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Image of Modi-Scholz meet with Nehru portrait on the wall behind is digitally edited - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 5, 2022
As part of three-nation Europe tour, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Germany. It is in this context an image showing Jawaharlal Nehru’s portrait on a wall in the room where Modi & Scholz were seen discussing is being widely shared. Let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Portrait of Jawaharlal Nehru on the wall in a room where Modi and Scholz held discussions.
Fact: The portrait of Nehru is digitally added to the image of Modi and Scholz’s meet. The original image shared by Modi and PMO shows no portrait of Nehru on the wall. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
As part of his three-nation Europe tour, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held discussions with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Modi took to Facebook briefing about their interaction. He also shared images of their interaction; the viral image was also among those pictures. Further, the PMO Twitter handle also shared the exact same image.
Expanding India-Germany cooperation.
PM @narendramodi and Chancellor Scholz meet in Berlin. @Bundeskanzler pic.twitter.com/CmDfZKv4eD
However, in the original image shared by PM Modi, there is no portrait of Jawaharlal Nehru on the wall. A comparison of the viral photo with that of the one shared by Modi can be seen below.
This clearly indicates that the image shared by PM Modi is the source of the viral image and that Nehru’s portrait was digitally added to it.
To sum it up, image of Modi-Scholz meet with Nehru’s portrait on the wall behind is digitally edited.


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Image of Murli Manohar Joshi offering sweets to PM Modi is related to the BJP’s victory in the 2019 General Elections - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
June 8, 2020
An image of BJP Veteran Murali Manohar Joshi offering sweets to Prime Minister Narendra Modi is being shared on social media claiming that Joshi celebrated his happiness with Modi as the construction of Ram mandir began in Ayodhya. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Photo of Murli Manohar Joshi offering sweets to PM Modi to celebrate the commencement of construction of Ram mandir in Ayodhya.
Fact: The photo in the post is not related to any recent event. The photo was taken just after BJP’s victory in the 2019 General Elections. It was taken when PM Modi along with Amit shah went to meet BJP veteran leaders L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi to take their blessings. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When searched for the image with keywords, FACTLY has found that the image shown in the post is an old one and is not related to the commencement of the construction of Ram mandir recently. In 2019, following the landslide victory in 17 Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with Amit shah went to meet BJP veteran leaders L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi to take their blessings. For the great victory in the General Elections, Joshi congratulated Modi by offering him, sweets. PM Modi shared some photos of his meeting with L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi on his official Twitter account and thanked for their blessings.
On 09 November 2019, the Supreme Court of India ordered the government to create a trust to build the Ram mandir temple and form a board of trustees in three months. Following the Supreme Court orders, the government has established ‘Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trust’ on 5 February 2020 and elected Mahant Nritya Gopal Das as the Chairman of the committee. On 26 May, Mahant Nritya Gopal Das announced that the construction of Ram mandir began.  Ahead of the start of the construction work, he performed Ram Lallal’s darshan and offered pooja. On 10 June, the official construction commencement ceremony will be conducted after an elaborate ‘Rudra Abhishek Ceremony’.
To sum it up, an image of Joshi congratulating PM Modi for his landslide victory in the 2019 General Elections is falsely shared as a celebration on the commencement of construction of Ram mandir in Ayodhya.
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source: news-factly

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

author: Sai Krishna Muthyanolla


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Image of Pak model is peddled as Osama bin Laden’s daughter getting married to a Hindu. - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
September 30, 2020
A post with an image of a news article which states that Osama bin Landen’s daughter Zoya is getting married to Bhojpuri singer Pradeep Maurya is doing rounds on social media. The photos of the duo are also featured in the article. Also, the post claims Osama’s daughter converted to Hinduism and she criticized Islam. Through this article let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: A news article states Osama bin Landen’s daughter Zoya is getting married to Bhojpuri singer Pradeep Maurya. She also converted to Hinduism and even criticized Islam.
Fact: The image of the woman in the post is identified as Pakistani actress and model Syra Yousuf, whereas the man in the image is identified as Bhojpuri actor and singer Pradeep Maurya. Also, they both are not married to each other. As per news articles, Osama’s first wife’s name is Najwa and the name of the eldest daughter with his first wife is Fatima. Further, there is no credible evidence to state that Osama’s daughter converted to Hinduism or getting married to a Hindu. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Reverse image search of the photo of the women in the post led us to a few blogs in which the mirror image of the image in the post is featured. One such blog identified her as Pakistani model and actress Syra Yousuf. Taking a cue from the blog, google search with the keyword ‘Syra Yousuf’ led us to her Instagram account which proves that the image in the post is indeed of Pakistani actress Syra Yousuf.
Further google search with the keyword ‘Syra Yousuf marriage’ led us to a news article which stated that Syra got married to Sheroz Shabzwar in 2012. Syra also announced split with her husband on her Instagram account.
Google search with the keyword ‘Osama bin laden family’ led us to a news article which reported Osama’s family tree. The family tree does not mention any daughter with the name Zoya. Also, as per the family tree, Osama had 11 children with his first wife Najwa and Fatima is the eldest of the daughters. We also did not find any news reports regarding Osama’s daughter converting to Hinduism, getting married to a Hindu or even criticizing Islam.
Reverse image search of the photo of the man in the post led us to a blog which carried the same image. The blog identifies the man as Bhojpuri singer and actor Pradeep Maurya. The blog also states that he is the head of the Gorakhpur film city. Taking a cue from the blog, google search with the relevant keywords led us to the Gorakhpur film city website which featured videos and photos of Pradeep Maurya. We also did not find any news articles regarding Maurya getting married to Osama’s daughter.
To sum it up, the image  in the post is of Pakistani actress Syra Yousuf and she is not the daughter of Osama bin laden. Also, the actress did not get married to Pradeep Maurya.

