image search of the keyframes obtained from the video, we found that some of these visuals were shot at different locations, not in the Kruger National Park, South Africa. We have listed a few of the debunked videos below.
Video of Great hornbills casque-butting:
A reverse image search on a keyframe led us to an Instagram post of Natgeo wild which contains an image similar to the birds in the viral clip. The post’s description states that it was shot by Sandesh Kadur in the Western Ghats of India.
A post shared by Nat Geo WILD (@natgeowild)
Mr Sandesh also posted a similar image on his Facebook, writing, ‘Great hornbills casque-butting don’t miss watching #ourplanet Forests episode to see these hornbills in full motion!‘ This episode is available on the YouTube channel of Netflix for free. The clip of Great hornbills in this episode is the same as the one in the viral video, and contrary to what the post says, this video clip was not shot in Kruger National Park, South Africa but was filmed in the Western Ghats of India.
Bower Bird Papua New Guinea:
This part of the viral clip was taken from a BBC earth YouTube video showing the Bower bird’s performance to attract a partner. This was shot in the forests of Papua New Guinea and not in Kruger National Park.
Another Bird:
This video contained the bird’s footage in the viral clip, and this was also not shot at the Kruger National Park but was filmed in the Papua and the Maluku Islands, Indonesia.
Links to a few other video clips can be found here and here. These videos are the longer versions of the video clips presented in the viral post.  We did not find any evidence that National geographic had purchased the rights to any video filmed in the Kruger National Park.
Published (13 January 2023):
A video of an Eagle sheltering eggs in a nest is being shared with a claim that reads, ‘National geographic channel has paid 1 million dollars for this rare video.‘ Let’s fact-check this video through this article.
Claim: National geographic channel has paid 1 million dollars for this rare video of an Eagle sheltering eggs.
Fact: This video is a clip from a 24/7 live stream of a Bald Eagle nest. A non-profit organisation called ‘friends of big bear valley‘ runs this stream on YouTube. There are no credible news reports to prove that National geographic channel has paid 1 million dollars for this video. Hence the claim made in this post is FALSE.
We performed a keyword search on the internet using relevant keywords about the video. This led us to a news report published by abc7, which contained a video that matches the initial portion of the viral video. We also found a YouTube video that matches the visuals of the viral video.
Reportedly, this video of a bald eagle, Mrs Big Bear protecting her eggs in a nest was captured near Big Bear lake, California. The Eagle and her mate share the duties of incubation throughout the year. A link to the YouTube live stream of this nest was given in the article, which is now defunct.
As per the description of this video, the nest is on the San Bernardino National Forest,  and the camera is provided by ‘The Friends of Big Bear Valley.’ Based on these hints, we searched the internet with relevant keywords, which led us to the website of ‘The Friends of Big Bear Valley’ and the YouTube channel in which they stream the visuals of the Eagle’s nest 24/7. This video stream is owned and operated by ‘The Friends of Big Bear Valley.’ According to their website, the Eagles nest camera is the first ever active bald eagle nest in Big Bear Valley, California.
We then searched the internet to see if the National Geographic channel had paid one million dollars to purchase the footage of the viral video, which is a clip of this live stream. We did not find any information about National Geographic channel purchasing this video. Factly had earlier debunked multiple videos with similar claims that National Geographic channel had paid one million dollars to purchase the footage of a viral video. Below are the links to those articles.
To sum up, multiple unrelated videos are being shared claiming that National Geographic paid one Million dollars to purchase them.

created: February 8, 2023


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Multiple videos featuring different people are shared with a fictitious Canadian-Chinese magician story - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 8, 2022
A video is being shared on social media in which a man walking alongside a girl disappears after touching another man; he runs in fear and vanishes in thin air as the girl touches his bag. The post claims she is a 26-year-old Canadian-Chinese magician who won million-dollar prize money in America. Let’s verify this claim through this article.
Claim: Clip of a 26-year-old Canadian-Chinese girl who won 1 Million Dollar prize money for her magic in America. This is the top prize for magic.
Fact: A few other videos on the internet also make the same claim but feature completely different women. There are also no news reports about any Canadian-Chinese women winning a million-dollar prize, the highest-level competition for magic in America. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
A primary keyword search on the internet to know the details of the Canadian-Chinese 26-year-old magician who won the highest price in magic did not yield any relevant news reports. Instead, we found a few videos (here and here) claiming to be the magic competition winner that matched the post’s claimed prize money and ethnicity, and her name was mentioned as Shen Lin. But these videos feature different women than the one in the viral video.
We then performed a reverse image search with a few video keyframes and were led to multiple social media posts (here and here). One such post was made on an I.G. handle known as ‘twentytwohalo‘; this page usually posts VFX and creative videos and gives credit to the creator in the post’s description (here and here). But this post did not contain the creator’s credits. But this viral video can mostly be a work of VFX.
In 2018, a Canadian-American magician known as Shin Lim won the 1 Million USD prize money on Talent T.V. show America’s Got Talent. He was 26 years when he won the show. You can learn more about this here and here.
To sum up, multiple videos featuring different people are being shared with a fictitious story of a Canadian-Chinese magician who purportedly won 1 Million dollars in America.

created: December 8, 2022


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Mumbai Air Cargo received these imported goods from Pakistan in the last 10 days
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
October 27, 2016
Here is a look at the goods imported from Pakistan from 15th to 25th October 2016, received at the Mumbai Air Cargo.
The Chief Minister of Maharashtra brokered peace in the ongoing tussle between Bollywood and the MNS about not employing Pakistani actors. But this did not deter MNS from issuing a diktat to film producers employing Pakistani actors to pay Rs 5 crore to the Army welfare fund. However, the strong arm tactics of MNS seem to be limited to the film fraternity as data from the government shows that goods worth Rs 26.23 lakh were imported from Pakistan at the Mumbai Air Cargo between 15 and 25 October 2016.
Import/Export Data
The e-commerce portal of the ‘Central Board of Excise & Customs (CBEC)’ provides a daily list of imports and exports from  and to various parts of the country and the world. The data is given in the form a daily list and is categorized by type (sea, air etc.) and the various customs location.  Only the data for the last 7 days is available for download.
Empty Ariel Bags were also imported from Pakistan
Between 15 and 25 of October 2016, goods were imported from Pakistan 84 times at Mumbai Air Cargo. A total of 12 different types of items were imported during this period ranging from empty ariel bags to leather to gloves to surgical instruments and even statues. Surgical Instruments were imported a total of 61 times, the highest for any category during this period. Leather items were imported 4 times, gloves 4 times, empty ariel bags once and ariel bags twice. The imports also included items like motor cycle safety jackets, scissors, head guard etc. The imports even included a Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara statue and a Goddess Lakshmi statue. Both these statues were over a 100 years old.
Goods worth Rs 26.23 lakh imported in 10 days
Goods worth Rs 26.23 lakh were imported from Pakistan during this period in Mumbai Air Cargo alone. The five statues/dolls were worth Rs 7.5 lakh, the highest of all the imported items. The Bodhisattava statue was worth Rs 3.61 lakh while the Goddess Lakshmi statue was worth Rs 3.68 lakh. The dental surgical instruments were worth Rs 3.86 lakh while other surgical instruments were worth Rs 3.6 lakh. The single motor cycle safety jacket was worth Rs 2.21 lakh.
Featured Image: Mumbai Air Cargo