created: September 30, 2020


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Image of IUML party office is passed off as Congress party office in Wayanad - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 20, 2021
A post accompanying an image of a green coloured building with a crescent moon and a star symbol painted on it is being shared across social media platforms with a claim that the building is the Congress party office in Wayanad, Kerala. Through this article let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Image of Congress party office building in Wayanad.
Fact: The image is actually of the Indian Union Muslim League party office in Kanhangad, Kerala. The painting of the ladder and the portrait of the man on the building indicates that the building is associated with IUML. The building has nothing to do with the Congress party. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Reverse image search of the photo in the post led us to 2019 twitter post with an image of the front view of the same building. Upon careful observation of this image, we can spot the ladder symbol on the top left corner of the building. Taking a cue from this image, a search on the Election Commission of India website about political parties associated with the symbol tells us that the symbol is allotted to ‘Indian Union Muslim League’, a recognised state party in Kerala.
Through Google search we found that the green flag with a crescent and a moon is the flag of IUML party. Also, the person seen on the left side of the image in the post is Syed Muhammedali Shihab. He was the President of the Kerala state committee of the Indian Union Muslim League.
The top right sentence written in Malayalam on the building translates to ‘Iqbal Nagar League House’. We can even spot ‘IQBAL NAGAR’ written on the electric poles in front of the building. Taking a cue from this, further search led us to a 2019 Facebook post which shared the images of the same building but from a different angle. The post is an invitation for the inauguration of the building. As per this post, the building is the party office IUML in Iqbal Nagar, Kanhangad which is part of Kasaragod constituency. Although we could not independently verify the veracity of the location, all the above mentioned evidence suggests that the image is of IUML party building and not the Congress party building in Wayanad.
To sum it up, an image of IUML party office is passed off as a Congress party building in Wayanad.


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Image of PM Modi bowing to Gandhi's statue is edited with Nehru's statue - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
August 18, 2020
A post with the image of Modi bowing to a statue of Nehru is being widely shared across all social media platforms. Through this article let’s debunk the image.
Image of PM Modi bowing to a statue of Nehru.
Fact: Image of Modi bowing to Gandhi’s statue during the inauguration Rashtriya Swachhata Kendra is digitally morphed so as to look like Modi bowing to the statue of Nehru. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Reverse image search of the image directed us to a tweet by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 08 August 2020. He shared a few pictures which were clicked during the inauguration of Rashtriya Swachhata Kendra. One of the images in which Modi is seen paying tribute to Gandhi by bowing with folded hands is has close resemblance with that shared in the post.
Sharing some glimpses from the newly inaugurated Rashtriya Swachhata Kendra. pic.twitter.com/bhGF3saejr
When we compare both these images, except for Gandhi and Nehru’s portraits rest is same in both these images. With this, we can clearly say that the image of Modi bowing to Gandhi is digitally morphed so as to look like Modi is bowing to Nehru’s statue.
When the portion of the image with Nehru statue is cropped and reverse searched on Google, we found the same image of Nehru’s statue in stock images websites Getty and Shutterstock. The description below the image mention that this statue of late Jawaharlal Nehru is located in Barshi, Solapur, Maharashtra.
To sum it up, the image of Modi bowing to Gandhi is morphed so as to look like Modi bowing to Nehru.
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Image of Rajasthan CM Bhajan Lal Sharma boarding a bus is being shared with a misleading claim - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 17, 2023
Following Bhajan Lal Sharma’s swearing-in as the new chief minister of Rajasthan, a social media post featuring an image of him boarding a bus is gaining widespread attention. The accompanying claim suggests that this image depicts Bhajan Lal Sharma traveling as an ordinary citizen on a government bus just two months ago. This article aims to verify the accuracy of this claim.
Claim: Image ofBhajan Lal Sharma traveling as an ordinary citizen on a government bus just two months before becoming the CM of Rajasthan
Fact: This image of Bhajan Lal Sharma boarding a bus was taken when he was apprehended and transported in a bus, during a protest (“NahiSahegaRajasthan”) against the Ashok Gehlot government, in August 2023. This image is being circulated with misleading claim. Hence the claim made in the post is Misleading.
The photo does capture Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma of Rajasthan boarding a bus; however, it was taken during a protest against the Ashok Gehlot government, and not in the context as described in the viral post. Google search using relevant keywords led us to a recent news report discussing the viral images of the newly elected Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma. According to the article, the image currently viral was captured during a protest.
Taking a cue, further search on Bhajan Lal Sharma’s social media accounts yielded images associated with the protest where he was apprehended and transported in a bus (here & here). One of the pictures shows the individual in a blue kurta standing behind Bhajan Lal, matching the person in the viral image.
This confirms that the viral image is from this protest. The accompanying description indicates that these images are associated with the “NahiSahegaRajasthan” event organized by the BJP against the Congress government in August 2023.
The protest organized by the Rajasthan BJP unit was broadcast live on their YouTube channel and can be viewed here & here. News reports related to the protest can be viewed here.
To sum it up, the image of Rajasthan CM Bhajan Lal Sharma boarding a bus is being shared with a misleading claim.