created: October 27, 2016


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Mumbai and Pune are not going to be under military lockdown for 10 days from 31 May 2020 - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 27, 2020
A message is being shared widely on social media claiming that the entire Mumbai and Pune will be under strict military lockdown for 10 days immediately after lockdown 4.0 i.e., from Sunday, 31 May 2020. The viral message also asks people to stock all essentials like groceries and vegetables, as only milk and medicines will be supplied during this period. But, FACTLY has found the message to be ‘fake’. Both Mumbai Police and PIB Mumbai have termed the message about the military lockdown in Mumbai and Pune as ‘fake’ and clarified that all essential supplies will be available. Mumbai Police has also informed that movement is permitted as per the lockdown guidelines and moving out is not permitted between 8 pm to 7 am.
Sources:
Claim – Facebook post (archived)
Fact –
1. Mumbai Police Commissioner Tweet – https://twitter.com/MumbaiPolice/status/1265307696837742595
2. PIB (Mumbai) Tweet –https://twitter.com/PIBMumbai/status/1265558453751353353
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Bombay High Court did not pronounce any judgment contradicting the Karnataka High Court judgment in matters related to Hijab - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
March 17, 2022
In the wake of the Karnataka High Court verdict upholding the ban on the wearing of headscarves (Hijab) by students in educational institutions, a social media post claiming that the Bombay High Court has opined that ‘college management has no right to stop anyone who wants to wear gown, scarf or hijab’ is being widely circulated. The post further says that Bombay High Court has given a befitting counter to the recent Karnataka High Court verdict. Through this article let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: College management has no right to stop anyone who wants to wear gown, scarf or hijab – Bombay High Court counter to Karnataka HC judgement.
Fact: Lately, the Bombay High Court did not pronounce any judgements contradicting the Karnataka High Court judgement regarding wearing of hijab to educational institutions. In 2018, the Bombay High court permitted a Muslim girl student to attend the classes with hijab. However, it has nothing to do with the recent developments. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Lately, the Bombay High Court did not pronounce any judgment contradicting the judgement of the Karnataka High Court in matters related to hijab. If at all, the Bombay High Court High Court pronounced any such judgment, the media would have reported it. However, we could not find any such reports.
However, back in 2018, the Bombay High court has granted a Muslim girl student’s plea to permit her to attend the classes with a headscarf.
In 2018, Fakeha Badami, a student at Sai Homeopathic Medical College in Thane filed a writ petition alleging that she was not allowed to the college for wearing hijab and hence, she missed her exams due to lack of attendance. In this regard, the petitioner sought directions to the college to either allow her to attend the college with hijab or transfer her to another college.
Further, the petitioner stated that she is not insistent on wearing a full burqa or veil but only wished to wear a headscarf and long gown and was willing to wear an apron over it. Hearing the petition, the division bench directed the college to allow the student to wear the headscarf as agreed by her in the petition.
Karnataka High Judgment :
Following a government order mandating uniforms prescribed by the management in colleges that come under the purview of the pre-university education department, the government PU college in Udupi barred a few girls from wearing hijab/headscarves to the college and insisted on wearing the uniform.
Challenging this ban, the girls approached the Karnataka High court challenging the denial of their entry by the government PU college. Hearing the matter, Karnataka High Court through an interim order restrained all the students regardless of their religion or faith from wearing religious clothing to class if their college has a prescribed uniform until the time the court decides the matter.
Accordingly, on 15 March 2022, the full bench of the Karnataka High Court upheld the ban on the wearing of headscarves by students in educational institutions. In its judgment, the Court held that wearing of Hijab by Muslim women does not form an ‘Essential Religious Practice’ in the Islamic faith. Further, the court upheld the government’s order saying prescription of school uniform is only a reasonable restriction, constitutionally permissible which students cannot object to.
Following the Karnataka High Court judgment, the Muslim girl petitioners have moved the Supreme Court challenging the High court judgment. The students filed a special leave petition in this regard.
To sum it up, the Bombay High Court did not pronounce any judgment contradicting the Karnataka High Court judgment in matters related to hijab.


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Mumbai police have been paying tributes at Mahim Dargah for many years - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
January 19, 2021
A post accompanying a video of a group of policemen paying tributes by organizing a salute ceremony at a Dargah is being shared across social media platforms alluding that Mumbai police paid respects to Pir Hazrat Makdoom Shah at the behest of Shiv Sena. Through this article let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Mumbai police paying tributes at Pir Hazrat Makdoom Shah Dargah at the behest of Shiv Sena.
Fact: Mumbai police indeed paid tributes to Makhdum Ali Mahimi by offering the first chadar to Mahim Dargah. They have been following this ritual for years now. According to news articles, Makhdum Ali Mahimi has been the patron saint of the Mumbai police since its roots as a citizen’s militia in the 17th century. There are multiple old videos and news articles related to Mumbai police paying tributes at Mahimi Dargah. This has nothing to do with Shiva Sena. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
YouTube search with relevant keywords led us to a video that is similar to the one in the post. This video was uploaded to YouTube on 30 December 2020 and the caption of the video reads ‘Urs Mubarak Makhdoom Shah Baba Mahim Mumbai lockdown 2020.’
Google search with relevant keywords led us to a 30 December 2020 tweet by ‘The Indian Express’ which shared an image of Mumbai police offering the first chaddar to Mahim Dargah. According to this tweet, Mumbai city police force has the privilege of laying the first chadar on the Urs of saint and scholar Makhdoom Ali Mahimi.
Mumbai Police carry chaddar to Mahim Dargah on Tuesday. The city police force has the privilege of laying the first chaddar on the Urs of saint and scholar Makhdoom Ali Mahimi. (📸 Amit Chakravarty) pic.twitter.com/GVawUxOzQw
Further search led us to a 2016 tweet by Mumbai Police which shared the images of the first chadar offering by Mumbai police at Mahim Makdhoom Shah. Also according to the tweet, they have been following this tradition for years.
We have the honour of offering d 1st 'Chadar'at Mahim Makdhoom Shah annual Urs- A tradition bng followed since years pic.twitter.com/x2LFnTlOUq
According to another the article published by Scroll, ‘Makhdum Ali Mahimi have been the patron saint of the Mumbai police since its roots as a citizen’s militia in the 17th century’ and ‘The Mumbai police force has the privilege of laying the first chadar, or decorative tomb covering, of the Urs in Mahimi’s respect’. Also once every year on Mahimi’s Urs, Mumbai police visit this place and pay their respects. Articles from 2018 & 2019 which mention the ritual of Mumbai police can be read here and here.  Old videos of Mumbai police offerings at the Dargah can be watched here and here. All these establish the fact that Mumbai police have been paying tributes at Mahimi’s Urs by offering the first chadar for years and this is not the first of its kind event.
To sum it up, Mumbai police have been offering the first chadar at Mahim Dargah for years, and has nothing to do with Shiv Sena being in power.

created: January 19, 2021


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Mumbai Police's inoperative helpline number '9969777888' for women safety is being circulated as a new helpline number for Women in various states - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 6, 2019
A post is being shared on social media with a claim that the Telangana Police has started a service for women safety with a helpline number ‘9969777888’. It also claims that before boarding an auto or cab, if women send SMS of the auto number or cab number to that helpline number, an acknowledgement SMS will be received, which means that their vehicle is linked to GPRS and their travel will be monitored. There is also a post which claims that the above number is associated with Bengaluru city police’s women helpline. The same message is also being shared in various other states. Let’s try to analyze the authenticity of the claim made in those posts.
Police  started a service for women safety with a helpline number ‘9969777888’ for tracking the vehicle in which they are travelling through GPRS.
Fact: The helpline number ‘9969777888’ was been started by the Mumbai police in 2014 for the safety of Mumbai women travelling in autos and cabs. However, the service was stopped in 2017. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
In the aftermath of the Gang rape incident that killed a 27-year-old veterinarian doctor last week in Hyderabad, many helpline numbers have been floated on social media claiming that women can call those numbers for their safety during emergency situations. Among them, one number ‘9833312222’ has become viral claiming that women can dial that number during emergency situations. However, an article  written by us earlier showed that the information about that number is not true.
In a similar manner, the number ‘9969777888’ in the post is claimed to be the helpline number introduced by the Telangana police for women safety which links the vehicle GPRS. When the same number went viral in the past with wrong information, we had fact-checked the same and that can be seen here. The helpline number ‘9969777888’ was started by the Mumbai police in the year 2014 for the safety of Mumbai women travelling in autos and cabs. However, the service was stopped in 2017, as not many people were using it.
When the news that Telangana police introduced a helpline number ‘9969777888’ for women to track autos and cabs while travelling has become viral, the Hyderabad police tweeted on their official Twitter account stating that it is fake news. Similarly, the Bengaluru police also tweeted that the messages which are claiming that the number ‘9969777888’ is associated with BCP’s women helpline number are fake.
#FakeNews Circulating on #SocialMedia Regarding #Telangana Police Introduced a New Mobile Tracking Number (9969777888) While Travelling in Cabs & Autos it is  is Fake News Don't Circulate it. pic.twitter.com/tPkqzuR1eX
#Fake message is floating on Whatsapp regarding this number as BCP’s Women Helpline. The number does not belong to BCP People are requested not to believe or share this fake message. Stringent action will be taken against those who create and spread fake messages on social media pic.twitter.com/nDedjqa0RG
To summarize, the helpline number – ‘9969777888’ was started by Mumbai police to help Mumbai women travelling in autos and cabs. However, they stopped the service in 2017. So, the news that ‘9969777888’ is a helpline number for women in Telangana state or Bengaluru is False.
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created: December 6, 2019