created: December 17, 2023


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Image of the Burj Khalifa lighted up with Syed Ahmed Khan’s photo is a photoshopped one - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
October 21, 2019
An image that shows Burj Khalifa lighted up with Syed Ahmed Khan’s picture is being shared by a few Facebook users. Let’s analyze the authenticity of that photo.
Image of the Burj Khalifa lighted up with Syed Ahmed Khan’s photo
Fact: Image of the Burj Khalifa lighted up with Syed Ahmed Khan’s picture is a photoshopped one. So, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
In the post, it was claimed that the UAE government has lighted up the Burj Khalifa with the image of Syed Ahmed Khan as a tribute to him. Syed Ahmed Khan is the founder of the renowned Aligarh Muslim University(AMU) and his birth anniversary is celebrated on October 17th every year.
When the image in the post was subjected to reverse image search technique, many search results were obtained. A search result among them had a similar image except for Syed Ahmed Khan’s image on the Burj Khalifa.
Also, whenever the Burj Khalifa is lighted up in the memory of a person or to mark an event, the official Twitter account of Burj Khalifa usually tweets about it. Such tweets made by it in the past can be seen here, here and here. But no tweet regarding the Burj Khalifa getting lighted up with the image of Syed Ahmed Khan was found on its Twitter account. So, the image in the post is a photoshopped one.
Toconclude, the image of the Burj Khalifa lighted up with Syed Ahmed Khan’s photois a photoshopped one.
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created: October 21, 2019


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Image of Trump honouring the dog that was involved in the operation of killing ISIS Chief Al-Bagdadi is a photoshopped one - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
November 2, 2019
An image of US President Donald Trump honouring the dog that was involved in the operation of killing ISIS Chief Al-Bagdadi is doing the rounds on social media. Let’s analyze the authenticity of that image.
Image of Trump honouring the dog that  was involved in the operation of killing ISIS chief Al-Bagdadi.
Fact: The image is a photoshopped one. The original image is that of President Donald Trump awarding ‘Medal of Honor’ to James McCloughan of the US Army. So, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
On October 28, 2019, Donald Trump tweeted the image of the dog that was involved in the operation of killing ISIS chief Al-Bagdadi in Syria.
We have declassified a picture of the wonderful dog (name not declassified) that did such a GREAT JOB in capturing and killing the Leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi! pic.twitter.com/PDMx9nZWvw
Later, on 30 October 30 2019, Trump made another tweet with the image of him honouring the dog with a medal and texted ‘American Hero’.
AMERICAN HERO! pic.twitter.com/XCCa2sGfsZ
But, when that image was subjected to reverse image technique, the search result of ‘CNN’ with a similar image but showing Trump honouring a person was obtained. From the article, it was found that the image is related to Trump awarding ‘Medal of Honor’ to James McCloughan of the US Army. When the two images were observed carefully, it can be understood that the image of Trump honouring the dog is a photoshopped image of Trump awarding ‘Medal of Honor’ to James McCloughan.
Later on, in another tweet, Trump also called the image of him honouring the dog as a ‘recreation’ of the original image.
Thank you Daily Wire. Very cute recreation, but the “live” version of Conan will be leaving the Middle East for the White House sometime next week! https://t.co/Z1UfhxsSpT
To conclude, the image of Trump honouring the dog that involved in the operation of killing ISIS chief Al-Bagdadi is a photoshopped one.
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created: November 2, 2019


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Image of Trump with a saffron scarf and a pistol in his hand at the ‘Namaste Trump’ event is photoshopped - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
February 25, 2020
An image of Trump wearing the ‘Jai Sri Ram’ scarf around his neck and holding a pistol in his hand, at the ‘Namaste Trump’ event in Ahmedabad, is being widely shared on Facebook. Let’s check the authenticity of the image in the post.
Trump with the ‘Jai Sri Ram’ scarf around his neck and a pistol in his hand at the ‘Namaste Trump’ event.
Fact: The image in the post is a photoshopped one. In the original image, there is no scarf around the neck of Trump. Also, there is no pistol in his hand. So, the claim is FALSE.
The original image can be seen in the photo library of ‘Getty Images’. The image is from the ‘Namaste Trump’ event held at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera, Ahmedabad. It shows US President Donald Trump waving his hand at the audience in the stadium.
To conclude, the image of Trump with the ‘Jai Sri Ram’ scarf around his neck and a pistol in his hand at the ‘Namaste Trump’ event is photoshopped.
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created: February 25, 2020


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Image of Xiamen University Malaysia (XMUM) is shared as that of AIIMS, Bilaspur - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
October 10, 2022
In the context of recently inaugurated All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Bilaspur, an image is being widely shared on social media platforms with a claim that it shows AIIMS, Bilaspur. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Image of AIIMS, Bilaspur.
Fact: The image doesn’t show recently inaugurated AIIMS, Bilaspur. It is of Xiamen University Malaysia (XMUM). Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE
The viral image contains the acronym ‘XMUM’, in front of one of the buildings. Taking cue from this, we searched online and found that XMUM is the short name for Xiamen University Malaysia. It is a private University located in Malaysia setup by Chinese Public University in 2016. The brochures available on the University’s website carries the same image. They can be seen here and here
The satellite images of this University can be seen here.
Images of recently inaugurated AIIMS Bilaspur can be seen here.
Himachal Pradesh | Visuals of AIIMS Bilaspur which will be inaugurated by PM Modi on October 5.
(Pics Source: Dr Mansukh Mandaviya's Twitter Handle) pic.twitter.com/UPfdHKaGOT
To sum it up, image of a Malaysian University is falsely shared as that of AIIMS, Bilaspur