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Mumbai Police’s old, inoperative 'Women Safety' initiative is being circulated as PM Modi’s new initiative - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
June 4, 2019
A Facebook post claims that now women travelling alone at nights through autos or taxis can SMS their vehicle’s number to a helpline no. 9969777888, that helps Police to keep track of the vehicle through GPS. In the photo, Modi’s image is put beside this text to suggest that this is an initiative of Modi. Let’s try to analyze the claims made in the post.
Modi has launched an initiative for women safety by setting up a helpline number that helps in keeping GPRS track of the vehicle that women are travelling in.
Fact: It is an old, inoperative “women safety” initiative taken up by Mumbai Police in 2014. This is now being circulated as PM Modi’s latest initiative for the safety of women. Hence, the post is MISLEADING.
When googled about this initiative using keywords “helpline no. 9969777888”, it was found that in 2014, Mumbai Police under their ‘Travel Safe When Alone’ initiative, had started an SMS helpline for women travelling alone. As part of the initiative, women travelling alone at nights through autos or taxis can SMS their vehicle’s registration number to 9969777888 that helps Police to keep track of the vehicle that the woman is taking and would get her location through GPS.
But this special helpline was later on shut down by Mumbai Police owing to the poor response from Women users.
The same news about this helpline number was spread in different cities of the country. The Police there have clarified that the existence of such helpline in those cities as untrue.
Finally, an old and inoperative “women’s safety” initiative taken up by the Mumbai Police in 2014 is circulated as PM Modi’s new initiative
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Murder of a sadhu in Nanded is being falsely shared with a communal narrative - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 26, 2020
A post is being shared widely on social media with a claim that a Hindu sadhu was brutally killed by Muslims in Nanded. In the post, it is mentioned that he was murdered because they thought he is an infidel. Let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
A Hindu sadhu killed by Muslims in Nanded (Maharashtra).
Fact: While it is true that a sadhu was killed in Nanded, the accused is not a Muslim. The police have clarified that the sadhu and the accused are from the same community, and prima facie the incident looks like an attempted robbery. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When searched about the incident mentioned in the post, many news articles regarding the incident were found in the search results. From ‘The Indian Express’ article, it is found that the Police have said – ‘Swami Shivacharya Rudra (33) of Pashupati Math in Nanded, was found murdered in the mutt, while the body of Bhagwan Shinde (50) – a suspected associate of the accused – was found in a nearby Zilla Parishad school’. The Police have denied any communal angle and have clarified that the accused (Sainath Langote – a local villager and follower of the sadhu) and sadhu are from the same community, and prima facie the incident looks like an attempted robbery. The accused was also booked previously in other crimes.
The English translation (translated by Google) of FIR filed on the incident can be read below:
To sum it up, the murder of a sadhu in Nanded is being falsely shared with a communal narrative.
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Murder video from Brazil is passed off as from post-poll violence in West Bengal - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 7, 2021
A post accompanying the video that shows a young boy beaten to death with stones and axe blows is being shared on different platforms with a claim attributing the incident to India. FACTLY received the same video to its WhatsApp tip line (+91 9247052470) with a claim attributing it to the post-poll violence in West Bengal. Let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Video of a young boy beaten to death with stones and axe blows in India.
Fact: This video shows a murder incident in Fortaleza, the capital of the Brazilian state of Ceara, where a teenager was beaten to death with stones and axe blows over alleged LGBTQ phobia back in 2018. Multiple Brazilian news agencies reported the incident. The video has nothing to do with India or West Bengal post-poll violence.  Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Reverse image search of the screenshots of the video led us to a couple of 2018 Brazilian news articles which reported the same incident in the video. As per one such article, the incident took place in Fortaleza, capital of a Brazilian state of Ceara and the incident is being investigated by civil police of Ceara.
According to another news article, the incident happened in Ceara in Brazil where a teenager was murdered over an alleged LBTQ phobia. The article quoted civil police of the state of Ceara saying “after investigating the origin of the images, it was found that it was the homicide that killed Wesley Tiago de Sousa Carvalho (17), in the neighbourhood Praia do Futuro – Integrated Security Area 10 (AIS 10), on December 30”. The article also states that ‘the opinion of the police investigation denies that it is an LGBT-phobic crime’. Although the intent behind the crime is not known, the above two articles make it clear that the video has nothing to do with India or for that matter the post-poll violence in West Bengal.
Amidst multiple news reports of post-poll violence in West Bengal, posts like these are being shared on social media platforms with misleading claims.
To sum it up, a murder video from Brazil is passed off as post-poll violence in West Bengal.


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Muslim call to prayer performed in Eton school hall, England is falsely shared as Cordoba cathedral in Spain - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
January 3, 2024
A post accompanying a video of a man with a long beard performing Azan (call to prayer) in a big room is being widely shared across social media platforms with a claim that muazzin comes every day and performs Azan in the Cordoba cathedral in Spain, which was a mosque before. Through this article let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Video showing Azan being performed at Cordoba cathedral in Spain.
Fact: There are no news reports regarding Azan perfomed in Cordoba cathedral in Spain. The viral video actually depicts Hassen Rasool reciting the call to prayer (Azan) in the Eton school hall, England. He was invited by Windsor and Eton Choral Society to perform call to prayer on 27 september 2014, to mark the 100th anniversary of the beginning of world war one. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Performing a Google reverse image search using keyframes extracted from the video, led us to an extended version of the video, uploaded to YouTube by Hassen Rasool on 7 December 2014. Hassen Rasool describes himself as an “artist” and “spiritual vocalist” on his Twitter and Instagram accounts. As per the description of the video, this call to prayer was not from inside the Mosque-cathedral of Córdoba, as being claimed, but from inside the auditorium of the Eton school in England.
To mark the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the first World War, Windsor and Eton Choral Society extended an invitation to Rasool to perform the call to prayer at the Eton College auditorium on 27 September 2014. The Windsor and Eton choral society presented two impressive choral works, “The Armed Man” by Karl Jenkins and Haydn’s Mass in Time of War. Hassen Rasool recited the call to prayer in the Eton school hall which was incorporated between these two pieces.
Upon carefully observing both videos and comparing the screen grabs of the viral video and the YouTube video posted by Hassen Rasool, we can conclude that both are the same.
We also found that the Windsor & Eton Choral Society published the list of all concerts and soloists who performed on their official website. The September 2014 concert is also documented in that list.
Further, we also searched for news reports regarding offering Azan in Mosque turned cathedral of Córdoba, Spain. We did not find any reports regarding offering Azan in Cordoba church.
To sum it up, the Muslim call to prayer performed in Eton School hall, England is falsely shared as Cordoba Cathedral in Spain.

created: January 3, 2024


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‘Mustard Oil’ has health benefits but does not prevent COVID-19 - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
March 26, 2020
A message that mustard oil can prevent Coronavirus is making rounds on Facebook. In the message, it is being claimed that, as Coronavirus enters through a person’s nose, if mustard oil is applied inside both the nostrils before bathing in the morning, it will protect him for at least eight hours from the virus. Also, the message claims that mustard oil is an anti-virus oil and using it will cause the virus to stick to the walls of the nose and then, it kills the virus by preventing it from reaching a person’s lungs, thus protecting him from getting infected. Let’s check the authenticity of the message in the post.
Mustard oil prevents a person from getting infected with COVID-19.
Fact: Neither World Health Organization (WHO) nor the Ministry for Health & Family Welfare (India) has announced that using mustard oil can prevent a person from getting infected with COVID-19. The Press Information Bureau (PIB) has clarified that the message is ‘fake’. So, the claim is FALSE.
When searched if using mustard oil can prevent a person from getting infected with Coronavirus, no information corroborating this was found either on the World Health Organization (WHO) website or on the Ministry for Health & Family Welfare (India) website. As the message went viral on social media, the Press Information Bureau (PIB) has debunked the claim and clarified that mustard oil cannot kill Coronavirus. It also said that, as of now, there is no treatment for Coronavirus and no type of oil can destroy it. So, mustard oil cannot prevent a person from getting infected with Coronavirus.
During the search process, it was found that mustard oil has many health benefits. However, it is not a cure for coronavirus. Some of the benefits of mustard oil are
To conclude, ‘Mustard Oil’ has many health benefits but using it will not prevent a person from getting infected with Coronavirus.
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‘Namaste’ video conferencing tool is not launched by the government - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 22, 2020
With security concerns over the ‘Zoom’ video conferencing application and the Ministry of Home Affairs issuing an advisory on the application, a piece of news is being shared on social media with a claim that the government has launched a beta version of new video conferencing tool – ‘Namaste’. Let’s try to analyze the claim made in the post.
Government of India launched a beta version of a new video conferencing tool – ‘Namaste’.
Fact: ‘Namaste’ website is powered by ‘inscripts’, a private company, which is headquartered in Mumbai. Also, the Government has denied launching any such tool. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When searched about the tool, the website of ‘Namaste’ was found in the search results. On the ‘Namaste’ website, it can be seen that it is powered by ‘inscripts’. On the ‘inscripts’ website, it can be read that it is a private company, which is headquartered in Mumbai. It mentions that it provides high-end products to the customers and ‘Namaste’ is listed in their product list. There is no mention of it being launched by the government.
As the news went viral, the government portals (MyGovIndia and PIB) have debunked the claim and tweeted that it is fake news. Also, ‘MyGovIndia’ mentioned that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has announced an innovation challenge for ‘Made in India’ video conferencing solution.
#MyGovFactCheck of the Day: A news saying that the Government has launched a video conferencing tool ‘NAMASTE’ to take on ‘unsafe’ Zoom is FAKE! Don’t believe such misinformation! Stay Informed, Stay Safe! #IndiaFightsCorona @PIB_India @MIB_India @PMOIndia pic.twitter.com/UgaaU9AsuH
After the clarification from the government, the ‘Firstpost’ has made a correction to their article. The initial version can be seen here.
To sum it up, ‘Namaste’ video conferencing tool was not launched by the government.
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Nana Patekar hasn’t made these Statements - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
November 19, 2019
Update (01 November 2023):
Another statement attributed to Bollywood actor Nana Patekar is being shared on social media claiming it as his latest remarks on the medical education system in India. The English translation of the purported statement of Nana Patekar states- “How can you expect humanity from doctors in a place where the fees for medical education has reached crores?”. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
When we searched to check whether Nana Patekar had made any such statement related to the medical education system in India, we could not find any news reports confirming such a statement from Nana Patekar. Nana Patekar has not made any such statement on his Twitter or other social media handles. The quote shared in the post was circulating on social media at least since 2019. Earlier, the same statement was attributed to Industrialist and Former Tata Sons Chairman Ratan Tata. From the above evidence, it can be concluded that the statement shared in the post was not made by Nana Patekar.
Published (19 November 2019):
An image with a photo of Indian actor Nana Patekar and an accompanying satirical message is being shared widely on Facebook. The message is in Hindi and its English translation is- ‘Of all the people who have left the country after indulging in scams, not a single one is Muslim, but obviously the country is in danger from Muslims’. Let’s try to analyze the claim.
The post has been shared more than 3,500 times till the time of writing this article, and also, many users are reacting to those statements assuming they were made by him.
Nana Patekar’s satirical statement: ‘Of all the people who have left the country after scam, not a single one is Muslim, but obviously the country is in danger from Muslims’.
Fact: Nana Patekar hasn’t made these satirical statements. Information from no credible source was found which confirms that the statements were made by him. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
To check if Nana Patekar has really made such statements, an advanced search was performed on his official Twitter account ‘@nanagpatekar’ and on his official Facebook account ‘Nana Patekar – नाना पाटेकर’. But, no information was found regarding the statements in question.
When searched on Google with text ‘ नाना पाटेकर-जितने भी लोग घोटाले करके देश छोड़कर भागे हैं उनमें से एक भी मुस्लिम नहीं है पर जाहिर के लिए देश को खतरा मुसलमानों से है’, no relevant information was obtained in the search results about Nana Patekar making those statements.
If Nana Patekar had really made such statements, owing to their sensitivity, they would have been reported by all the major newspapers and channels in India. But no news agency has reported anything about Patekar making those satirical comments. So, false statements are being attributed to Nana Patekar.
To conclude, Nana Patekar hasn’t made the satirical statements claimed in the post.
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created: November 19, 2019