created: October 10, 2022


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Image of Yogi Adityanath watching live telecast of the cremation of Hathras rape victim is morphed - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
October 6, 2020
A post with an image that shows chief minister Yogi Adityanath watching a burning incident on a laptop is being widely shared on social media with the claim that he is watching the cremation of Hathras rape victim. Through this article let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Uttar Pradesh CM, Yogi Adityanath is watching the live telecast of the cremation of Hathras rape victim.
Fact: News articles published an image similar to the one in the post in which Yogi can be seen talking to the Hathras victim’s family. This image is digitally morphed so as to look like him watching the cremation of the victim. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Reverse image search of the photo in the post led us to a news article which carried a similar image like the one in the post. According to the news article, the image is of Yogi Adithyanath speaking to the family of Hathras victim assuring them that stringent action shall be taken against the culprits.  Except for the laptop screen, the rest of the image is same as the one in the post. With this, we can clearly say that the image of Yogi speaking to Hathras victim’s family is morphed so as to look like he is watching the cremation.
Further google image search with the keyword ‘hathras rape victim cremation’ led us to another news article which carried an image similar to the image which can be seen on Yogi’s laptop screen in the post. It is clear that miscreants could have morphed this image with that of Yogi talking to the victim’s family.
To sum it up, image of Yogi Adityanath speaking to Hathras victim’s father is morphed so as to look like he is watching the cremation of the victim.

created: October 6, 2020


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Image of Yogi Adityanath with a plate full of meat beside him is an edited one - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
August 15, 2020
An image in which a plate full of meat is seen beside UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is doing rounds on social media. In the image, we can also see a police officer kneeling before Yogi. Through this article let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Image of Yogi Adityanath with a plate full of meat beside him.
Fact: In the original image there are flower petals in the plate beside Yogi Adityanath. This image is morphed so as to make it look like the plate is full of meat. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When we ran a search on YouTube using the keywords ‘Police officer kneeling before Yogi Adityanath’ we found many videos with a similar image as in the post, reported by news channels. In one such video, we can clearly see flower petals in the plate which is beside Yogi Adityanath.
When we compare the image in the claim with that of in the news video, we can conclude that image of meat is placed on the plate digitally using tools like photoshop.
To sum it up, the image is doctored so as to make it look like the plate beside Yogi is full of meat.
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Image shared as Pankaja Munde crying after her Maharashtra election defeat was from her interview before elections - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
October 25, 2019
An image is being shared widely across social media claiming that it shows Maharashtra’s BJP leader Pankaja Munde crying after her defeat in the recent State’s elections. Let’s analyze the authenticity of that claim.
Image of Pankaja Munde crying after her defeat in Maharashtra General Elections-2019.
Fact: The image in the post is a screengrab of Pankaja Munde’s interview with a news channel on 20 October 2019, but the Maharashtra Election results were declared on 24 October 2019. Moreover, Pankaja Munde hasn’t cried anywhere during that interview. So, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
From an article of ‘NDTV’, it can be found that the results of Maharashtra Assembly Elections-2019 were declared on 24 October 2019, and  BJP leader Pankaja Munde has lost from the constituency ‘Parli’. In the image, it can be seen that news channel TV9 was interviewing Pankaja Munde. So when searched on YouTube, the interview video was found on the ‘YouTube’ channel of ‘TV9 Marathi’. But when one goes through the timestamp of that video, it was found to be uploaded on 20 October 2019, i.e. 3 days prior to the declaration of Maharashtra election results. Also, during the interview, Pankaja Munde hasn’t cried anywhere. The visual in the image can be seen at 1:42 secs of the interview video.
To summarize, this image is falsely being shared as Pankaja Munde crying after her Maharashtra election defeat.
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created: October 25, 2019


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Image shared as the last tree in Rocinha, Brazil is a digitally created one - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 26, 2023
A post accompanying a picture of a single tree surrounded by buildings is widely circulated on social media with the claim that there is only one tree left in Rocinha, Brazil. Through this article let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: A photograph showing that only one tree is left in Rocinha, Brazil.
Fact: The photograph was orginally shared on Instagram by a Brazilian artist, Luiz Bhering. Bhering mentioned that the image was digitally created with the aim of addressing the harsh realities of the urbanization process in Brazil. Hence the claim made in the post is False.
On reverse image search of the viral image, we found that the same image was posted by a Facebook user named Anartist, mentioning Luiz Behring in the description. Anartist also commented “it was clear from the beginning that it was an artistic work to denounce what is happening on our planet” on the post.
Upon scanning through the Instagram profile of Luiz Behring for the viral image, we found that it was posted by him on Instagram on 23 September 2018. Luiz Bhering describes himself as an artist in his profile. While posting the story, he disclosed that the picture is a digitally manipulated one. He also stated that he did it to confront the brutal urbanization process in Brazil.
Some posts by Luiz Behring on the last tree in Rocinha can be seen here and here. In one of the posts, he also mentioned the picture as a photo montage. Photomontage is a process of making a composite photograph by cutting, gluing, rearranging, and overlapping two or more photographs into a new image. Sometimes, the resulting composite image is photographed so that the final image may appear as a seamless physical print. When we carefully observe the viral image, we can find some repetitive houses in the image.
To sum it up, this image being shared as the last tree in Rocinha, Brazil is a digitally manipulated picture created using Photomontage.

created: December 26, 2023


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Image showing Imran Khan hiding on arrival of Modi at a meeting is a photoshopped one - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
September 26, 2019
An image that purportedly shows Imran Khan hiding on arrival of Modi at a meeting is being shared widely on Facebook and it had the following claim with it- ‘When Modiji entered the conference hall everybody in the hall gave him a standing welcome. Only One fellow among them hides and could neither sit nor stand. See his condition and find who..?’. Let’s try to analyze the claim made in the post.
Image of Imran Khan hiding on arrival of Modi at a meeting.
Fact: The image of PM Narendra Modi interacting with the top global CEOs at the International Business Council event held at Davos, on the sidelines of World Economic Forum(WEF) meet in 2018, was edited to replace the face of a member in the meeting with Imran Khan’s face. Hence, the claim is FALSE.
When the photo in the post was subjected to reverse image search technique, a search result will lead to an article of ‘Financial Express’ published on January 23, 2018. The article had the similar image but Imran Khan wasn’t seen anywhere among the members in the picture. From the article, it was found that the image is that of PM Narendra Modi’s interaction with the top global CEOs at the International Business Council event held at Davos, during his visit to Switzerland to attend the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meet 2018. So, the members seen in the photo are CEOs and not the World leaders. Upon clear observation of both the images, it can be said that the image in the post is an edited version of the one seen in the article. The image in the article was photoshopped to replace the face of a member in the meeting with that of Imran Khan’s face.
To summarize, the image showing Imran Khan hiding on arrival of Modi at a meeting is a photoshopped one.
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created: September 26, 2019


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Image showing PM Modi and Yogi Adityanath’s photos on a pan shop in UP shared as that on a liquor shop - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
November 10, 2022
A photo is being shared on social media claiming it is a picture showing PM Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath’s photos in a hoarding placed on the top of a liquor shop in UP. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Image showing PM Modi and Yogi Adityanath’s photos in a hoarding placed on a liquor shop in Uttar Pradesh.
Fact: The photo shared in the post shows a pan shop located in the Moradabad city of Uttar Pradesh. Pleased by the work done by PM Modi and Yogi Adityanath, Vijay Kumar Gupta, the owner of the ‘Pan Mandir shop’ in Moradabad, placed a hoarding with Narendra Modi and Yogi Adityanath’s photos on his shop. The photo does not show a liquor shop in Uttar Pradesh. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
On observing the shop’s photo carefully, one could see the Hindi text ‘पान मंदिर’ (Pan Mandir) along with PM Modi and Yogi Adityanath’s photos on the hoarding. When we searched for the details of this shop using keywords on the internet, we found similar visuals of a shop with Narendra Modi and Yogi Adityanath’s photos on its hoarding in an article published by ‘News 18’ on 02 November 2022. ‘News 18’ reported it as the ‘Pan Mandir’ pan shop located in Moradabad city of Uttar Pradesh. The video shared in this article showed the interior and exterior visuals of this shop, and also the products placed inside this shop. There are cigarette packets, beverages and other pan-making products inside the shop. The interior visuals shown in the video did not show liquor bottles inside this ‘Pan Mandir’ shop.
Pleased by the works done by Yogi Adityanath in Uttar Pradesh and PM Modi in the centre, Vijay Kumar Gupta, the owner of this 50-year-old ‘Pan Mandir’ shop, reportedly put out the photos of Narendra Modi and Yogi Adityanath in his pan shop. Reporting the same, the ‘ABP’ news website published an article in 2019. It is nowhere reported that the ‘Pan Mandir’ shop in Moradabad sells liquor along with the pan in their shop.
To sum it up, an image showing Narendra Modi and Yogi Adityanath’s photos on a pan shop in Moradabad shared as a picture of a liquor shop in Uttar Pradesh.

created: November 10, 2022


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Image shows a train damaged after collision with another train in Tunisia, Africa; not Europe - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
October 23, 2022
In the context of recently damaged Vande Bharat train after collision with cattle, an image of a damaged train is being widely shared claiming that it shows the front part of a train that was damaged after hitting cattle in Europe. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Image of a train damaged in Europe after collision with cattle.
Fact: According to multiple news reports, image shows a train damaged after collision with another train in Tunis, Tunisia on 21 March 2022. Tunisia is an African country. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING
We ran a reverse image search using the viral image and found news reports by Global Times,  France24 and Africa News featuring these train accident visuals.
According to these reports, at least 72 people were injured when two trains of ‘National Company of Tunisian Railways’ collided on 21 March 2022 in the south of Tunisia’s capital Tunis.
However, it should be noted that Tunisia is an African country, not a European nation. Moreover, the image shows a train damaged due to collision with another train and not with cattle.
To sum it up, image of damaged train in Tunisia after collision with another train falsely shared as image of damaged European train.

created: October 23, 2022


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Image shows PM Modi washing his hands at the entrance of a Gurudwara; not inside a toilet - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
October 19, 2022
An image of PM Modi washing his hands at a washbasin is being widely shared claiming that his photo was taken inside a toilet. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Photographer capturing PM Modi cleaning his hands inside a toilet.
Fact: This picture was taken when PM Modi was washing his hands at the entrance of Gurudwara Rakab Ganj Sahib in Delhi in December 2020. This is an open wash area where devotees wash their hands and feet before entering Gurudwara. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
We ran a reverse image search using the viral image and found the uncropped version of the same image featured in an article published by ‘The Free Press Journal’ on 20 December 2020. According to this article, these pictures were taken when PM Modi visited Gurudwara Rakab Ganj Sahib in Delhi on the occasion of 400 Prakash Parv of Guru Teg Bahadur. However, in this image, one can see the steps beside the washbasin where  Modi is cleaning his hands.
Taking a cue from this, we searched for visuals of this Gurudwara and found Google images of the wash area setup beside the entrance steps. Visuals of devotees cleaning their hands and feet at wash area before entering this Gurudwara can be seen here. Also, it is a usual practise to wash one’s hands and feet before entering a Gurudwara.
To sum it up, image show PM Modi washing his hands at the entrance of the Gurudwara, not inside a toilet