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5 Continents, 18 Countries, 54 Days – PM Narendra Modi’s Foreign Visits in the first year
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 21, 2015
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spent 54 days abroad in this first year of office visiting 18 different countries in 5 different continents. He visited 12 Asian countries for 28 days followed by 2 North American Countries for 9 days. Back home, he toured 17 states in all spending a total of 63 days in domestic travel. 24 days out of this was for un-official reasons (election campaign). He visited Mumbai most number of times.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi just concluded his first year in office with a visit to the three East Asian countries China, Mongolia & South Korea. In his first year as the PM, he has visited quite a few countries. Here is an attempt to summarize his visits, both Foreign & Domestic.
Foreign Visits
In the first year of office, he has visited 5 continents and 18 countries in about 54 days.  Some of these visits also included bi-lateral & multi-lateral summits like BRICS, SAARC etc. Asia was his favourite destination. He spent 28 days in Asia in 12 different countries. He also spent 9 days in North America, 6 days in South America, 6 days in Europe & 5 days in Australia. He spent 13 days abroad in November 2014 and 9 days in April 2015.
Check the detailed list of his foreign visits & agreements signed till date in a story map format here.
Domestic Visits
Data on the domestic tours of the PM are only available up to February 2015 on the PMO website. He made 50 trips totaling 63 days till February 2015. Out of these, 30 trips were for official purpose and the remaining for un-official reasons. He spent 39 days touring states for official reasons and 24 days for unofficial reasons. Maharashtra was visited maximum number of times for official reasons followed by Jammu Kashmir. Jharkhand, Haryana & Jammu Kashmir were visited most for unofficial reasons (all of them for election campaign)Mumbai was the most visited city. In all, he toured 17 states.


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Narendra Modi was not declared as 'the World’s Best Prime Minister' by UNESCO - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 18, 2019
A Facebook post is being shared by many people claiming that our PM Narendra Modi was declared by the UNESCO as the Best Prime Minister in the world. Let’s try to analyze the claim made in the post.
Narendra Modi is declared  as the Best Prime Minister in the World by UNESCO
Fact: UNESCO’s official website has a document mentioning that the news about UNESCO declaring Narendra Modi as the Best Prime Minister in the World is a rumor. Hence the claim is FALSE.
When one visits the official UNESCO website, a document was found regarding various rumors and fake news spread across the world in the name of UNESCO. In that document, it can be found that the news regarding the declaration of PM Narendra Modi as the best Prime Minister in the world is one of the favorite rumors.
This misinformation about PM Modi is not new. The same news was viral 3 years ago and now as the elections are in progress, it is being re-circulated again.
Hence, it can be concluded that Narendra Modi was not declared as ‘the World’s Best Prime Minister’ by UNESCO.


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Narendra Modi's 2019 Kolkata rally video falsely shared as 2024 Jalpaiguri meeting footage - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 10, 2024
A video (here, here and here) allegedly showing Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a large public meeting in Jalpaiguri, West Bengal, has garnered a lot of attention on social media. This is being shared with a caption that reads ‘Modi wave in jalpaiguri .’ We fact-check this claim through this article.
Claim: The video features a massive crowd at PM Modi’s public meeting in Jalpaiguri, West Bengal for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Fact: The video is actually from a Narendra Modi rally held in Kolkata on 3 April  2019. Hence, the claim made in the post is Misleading.
To ascertain the authenticity of the claim, we conducted a reverse image search on select frames from the viral video. This search directed us to the original version (archive) of the clip posted on his personal website’s X handle, @narendramodi_in
Electrifying atmosphere at PM @narendramodi's rally at Kolkata. #DeshKeLiyeModi pic.twitter.com/CByv1i6OS3
The video was uploaded on 3 April  2019 and is explicitly titled to indicate that it was filmed at a rally in Kolkata. This evidence conclusively proves that the visuals are not from the 2024 Jalpaiguri meeting.
Furthermore, the same 2019 footage was found (archive) on the official Bharatiya Janata Party’s YouTube channel and X handle, further reinforcing our findings.
While it is true that PM Modi did host a meeting in Jalpaiguri, the viral video making rounds on social media is unrelated to that event. Footage from PM Modi’s Jalpaiguri visit can be viewed here and here.
To sum up, the video in focus is from PM Narendra Modi’s 2019 rally in Kolkata, not his 2024 meeting in Jalpaiguri, West Bengal.


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Narendra Modi’s Degree Row – Much Ado about nothing
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
August 10, 2015
Twitter erupted with the hash tag DegreeDikhaoPMSaab couple of days ago. The issue came to limelight after the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) apparently said it has no information about the PM’s MA degree from Gujarat University. The PMO is well within its right to say what it said.


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Narendra Modi’s Degree Row – Much Ado about nothing
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
August 11, 2015
Twitter erupted with the hash tag DegreeDikhaoPMSaab couple of days ago. The issue came to limelight after the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) apparently said it has no information about the PM’s MA degree from Gujarat University. The PMO is well within its right to say what it said.
#DegreeDikhaoPMSaab trended on twitter couple of days ago and netizens were questioning the academic credentials of the Prime Minister. Some of them have likened it to the issue of former AAP Minister Mr. Tomar & HRD Minister Smriti Irani. But, as we explain in this article, there is much ado about nothing in this issue. The people questioning the academic credentials of the Prime Minister are knocking the wrong door to find out the truth.
Here are a few tweets by the twitteratti on the issue
“Modi, Modi” “Yes, papa” “Show me your degree” “No, Papa” “Telling lies?” “Ha ha ha” #DegreeDikhaoPMSaab
— Shuvankar Mukherjee (@shuvankr) August 8, 2015
Why not a #SelfieWithDegree, Mr. PM ? #DegreeDikhaoPMSaab — Aman Shafeef MA (@AmanShafeef) August 10, 2015
PMO: 2 RTI by Jashodaben:Declined RTI for Foreign Trip Expenses:Declined RTI for Qualification of PM:Declined. #DegreeDikhaoPMSaab
— Rajdeep Sardesai (@surdesairajdeep) August 8, 2015
Narendra Modi’s Election Affidavit
According to the election affidavit filed by Narendra Modi in the 2014 Lok Sabha election, he has a Master of Arts degree from Gujarat University & a Bachelor of Arts degree from Delhi University.
Unlike HRD Minister Smriti Irani who put in different academic credentials in different election affidavits, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s academic credentials were the same in all his affidavits. Both in his affidavit for the 2012 & 2007 Gujarat Assembly Election, he academic credentials were the same as he mentioned in 2014.
Master of Arts from Gujarat University
Some people have pointed out that the Prime Minister’s website removed reference to his MA degree from Gujarat University. It is true that the PM’s website does not have any mention of his MA degree. But for that matter, the profile does not mention anything his education. In fact, the Gujarat University website lists Narendra Modi as its Alumnus confirming that he did get his degree from that University.
RTI Reply from PMO & ECI
Some sections of the media reported that the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) refused to part with information regarding Narendra Modi’s education credentials. The PMO in its reply said that such information is not in its records and hence cannot provide the same. It has to be said that the PMO is well within its right to say this. Section 2(j) of the RTI act clearly lays down the conditions for any public authority providing information. Any public authority (like the PMO) is obliged to provide information if it is held by it or under its control. No existing law mandates that the PMO have details of the educational credentials/degrees of the PM. In other words, the PM is under no obligation to provide details or submit his degree certificates to the PMO when he takes over as the PM. Similar logic applies for the Election Commission of India (ECI). A contesting candidate need not submit any academic degree certificates to the ECI except for mentioning his academic credentials in the affidavit. The Election Commission does not enquire into the details mentioned in the affidavit on its own.
What is the way out?
For those who are still doubtful about the academic credentials of the PM, they should be filing an application under the RTI with the Gujarat University & Delhi University, not with the PMO & ECI. In their quest to find out the truth, they are knocking the wrong door.
Featured Image Source: narendramodiofficial | flickr


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NASA did not accept that accurate information regarding Solar eclipses can be found only in the Indian Panchang - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 8, 2022
A post is being shared on social media with a claim that NASA has finally accepted that accurate information regarding solar eclipses can be found only in the Indian ‘Panchang’ (Hindu calendar). Let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: NASA has accepted that accurate information regarding solar eclipses can be found only in the Indian Panchang.
Fact: No such declaration from NASA has been reported by any credible source. On one of its websites, NASA has mentioned that they predict eclipse forecasts using complex computer calculations. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When we searched on the internet about the claim mentioned in the post, no credible reports were found. If NASA had made any such declaration regarding the Indian Panchang, at least all Indian news agencies would have reported about it. But none of the reputed agencies has reported about it. A similar article was published by ‘The Fauxy’ website, which publishes fictitious news for entertainment purposes.
On one of its websites, NASA has mentioned that they predict eclipse forecasts using complex computer calculations. The detailed answer to how modern-day scientists predict eclipses can be read here.
Talking about the concept of eclipses in the Hindu religion, a solar astronomer from NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in 2010 said – “Eclipses in Hindu are related to Rahu and Ketu, which are actually associated with the nodes of the moon’s orbit. There are two times when the moon can be in the same plane as a line between the Earth and the sun. This is called the ecliptic — when the nodes occur is when eclipses are possible. Tradition says that Rahu is the head of a demon, and Ketu is the tail. I suspect that the ancient Hindu actually knew about the nodes”.
To sum it up, NASA did not accept that accurate information regarding solar eclipses can be found only in the Indian Panchang.


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NASA launched the world’s smallest satellite designed by Tamil Nadu students in 2017; It is not a recent incident - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
March 26, 2022
A photo is being shared on social media claiming that NASA has recently launched the world’s smallest satellite designed by Tamil Nadu’s 18-year-old student Rifath Farooq. This post claims that this 64-gram light-weighted satellite was named ‘Kalamsat’, after the late Former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. Sharing a picture of the students, this post accuses all mainstream media channels of turning a blind eye on India’s achievement in rocket & space technology and being busy promoting ‘The Kashmir Files’ movie. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: NASA recently launched the world’s smallest satellite designed by Tamil Nadu students.
Fact: NASA launched the world’s smallest satellite designed by Tamil Nadu students in 2017. Rifath Shaarook and his team designed this light-weight satellite using 3D printing technology. The photo shows Rifath Farooq and his team rejoicing the success of their satellite launch in 2017. This incident has nothing to do with the recently released ‘The Kashmir Files’ movie. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
On reverse image search of the photo shared in the post, the same photo was found tweeted by the ‘ANI’ on 22 June 2017. ‘ANI’ reported it as the pictures of Tamil Nadu students rejoicing the launch of their 64-gram weighted world’s smallest satellite by NASA. News 18’ had also tweeted the same photo with a similar description.
Chennai: Students who built the world's smallest satellite, rejoice after its launch. The satellite weighing 64 grams was launched by NASA. pic.twitter.com/ak7NP9KzUO
Reporting this achievement of the Tamil Nadu students in rocket and space technology, several news channels published articles and videos in 2017. They can be seen here, here and here. According to these news reports, on 21 June 2017, NASA launched the world’s smallest satellite designed by Tamil Nadu student Rifath Shaarook and his team. The 64-gram light-weight satellite was named ‘Kalamsat’, after the Former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. Rifath Shaarook designed the structure of this satellite completely with 3D printed and reinforced carbon fibre polymer. The main purpose of this 64-gram weighted satellite is to demonstrate the performance of 3D carbon fibre.
A few interviews of Rifathh Shaarook after the successful launch of his mini satellite in 2017 can be seen here and here. From all these pieces of evidence, it can be concluded that NASA had launched the world’s smallest satellite designed by Rifath Shaarook in 2017 and it has nothing to do with the recently released ‘The Kashmir Files’ movie.
To sum it up, the 2017 incident of NASA launching of the world’s smallest satellite designed by Tamil Nadu students linked to ‘The Kashmir Files’ movie.


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NASA scientist did not state that America is planning to create supercomputers based on Sanskrit - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 29, 2021
A post is being widely shared on social media claiming that a report by a NASA scientist says that America is going to create 6 and 7 generation supercomputers based on the Sanskrit language. The post even claims that the project deadline for 6 generation supercomputer is 2025 and for the 7 generation supercomputer is 2034. Let us fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: According to a report by a NASA scientist, USA is going to create 6 and 7 generation supercomputers based on Sanskrit language by 2025 and 2034 respectively.
Fact: There is no evidence to show that a report by a NASA scientist says that America is working on 6 and 7 generation supercomputers based on Sanskrit language. A 1985 paper published by Rick Briggs just says that Sanskrit could be used for knowledge representation in artificial intelligence research; it doesn’t talk about any supercomputers based on Sanskrit language for America. According to an Associate Professor from IIT Kharagpur, “Sanskrit, like any other natural language such as English or Hindi, is definitely not directly usable as a programming language. These rumours are detrimental to the respect that the ancient science of Vyakarana genuinely deserves.” Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
This claim about a report by a NASA scientist that says that America is undertaking projects to create 6 and 7 generation supercomputers based on Sanskrit language, is circulating on social media at least since 2016. The posts can be seen here and here.
When we searched on the official website of NASA regarding the claim made, we could not find any information that confirms such a project by NASA is under the works. The official website of the NASA Advanced Supercomputing (NAS) Division also does not say anything about such a project. There are no recent credible news articles that say that such a project or a report by a NASA scientist exists.
In relation to Sanskrit language and NASA, there was a paper published by Rick Briggs in the ‘Artificial Intelligence’ magazine in 1985, titled, “Knowledge Representation in Sanskrit and Artificial Intelligence.” However, there was no mention of any project by the US to create 6th and 7th generation supercomputers based on the Sanskrit language by 2025 and 2034 respectively. The paper just shows how can natural languages like Sanskrit with more than 1,000 years of history, can be made accessible to computer processing in relation to Artificial Intelligence.
The then Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh (talking about the utility of Sanskrit) said in 2015 (according to reports here and here), “even NASA, while building a supercomputer, had said that Sanskrit was the most suitable language for it.” But there was no mention of any project by the US to create 6th and 7th generation supercomputers based on the Sanskrit language by 2025 and 2034 respectively.
An IIT Professor rubbished the claims circulating on the internet that Sanskrit is being studied in secret NASA laboratories, by calling them ‘just rumours’. Swarajya Magazine once asked Dr Pawan Goyal, an Associate Professor at IIT Kharagpur about the Rick Briggs paper on Sanskrit in the Artificial Intelligence magazine. He replied, “That was a very interesting article, which focused on how concepts from Indian grammatical tradition could be used for knowledge representation in artificial intelligence research. The article itself is rigorous and interesting, but it spread on the Internet as uncontrollable disinformation. At some point it was quoted saying that Sanskrit is the ultimate programming language, studied in secret NASA laboratories. These are just rumours. Sanskrit, like any other natural language such as English or Hindi, is definitely not directly usable as a programming language. These rumours are detrimental to the respect that the ancient science of Vyakarana genuinely deserves.” Dr Pawan Goyal is a computer scientist who is working to make Sanskrit texts more accessible with the help of automated computational processing techniques.
To sum it up, there is no evidence to show that a report by a NASA scientist confirms an American plan to create 6 and 7 generation supercomputers based on Sanskrit by 2025 and 2034 respectively.