created: October 19, 2022


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Images from a web series are shared with a false RSS connection - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
September 10, 2020
A post with a photo collage of a man with and without injuries is doing rounds on social media with a claim that the man, Chandraboss, an RSS worker from Kerala is thrashed by members of Communist Party for attending a Muslim wedding. Through this article, let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Chandraboss, an RSS worker from Kerala is thrashed by members of the Communist Party for attending a Muslim wedding.
Fact: Through reverse image, search we found that the images of the man are actually from a Malayalam web series which is on YouTube. Also, the photo collage in the post is picked from a memes website. The image has nothing to do with Muslim marriage or the Communist Party. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Reverse image search of the photo led us to ‘manlayalamplainmemes.download’, which is a repository of memes related to actors and movies. The photo collage in the post is actually picked from this website.
Taking a cue from here, we ran a search on YouTube with the keyword ‘Karikku’ and found a YouTube channel with this name. In a video titled ‘Smile Please!’ which is uploaded on 18 August 2020 on this channel, we can see the same man in the post. The man in orange kurta without injuries in post can be seen in the video in the same attire. Whereas the man with injuries in a blue kurta in the post can be seen for a split second in the last frame of the video but in a different angle. The name of the man in this particular video is Chandraboss. With this, we can say that images in the post are not from a real incident but taken from a web series and this has nothing to do with the Communist party.
From the information related to the cast of this particular video, we found that the name of the actor is Arjun Ratan. An image similar to the one in the collage where he is seen without injuries is shared by him on his Instagram account. However, it is worth mentioning that neither in the original images (Insta & meme) nor in the video we can see the actor sporting a saffron tilak on his face.
Initially, these images from the series were morphed and shared on social media with an RSS spin. Now this photoshopped image which carried the RSS connection is trending sarcastically on twitter with “ #JusticeforChandraboss” hashtag ridiculing the RSS narrative associated with the images.
To sum it up, the images from a Malayalam web series are falsely shared as RSS worker from Kerala is thrashed by members of Communist Party for attending a Muslim wedding.

created: September 10, 2020


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Images from Bangladesh falsely shared as ‘Rohingyas attacking Hindus and Hindu temples in West Bengal’ - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
March 13, 2020
Few photos are being widely shared on social media with the claim that they show Rohingyas attacks on Hindus and Hindu temples in West Bengal. Let’s check the veracity of the claim made in the post.
Images of Rohingyas attacks on Hindus and Hindu temples in West Bengal’.
Fact: The images are related to incidents that took place in Bangladesh. So, they aren’t related to West Bengal and the claim is FALSE.
When the images were subjected to reverse image search, they were found to be related to the incidents in Bangladesh.
Image-1:
As per a news blog article, the image is that of Goddess Mansi Devi temple destroyed in Jessore district of Bangladesh in January 2019. The same information can also be seen in the report of another news website that covered the incident.
Image-2:
As per the article of ‘bdnews24.com’, in December 2018, there was an arson attack on the homes of Hindu families in Thakurgaon (a district of Bangladesh) and it resulted in the destruction of eight huts and killing of seven goats. The image shows the remains of a Hindu home in the aftermath of the arson attack.
Image-3:
As per the article of a news website ‘Jugantor’, in Bariagram of Natore (a district in Bangladesh), the dead body of a local grocery trader’s son, who had earlier gone missing, was found at a crematorium in Bariagram under mysterious conditions. The image shows relatives of the deceased crying in agony.
To sum it up, images from Bangladesh are being falsely shared as ‘Rohingyas attacking Hindus and Hindu temples in West Bengal’.
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Images from Palestine are being shared as those of Delhi women in the wake of the recent riots - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
March 2, 2020
Ever since riots have erupted in Delhi, the internet is flooded with many images and videos linking them to these riots. On Facebook, a collage showing masked women pelting stones is being shared in the wake of the Delhi riots. Let’s check whether those images are related to Delhi.
Images of women protesters pelting stones during the Delhi riots.
Fact: Images are not related to India; they are old photos from Palestine. So, images aren’t related to the Delhi riots. Hence the claim made is  FALSE.
Image 1:
The image was found to exist on the internet at least since October 2015. Many of the search results suggested that the image belonged to the Israel- Palestine clashes. Those results can be seen here and here. The exact information about the image wasn’t found from credible sources. But, as it was found to exist on social media prior to the riots in Delhi, the claim is false.
Image 2:
The image was found in the photo library of ‘Reuters’ and it had the following description about the image- ‘A Palestinian protester uses a slingshot as she takes cover behind a garbage bin during clashes between Palestinian stone-throwers and Israeli troops outside Ofer prison near the West Bank city of Ramallah June 5, 2012. The clashes broke out following a protest marking the anniversary of the 1967 Middle East War’. So, this image is related to the Israel- Palestine clashes.
Image 3:
The image was found on the website ‘Thetower.org’ and it had the following description about the image- ‘Palestinians youths hurl stones at pilgrims at nearby Rachel’s tomb’. Rachel’s tomb is considered holy to Jews, Christians, and Muslims. It is situated in Bethlehem (Palestine).
Image 4:
The image was found in the photo library of ‘Getty Images’ and it had the following description about the image- ‘A Palestinian young woman from the Birzeit University holds stones during clashes with Israeli security forces in Beit El, on the outskirts of the West Bank city of Ramallah, on October 7, 2015. New violence rocked Israel and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including a stabbing in annexed east Jerusalem, even as Israel and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas took steps to ease tensions’. So, this image is also related to the Israel- Palestine clashes.
To conclude, images from Palestine are being shared in the wake of the Delhi riots.
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Images in the post are not related to protests against National Register of Citizens (NRC) or Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 12, 2019
A post with two photos of an injured woman with a child and few Policemen is being shared widely on Facebook. It is being claimed as taken during the protests against National Register of Citizens (NRC) or Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB). Let’s try to check the veracity of the claim made in the post.
Images of a woman beaten during the protests of National Register of Citizens (NRC) Assam or Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB).
Fact: The images are that of an incident that took place in Uttar Pradesh state in 2016. In UP’s Mainpuri, the woman was first groped by two men and was then beaten by a crowd for speaking against that act. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Earlier, the people of Assam were reported to be outraged after the exclusion of 19 lakh people from the final NRC list of Assam. And now, protests are taking place in Assam against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2019. The bill seeks to provide Indian citizenship to specific religious groups facing religious persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan.
When the image in the post is subjected to the Google reverse image search technique, a search result thus obtained lead us to an article of ‘India Times’ that carried both the images seen in the post. As per the article, the woman was beaten up by a crowd in Uttar Pradesh’s Mainpuri after she has spoken against two men who groped her. This incident took place in 2016. So, the photos are that of an incident in UP and are in no way related to any of the protests in the state of Assam.
Earlier, when the same images were shared with a claim that the woman was beaten by police, ‘FACTLY’ had debunked it and that article can be seen here.
To sum it up, the images in the post aren’t related to any protests against National Register of Citizens (NRC) or Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB).
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created: December 12, 2019