created: December 29, 2021


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Nasser Hussain clarified that his name is falsely attributed to this quote mocking ICC and BCCI - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
October 25, 2022
Following Team India’s recent victory over Pakistan in ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022, a quote attributed to former England Cricket Captain and commentator Nasser Hussain is being widely shared on social media. The quote reads, ‘The umpires made some weird decision in favour of India today but maybe we should keep quiet and not upset ICC and BCCI’.  Similar posts can be seen here and here. Let’s verify the claim made in the post
Claim: Former England Captain Nasser Hussain said, “The umpires made some weird decision in favour of India today but maybe we should keep quiet and not upset ICC and BCCI.”
Fact: There is no evidence of Nasser Hussain making such a remark mocking ICC and BCCI after the 2022 T20 world Cup cricket match between India and Pakistan. Nasser Hussain through a tweet clarified that his name is falsely attributed to this quote and called it ‘fake’. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE
We searched the internet with relevant keywords and found a tweet by Nasser Hussain on 23 October 2022 in which he asked a Twitter user to delete this quote by calling it fake.
Probably best if you can delete this please .. it’s fake news and a fake quote and definitely not what a great game of cricket like todays deserves !! Thanks
The user then made his account private, but several other users took the screenshot of the conversation. It can be seen here.
Just an average day on Twitter. pic.twitter.com/QWrnmz8jLR
According to Indian Express, the controversy began in the final over when Kohli hit a full toss ball for six. After Kohli protested that it should be called a no ball for being above waist, the umpires made a late decision to call it a ‘No ball’. The Pakistani team protested but the decision was retained. Former Pakistan captains Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Shoaib Malik  said that the decision should have been referred to the third umpire.
To sum it up, this quote mocking ICC and BCCI after the 2022 T20 world Cup cricket match between India and Pakistan is falsely attributed to Nasser Hussain.

created: October 25, 2022


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Here is all about the ‘National Bravery Awards’
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
January 19, 2017
The National Bravery awards will be given to 25 children for 2016 and to four of them posthumously. The awards were first introduced in 1957 and are given in five different categories.
The government has announced the winners of the National Bravery Awards for the year 2016. 25 children (12 girls & 13 boys) will receive the awards for 2016.  4 of the 25 awards this year are being given posthumously. But what exactly are these awards?
The awards were first introduced in 1957
The National Awards to Children for bravery scheme was started 59 years ago in the year 1957 when two children, a boy and a girl were first rewarded for their exemplary presence of mind and courage. Since then, the Indian Council for Child Welfare (ICCW) has been giving the National Awards for Bravery every year to children from various parts of the country.
The main objective of the awards is to give due recognition to children who perform acts of bravery and inspire other children to follow their example. The deed should be “an act of spontaneous selfless service in the face of risk to life or threat of physical injury and or an act of courage and daring against a social evil/crime”.
Awards given in 5 different categories
The national bravery awards to children are given in 5 different categories.
Application Procedure
Every year, nominations are invited through State/U.T. Councils of ICCW and various departments of the State Governments. Nominations are received in the prescribed application form which can be obtained from ICCW headquarters or the ICCW website.
The nomination form should be recommended by two of the four listed Competent Authorities. The competent authorities are
The form is to be accompanied by a write-up of about 250 words giving the details of the deed performed by the applicant, proof of date of birth, Newspaper/Magazine clippings and or the First Information Report (FIR) or Police Diary filed with the Police Station. The account of the incident as well as the supporting documents should preferably be endorsed by two of the four listed Competent Authorities. The nominations should be sent before September 30 of every year.
Eligibility Criteria
The child applying for the award should not be below 6 years and above 18 years of age on the date of the incident.  The incident in which the deed was performed should have occurred between July 1 of the previous year and June 30 of the current year for the current year’s award. For instance, the incident should have occurred between July 1, 2015 and June 30, 2016 for the 2016 awards. The selection committee can relax the date by a maximum period of 3 months if it deems fit.
Selection Committee
The selection is made by a high powered Committee constituted by ICCW comprising representatives from Secretariats of the President of India, Vice-President of India, Ministries of Human Resource Development, Women & Child Development, Youth Affairs & Sports, Social Justice & Empowerment, Health & Family Welfare, Railways, Defence, Home Affairs, Labour, Rural Development, Information & Broadcasting, AIR, Doordarshan, Police, some NGOs, Office-Bearers and members of the Council.
What do the awardees receive?
The Awardees receive a medal, a certificate and cash award. The Awardees also receive various gifts from philanthropic organizations. The children will receive their Awards from the Prime Minister every year prior to Republic Day and thereafter participate in the Republic Day parade.
The President and several other dignitaries host receptions in their honour.  Several States organize functions to honour them at the State level.
What other benefits do the awardees get?
The awardees also get the following benefits
Since the inception of the awards in 1957, the ICCW has given awards to 945 brave children which include 669 boys and 276 girls.
Featured Image: National Bravery Awards

created: January 19, 2017


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List of initiatives where the Government is providing Online Services
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
August 29, 2016
After the approval of the National e-Governance Plan in 2006, 27 Mission Mode Projects in various sectors were initiated. Currently, 44 such projects are being implemented in various sectors.
The Government of India approved the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP), comprising of 27 Mission Mode Projects (MMPs) and 8 components in 2006. In the year 2011, 4 projects – Health, Education, PDS and Posts were introduced to make the list of 27 MMPs to 31. Currently, there are 44 MMPs being implemented by the government under e-Kranti.
The 44 MMPs in various sectors
Under Pillar 5 of Digital India,  e-Kranti – Electronic delivery of services of Digital India programme, 44 Mission Mode Projects(MMPs) are being implemented by Central Ministries/Departments and State/UT governments to provide completely online services in various domains like Health, Education, Passport Seva, Trade, Income Tax, Excise & Customs, Corporate Affairs, India Post, e-Police, Land Records, etc. Several services are completely online while some services are partially online.
Initiatives in Various Sectors
Agriculture: The major services of Agriculture MMP include Pesticide registration, Display on the Web of Seed Testing Results, Prices and arrival details, Geographical Information System (GIS) based interface for price & arrival details, District level Agro-met advisories, Information on pesticides, Information on fertilizers/seeds, etc.
Some major mobile applications developed are
The major Web portals developed include the following
e-Mandi: The Government has launched e-Mandi portal to make procurement of agricultural products smoother and provide competitive remuneration, especially for small and marginal farmers.
Land Records: Major services include real-time availability of land records, issuance of Record of Rights along with cadastral maps, issuance of certified copy of deed, issuance of non-encumbrance certificate, payment of stamp duties etc. 26 States have computerized their land records and providing computerized copies of Records of Rights on demand. These states have also placed their land records data in public domain.
School Education Mission Mode Project (MMP): The MMP is focused on Primary, Secondary and Higher Secondary education. It will be a driving force for implementation of National Policy on Information & Communication Technology (ICT) in School Education.
National Scholarships Portal (NSP): The portal is a one-stop solution to implement end-to-end disbursement of the scholarship to the beneficiaries. The process includes student registration, application, approval and disbursement. 76 schemes of 22 Ministries/Departments of the Government are being on-boarded on the portal.
Aadhaar & Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT): 103+ crore citizens enrolled. 27+ Crore Bank Account seeded with Aadhaar No. 74 Government Schemes are on DBT, where Rs. 1.2 lakh crores transferred through DBT.
Central Excise and Customs: Facilitates trade and industry by streamlining and simplifying customs and excise processes and to create a climate for voluntary compliance.
MCA 21: The major services delivered under the aegis of Ministry of Corporate Affairs through MCA21 include viewing of public records, issue of certified copy of documents, change in registered office, change in director(s), annual filings, application for change of name of a company, incorporation of a company and name allocation to a new company.
Passport Seva: Project focuses on reforming Passport services in India through simple, efficient and transparent processes from processing of Passport to delivery of services.
e-Tourist Visa: Tourists can apply visa online, pay visa fee online and receive e-Tourist Visa online. Around 8.45 lakh e-Tourist Visas have been issued since Nov, 2015.
e-Courts: The services delivered through the e-Courts MMP include Automated case filing, Automated registration of case, Automated workflow for court, Generation of automated cause list, Judicial service centers in all Courts, Automation of Case Management System, allocation of cases, etc.
Common Services Centers (CSC) 2.0: The CSC aims for establishing at least one CSC in each of 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayat (GP) level under Digital India Programme to deliver various G2C, B2C and B2B services online.
e-District: e-District services have been launched in 555 districts of the country, which delivers various types eGov services at districts.
Mobile Governance: The Mobile Seva platform delivers Government services over mobile devices using mobile applications installed on the user’s mobile handsets. About 2521 Government departments and agencies at central, state and local levels have been integrated with the Mobile Seva platform.
e-Hospital – Online Registration System (ORS): It includes online appointment and registration by new patients, viewing of lab reports, checking the status of blood availability and integration with payment gateway (PayGov). 43 hospitals have been integrated.
Jeevan Pramaan: Digital Life Certificate for Pensioners scheme known as Jeevan Pramaan envisages digitizing the whole process of securing the life certificate. With this initiative, the pensioner is no more required to physically present himself or herself in front of disbursing agency or the certification authority. Jeevan Pramaan is a biometric enabled digital service for pensioners. 16.30 lakh pensioners registered for the scheme.
Vikaspedia: It is a multilingual collaborative content creation platform that promotes access and sharing of e-knowledge for empowerment of underserved communities. Vikaspedia facilitates societal empowerment through provision of relevant information in various domains including Agriculture, Education, Health, Social Welfare, Energy and e-Governance in 22 scheduled languages of the country, besides English.
MyGov: MyGov aims to establish a link between Government and Citizens towards meeting the goal of good governance. MyGov encourages citizens as well as people abroad to participate in various activities i.e. ‘Do’, ‘Discuss’, ‘Poll’, ‘Talk’, ‘Blog’, etc. There are multiple theme-based discussions on MyGov where a wide range of people can share their thoughts and ideas.