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Images in the post that show Policemen holding placards of ‘NO NRC NO CAA’ are photoshopped - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 26, 2019
A post with two images is being widely shared on Facebook. The images show Policemen holding posters of ‘NO NRC NO CAA’. Let’s analyze the authenticity of those images.
: Policemen holding placards of ‘NO NRC NO CAA’.
Fact: The images in the post are photoshopped. The original images do not show Policemen holding placards of ‘NO NRC NO CAA’. They are from the protests by Delhi Police in November, against the attack by lawyers on police personnel at the Tis Hazari Court complex. Hence, the claim is FALSE.
When the above images in the post are subjected to Google Reverse Image Search technique, they are found to be related to Delhi Police protests, in November, against the attack by lawyers on a few police personnel at the Tis Hazari Court complex. But those images do not show Police holding placards of ‘NO NRC NO CAB’.
Image-1:
From a November 2019 article of ‘The Hindu’, it can be found the image is that of Delhi Police officers holding placards at the Police headquarters (New Delhi) while protesting the attack by lawyers on Police. In that image, it can be seen that the placards do not have ‘NO NRC NO CAB’ on them. Another article of ‘The Hindu’ which reported about that incident had a video of that protests with the above photo as a thumbnail and it can be seen here.
Image-2:
From the article of ‘LiveMint’, the image was found to be that of Police personnel displaying placards during a protest against the repeated incidents of alleged violence against them by lawyers. In that image too, it can be seen that the posters do not have ‘NO NRC NO CAB’ on them.
To conclude, the images of Policemen holding placards of ‘NO NRC NO CAA’ are photoshopped.
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created: December 26, 2019