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National Geographic and other network channels are not shut down all over the world. - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
January 2, 2024
A video is doing the rounds on social media claiming that National Geographic and related network channels have shut down operations starting 28 December 2023. Let’s fact-check this claim through this article.
Claim: The operations of National Geographic and other related network channels were halted from 28 December 2023.
Fact: Disney closed the National Geographic TV channel and five other channels in 2023. However, this was limited to Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Korea. National Geographic TV channel is still operational in other parts of the world. As of January 2024, Disney, the company that owns National Geographic, has not made any official statement regarding such a channel closure. Hence, the claim made in the post is Misleading.
A quick Google search with relevant keywords to check the veracity of the viral claim led us to many news reports (here, here, and here) from 2023 related to this matter.
Variety reported in June 2023 that Disney was closing six TV  channels in Southeast Asia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Korea. “The channels concerned are National Geographic, National Geographic Wild, Star Chinese Movies, Star Chinese Channel, Star Movies, and Star World. Linear services will end from September in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, and Korea, and by December in Taiwan.” Variety reported.
But then, reportedly, they also expected to retain a streamlined TV portfolio in Japan, China, Australia, and New Zealand. As of January 2024, there are no news reports or official press releases (neither on their website nor on their official social media handles) by Disney announcing the closure of the National Geographic channel operations. In 2023, a  few YouTube users posted the videos of the last aired minutes of these channels in the Southeast Asia region.
Furthermore, one can also see the channel numbers on which the National Geographic channel is broadcasting on its official website. Also, in 2023, reports surfaced that National Geographic magazine had laid off the last of its staff writers and that it would be taken off the racks this year (here, here, and here)
To sum up, National Geographic channel has not ended its TV channel operations worldwide.

created: January 2, 2024


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National Geographic hasn’t paid one million dollars for this video of a woman taming Cheetahs - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
July 16, 2021
A video showing a woman taming a group of cheetahs is being shared on social media with a claim that the National Geographic channel has paid one million dollars for this video. This post claim that the footage was captured at the Kruger National Park in South Africa. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: National Geographic channel has paid one million dollars for the footage of a woman taming cheetahs.
Fact: This video shows Namibian wildlife conservationist Marlice Van Vuuren, teasing her pet cheetahs at the ‘Naankuse wildlife sanctuary’ in Namibia, Africa. This video was shared on different websites at least since 2010. It is nowhere reported that the National Geographic channel had paid one million dollars for this video. Earlier, clips from several films were shared with a similar claim on social media. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
On reverse image search of the video shared in the post, a similar video was found published on the ‘Dainik Bhaskar’ YouTube channel in 2015.  This video reported it as the visuals of Marlice Van der Merve teasing her pet cheetahs. This video was found circulating on social media at least since September 2010. A user shared the same video by mentioning Marlice Van der Merve as an animal conservationist from Namibia, Africa.
When we searched for further details using these keywords, we found several news websites publishing the same visuals on their articles. They can be seen here and here. These articles reported it as the visuals of Namibian wildlife conservationist Marlice Van Vuuren teasing her pet cheetahs.  According to the news reports, Marlice Van Vuuren and her husband Dr. Rudie Van Vuuren together run the ‘Naankuse wildlife sanctuary’ in Namibia, Africa. Marlice has been working with animals in film productions since the age of 13 and she worked for several well-known movies. The other videos of Marlice Van Vuuren teasing her pet animals can be seen here and here.
The National Geographic Channel took the interview of both Marlice Van Vuuren and her husband Dr. Rudie Van Vuuren in 2019. In the interview, it is nowhere mentioned that her footage with her pet cheetahs was sold for 1 million dollars to the National Geographic channel. Also, this video was not published on the ‘The National Geographic Channel’. The National Geographic channel has published two videos about Marlice Van Vuuren’s wildlife sanctuary. They can be seen here and here. The video shared in the post was not published on the ‘The National Geographic’s YouTube channel. If the National Geographic channel had bought this video for 1 million dollars, they would have published this video on their YouTube channel or on their official website.
Earlier, when video clips from different films shared with a similar claim, FACTLY published fact-check articles. They can be seen here and here.
To sum it up, the National Geographic channel hasn’t paid one million dollars for this footage of a woman taming cheetahs.


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National Medical Commission (NMC) has not recently notified about an eligibility certificate for students studying abroad - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
September 29, 2021
A post is being widely shared on social media claiming that the National Medical Commission (NMC) had notified students studying abroad to register for an eligibility certificate by 31 December 2021. The post even claims that the students who started studying in foreign medical institutions on or after 01 January 2019 must register under the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 at the NMC. Let us fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: National Medical Commission (NMC) recently notified about an eligibility certificate for students studying abroad.
Fact: No such notification was issued by National Medical Commission (NMC) notifying students studying abroad about an eligibility certificate. PIB Fact Check debunked the claim that students who started studying in foreign medical institutions on or after 01 January 2019 need to get an eligibility certificate by 31 December 2021. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
There are no recent news articles about the National Medical Commission (NMC) notifying students studying abroad about an eligibility certificate. We could not find any such circular/ public notice/ notification about an eligibility certificate for students studying abroad issued recently, on the official website of NMC. The Information Desk for students studying abroad, provided on the website, does not mention any such notification of a deadline of 31 December 2021 for an eligibility certificate.
PIB Fact Check had tweeted about a similar claim saying that the NMC had not issued any such notice. The tweet debunked the claim that students who started studying in foreign medical institutions on or after 01 January 2019 need to get an eligibility certificate by 31 December 2021. The official Twitter handle of the National Medical Commission had retweeted the fact-check made PIB.
A public notice allegedly issued by @NMC_IND claims that students who commenced studying in foreign medical institutions on or after 1/1/2019 need to get eligibility certificate under Indian Medical Council Act by 31/12/2021.#PIBFactCheck
▶@NMC_IND has NOT issued this notice. pic.twitter.com/7jFS6h1aaN
The National Medical Commission (NMC) has been constituted by an act of Parliament known as the National Medical Commission Act, 2019 which came into force on 25 September 2020. ‘The Board of Governors in supersession of Medical Council of India constituted under section 3A of the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 stands dissolved thereafter’, according to the official website of NMC.
To sum it up, the National Medical Commission did not notify about an eligibility certificate to be registered by the end of the year by students studying abroad.

created: September 29, 2021


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‘National Rural Youth Training and Employment Scheme’ does not exist - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
March 17, 2021
An image of an employment notification letter purportedly sent by the Ministry of Education was received on FACTLY WhatsApp Tipline (+91 9247052470) to check its authenticity. This letter addressed to ‘Gram Pradhan/Sarpanch’ claims that the Government of India has introduced a ‘Nation Rural Youth training and Employment’ scheme to employ educated rural boys and girls in the country. This letter asks Gram Pradhan/Sarpanch to select five qualified applicants and apply for the jobs with a Bank Draft (D.D) of 1,000 rupees. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: The Government of India introduced the ‘National Rural Youth Training and Employment Scheme’ to employ the educated rural boys and girls in the country.
Fact: There is no Government scheme with the name, National Rural Youth Training and Employment Scheme. The Grammatical and Spelling errors in the letter indicate it is a dubious letter mentioning a fake scheme. Similar fake scheme letters were debunked by FACTLY earlier. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When we searched for any government scheme with the name ‘National Rural Youth Training and Employment’, it is found that there is no Government scheme with that name. There is no such scheme mentioned on the Ministry of Rural Development website. Also, a lot of spelling and grammatical errors can be found in this letter. No official notification or note from the Government of India contains such errors. From all these pieces of evidence, it can be concluded as a dubious letter mentioning a fake scheme.
When we searched for further details on the rural youth employment, it is found out that the Government of India is training rural youth under the ‘Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameena Kaushalya Yojana’ (DDU-GKY) and ‘Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005’ (MGNREGA) schemes. As part of the Skill India Campaign, DDU-GKY trained over 9.9 Lakh students and provided jobs to 5.3 lakh rural Youth as of 01 April 2020.  The Government of India partnered with several organisations for the skill training campaign.
Earlier, when similar letters asking Demand Drafts for the employment under ‘Gram Vikas Rozgar Yojana’ and ‘Saur Urja Mission Training and Employment Scheme’ were circulated, FACTLY published fact-check articles which can be read here and here.
To sum it up, the Government of India has not introduced any rural employment scheme with the name ‘National Rural Youth Training and Employment Scheme’.


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National Sports Development Fund
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
July 8, 2016
The Government setup the National Sports Development Fund (NSDF) in 1998 to promote sports in the country. In the 18 years since its inception, the fund could raise only Rs 158 crore out of which 50 crore was donated by BCCI.
The data on the contributions to the National Sports Development Fund (NSDF) paints a sorry picture of sports promotion in the country. In the 18 years since its inception, the NSDF has raised a meager Rs 157.88 crore.
The NSDF was setup in 1998 to promote sports and games in the country. The fund was envisaged to provide financial support to sportspersons, sports academies etc. The fund receives donations from various bodies such as Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs), State Governments and other Private organizations. Government of India would provide a matching grant in addition to the donations made by various entities.
50 out of the 158 crore was donated by BCCI
Between 1998-99 and 2015-16 (up to 30 June 2015), a total of 157.88 crore rupees was raised by the NSDF. Rs 96.46 crore was the donated amount while Rs 61.42 crore was the matching contribution by the Government of India. The greatest amount was raised in 2008-09 when the BCCI donated Rs 35 crore. The BCCI also donated Rs 15 crore in 2007-08 taking its total contribution amount to Rs 50 crore, or more than 30% of the total amount raised. Jaypee Sports International Limited donated a total of Rs 30 crore. India Infrastructure Finance Company Limited (IIFCL) donated Rs 10 crore towards the TOP scheme for the Rio Olympics. State Government of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh & Haryana donated crore rupees each. PSUs donated very little amounts.
Parliamentary Standing Committee slams the performance of NSDF
In a scathing report, the department related standing committee on Human Resource Development slammed the performance of the NSDF. In its 270th report submitted in August 2015, the committee said, ‘since  its  inception  adequate  funds  could  not  be  collected  which  indicates  that the  Department  did  not  make  sincere  efforts  to  approach  the  Corporate  and  the  Public sector  for  contribution  to  the  NSDF.’
The Committee concluded that the situation has not improved over the years and the NSDF corpus was still scarce. It also observed that not many public and private organizations are coming forward to contribute to the Fund and there is a lot of overlapping in promotion of sports as respective organizations are following their own pattern so far as development of sports is concerned.
The committee observed that barring BCCI & JP Industries, only small amounts of donations were made by various private and government organizations. The committee also mentioned that BCCI was denied tax exemption for their contribution and that the department of revenue should reverse its decision of denying tax exemption.
Most PSUs not even aware of the existence of NSDF
The committee noted that most PSUs were not even aware of the existence of the NSDF and were doing things on their own for the promotion of sports in the country. Coal India Limited, for instance has the Coal India Sports Promotion Association (CISPA) for promotion of sports to which Coal India and its subsidiaries have contributed 11.54 crore and 12.33 crore in 2014-15 and 2015-16 respectively.
Similarly Damodar Valley Corporation was doing their own bit under CSR for promotion of sports in the rural areas. SBI chairman also told the committee that SBI did not make any specific contribution to the NSDF. ONGC also mentioned that funds for sports promotion are met from their CSR fund, but have not made any specific contribution to the NSDF.
No co-ordination between organizations
Based on its discussions with various PSUs, the committee felt that they were not even aware of the existence of NSDF and were linking their sports promotion activities with CSR activities.  The Committee also found that the Banks and PSUs were spending crores of rupees every year independently in the name of sports mainly for entertainment purposes or for their commercial publicity in the form of giving sponsorship to tournaments, annual meets, smaller cash awards at local levels etc.  The committee clearly saw a lack of co-ordination amongst the PSUs in this regard. The committee felt that such activities will not help develop sports in the country and that a greater part of such funds if diverted to NSDF would produce better results.
NSDF should be publicized and be included in Schedule VII of the Companies Act
The committee felt that the NSDF should be well publicized among PSUs and other organizations by publishing a booklet on NSDF, its mandate, functions, achievements etc. The committee also felt that the NSDF should be included in Schedule VII of the companies act so that PSUs and private companies start contributing to the NSDF from their CSR funds. The committee felt that unless these steps are taken, the NSDF wouldn’t be able to attract donations from various organizations.
Featured Image:  Sports


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Nature of pending cases against MLA elects of Delhi Assembly - Factly
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
February 11, 2015
A lot of readers enquired with us about the nature and details of the cases pending against the Delhi MLA elects. Here is the complete list along with the relevant IPC sections.
Source: Association for Democratic Reforms
It is difficult and unfair to judge these cases and to conclude which of these cases are booked for doing a dharna etc. But we should all demand that the investigation be completed and decision taken in such cases within a fixed time frame like an year. It is also pertinent to note that the Union Home Secretary has also written to all states in 2014 to fast track criminal trials against sitting MLAs & MPs based on a supreme court directive.
Source: RTI response from Ministry of Home Affairs

created: February 11, 2015


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NCRB Contradicts Home Ministry, Says over 1200 communal incidents in 2014 - Factly
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 4, 2015
The data on communal incidents by the National Crime Records Bureau seems to have opened a Pandora ’s Box. The NCRB data counts more than 1200 communal incidents in 2014 while the Ministry of Home Affairs counted only 644 such incidents in 2014. There is a difference in data for as many as 23 States/UTs.
There is yet another controversy brewing over the issue of communalism and spread of communal incidents. There are news reports that the Home Ministry has ordered a probe to find out why its data on communal incidents is different from that of NCRB. While the Home Ministry data says there were 644 communal incidents in 2014, the NCRB data puts this number at 1227. Here is the entire issue explained in detail.
NCRB Data Collection on Riots
The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) is an attached office in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). NCRB is tasked with collection and dissemination of a secure national database on crimes, criminals and law enforcement agencies etc. Every year, the NCRB collects data from Police departments at the state level and compiles it into a Crime in India report. The report has detailed information on various types of crimes.
In 2014, the NCRB has made significant changes to the method of its collection and dissemination of crime data. In its new template for collection of crime related data, there is a section on riots as defined under Sections 147,148,149,150 & 151 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
There is a separate section to collect data on offences that promote enmity between different groups as defined under Sections 153A & 153B of the IPC.
Before 2014, all the data related to riots used to be collected under one head called riots. From 2014, the data on riots is categorized into many different sub heads namely communal riots, Industrial riots and riots for political reasons etc. The data collected under Sections 153A & 153B is counted as Communal riots.
One has to remember that NCRB gets all the data from state police departments. And this data is strictly based on the sections mentioned in the First Information Report (FIR) of the cases filed. The NCRB also follows ‘Principal Offence Rule’ for counting of crime. Hence among many offences registered in a single case, only most heinous crime will be considered as counting unit, thereby representing one case.
What does the NCRB data say about Communal incidents?
The NCRB data on riots has a sub categorization of communal riots. As per the NCRB data, a total of 1227 communal riot incidents took place in the country in 2014. More than 2000 people were victims of these incidents. Leading the list is Jharkhand with 349 incidents followed by Haryana with 207 incidents. Tamil Nadu is third with 120 incidents followed by West Bengal (104), Maharashtra (99), Bihar (59) & Gujarat (57). This data is in direct contradiction with the MHA data. Jharkhand, Haryana, Tamil Nadu & West Bengal do not have significantly high number of incidents as per the MHA data. In fact, the number of incidents in each of those states is less than 20 as per the MHA data. Uttar Pradesh that had the highest number of incidents (133) as per MHA,  is 8 in the NCRB list with 51 communal riot cases.
What is interesting is that the number of victims is more or less same in both the data sets. While the MHA data puts the number of victims at 2016, the NCRB data puts it at 2001.
Difference between NCRB & MHA Data
There is a difference in the numbers put out by NCRB & MHA for as many as 23 States/UTs. The data matches only for 13 States/UTs and these are States where both NCRB & MHA reported ‘zero’ incidents. There is a double digit difference in 11 states and the difference is quite stark for the following 10 states.  For Jharkhand, the MHA reported only 10 incidents while NCRB reported 349 incidents. At the other end of the spectrum is Uttar Pradesh. While MHA reported 133 incidents, the NCRB reported only 51 incidents. Same is the case with Haryana, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Telangana, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan & Uttar Pradesh.
What could be the possible reason?
The NCRB numbers could be high only because of the reason that hate speeches qualify as incidents in NCRB data (because of Sec 153A in FIR), while they might not be counted as incidents by the Human Rights Division of the MHA. But even then, the NCRB numbers should be higher in every state and we should not have had a mixed trend. The only plausible reason for such huge discrepancy is the shoddy work of the state police and the intelligence departments. But why would they goof up such data is a million dollar question. This also raises some uncomfortable questions about the sanctity of government data.

created: December 4, 2015