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Images of a 14-year-old girl who was made DSP 'for a day' in Maharashtra are being shared with a false claim - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
March 11, 2020
A couple of images are being shared on social media with the claim that a 24-year-old girl became an IAS officer in Maharashtra. Let’s check the veracity of the claim made in the post.
Images of a 24-year-old girl who has become an IAS officer in Maharashtra.
Fact: The girl in the images is Sahrish Kanwal. She is 14 years old. She was made District Superintendent of Police (DSP) ‘for a day’ in Maharashtra ahead of the International Women’s Day. So, the claim is FALSE.
When the images are subjected to Google reverse image search technique, the search results were obtained about a 14-year-old girl who was made as a DSP in Maharashtra for a day. Those results can be seen here and here. As per the ‘Times of India’ video, a 14-year-old girl Sahrish Kanwal was made as a District Superintendent of Police (DSP) ‘for a day’ in Buldhana district of Maharashtra. This initiative was taken by the District Collector Suman Chandra ahead of International Women’s Day. So, the girl in the video is 14 years old and she was made DSP only ‘for a day’.
The photos of that event can also be seen in the tweet posted by the Buldhana Police.
“ मलाही पोलीस अधिक्षक  व्हायचयं.. ”
आजचा दिवस माझ्यासाठी अत्यंत महत्वाचा! – एक दिवसाच्या पोलीस अधिक्षीका सहरीश कवल, जिल्हा परिषद हायस्कुल, मलकापुर यांच्या अपेक्षा –पोलीस अधिक्षक, बुलडाणा मा.डॉ.दिलीप पाटील-भुजबळ यांचा जागतिक महिला दिनानिमित्त अभिनव उपक्रम. @DGPMaharashtra pic.twitter.com/aAiyQde6Xe
To conclude, images of a 14-year-old girl who was made DSP ‘for a day’ in Maharashtra are being shared with a false claim.
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Images of a Bangladeshi boy rescuing a fawn portrayed as the Bahubali of Assam - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
July 22, 2020
Multiple photos of a boy saving a baby deer from drowning into the river are being shared on social media claiming him as the brave boy of Assam. In these photos, it can be seen that the boy is holding the baby deer with one hand on his head. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
A brave boy of Assam, fearlessly rescued a young deer from drowning.
Fact: A Bangladeshi boy named Belal, rescued a baby deer from drowning into the river during the floods in Noakali district of South Eastern Bangladesh. These photos were shot during that incident. The boy in these photos does not belong to the Assam state of India. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
On reverse image search of the photos shared in the post, similar photos were found in an article published by ‘Daily Mail’ news website on ‘06 Feb 2014’. In the article, they mentioned that a brave boy called Belal, fearlessly risked his own life to save the helpless baby deer from drowning into the river. This incident took place in Noakhali district of South Eastern Bangladesh. It is also mentioned in the article that wildlife photographer Hasibul Wahab shot these photos while visiting on a photo trip during Noakhali floods. On reverse search of a different image, another article published by ‘The Huffington Post’ was found explaining the incident with similar context.
On searching with relevant keywords, it is found that few more images of the incident are shared on posts published on a Bangladeshi blog and a Facebook page.
To sum it up, old photos of a Bangladeshi boy rescuing a baby deer are falsely portrayed as the young Bahubali of Assam.
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Images of a restored tropical forest from Brazil are being shared as a forest turned into wasteland by Kukis in Manipur - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
February 28, 2024
A post is being shared on social media that compares a lush green valley with a barren land, alleging it to be from Manipur. Additionally, the post claims that the Kuki community transformed the once lush green land into a barren area upon their arrival. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: The green landscape was there before the Kuki community came to the Manipur hills, while the barren land shows what happened to the green landscape after their settlement.
Fact: The images are from the state of Minas Gerais located in Brazil. A photojournalist Sebastião Ribeiro Salgado and his wife Lélia replanted a wasteland with 2 million trees and turned it into a tropical forest in 20 years. Sebastião Salgado established the nonprofit organization Instituto Terra in 1998 and initiated a tree-planting campaign known as Instituto Terra’s Reforestation Project. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
On performing a reverse image search of the viral images, we found a Russian newspaper publishing an article with this image in 2020. The article stated that in the state of Minas Gerais located in Brazil, photojournalist Sebastião Ribeiro Salgado and his wife Lélia replanted a wasteland with 2 million trees and turned it into a tropical forest.
Subsequent search led us to other news reports comparing both the images in the viral post. As per reports, nearly 30 years ago, Salgado returned to his native Brazil to manage his family’s ranch in the Minas Gerais region after documenting the tragic genocide in Rwanda. Now, two decades later, the 1,754-acre land has transformed into a lush and vibrant forest (here and here).
In a Forbes article dated 25 January 2008, it was noted that Sebastião Salgado established the nonprofit organization Instituto Terra in 1998 and initiated a tree-planting campaign known as Instituto Terra’s Reforestation Project. The article documented the advancements achieved over the past years of the reforestation effort. This was also reported by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
Further, we verified the location of Instituto Terra on Google Maps and Google Earth and found that the location matched the viral images. A comparison between both can be seen below.
To sum up, the images of a restored tropical forest from Brazil are being shared as a forest turned into a wasteland in Manipur by the Kuki community.

created: February 28, 2024


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Images of attacks on the houses of Hindus in Pakistan are being shared as those in West Bengal - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 15, 2020
A few images are being shared on social media claiming that houses of Dalit Hindus were set on fire in West Bengal. But, FACTLY has found that the images do not belong to any incident in West Bengal. They are related to the attacks on the houses of Hindus in the Punjab region of Pakistan. The images are being shared now in the wake of recent violence in the Hooghly district of West Bengal. In Telinipara region of the district, violence erupted between the two communities over a dispute regarding the usage of a public toilet during the lockdown.
Sources:
Claim –  Facebook post (archived)
Fact –
1. Punjab Police (Pakistan) tweet – https://twitter.com/OfficialDPRPP/status/1259778371090886656
2. West Bengal Police tweet – https://twitter.com/WBPolice/status/1260970667501117441
3. News article – https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/pakistan/pakistan-hindu-couple-in-rural-punjab-brutally-attacked-reason-unclear-1.1589289088735
4. News article –https://www.jammukashmirnow.com/Encyc/2020/5/11/Pakistan-murders-Hindus-yet-again-21-houses-with-children-inside-set-on-fire.html
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Images of flowers in the posts are falsely shared as ‘Mahameru flower’ - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
November 27, 2019
On Facebook, many posts with images of flowers claiming those to be of Mahameru flower are being shared widely. Let’s check the authenticity of the claim.
Images of Mahameru flower that blooms once every 400 years in Himalayas.
Fact: The flowers in the posts are not ‘Mahameru’. No information was found about the existence of a flower with the name ‘Mahameru’ in the Himalayas. Hence, the claim is False.
Image-1:
When the image in the post is subjected to reverse image search technique, a link that had the same image was obtained in the search results. From the information, the name of that flower was found to be ‘Saguaro’. It was found that it blooms every year in the months of May-June. ‘Saguaro’ flower is the state flower of Arizona, a state in America. So, the claim made in the post is false.
Image- 2 :
When the image in the post is subjected to reverse image search technique, many search results were obtained. Information in a few of those search results hinted that the flower in the image is ‘Salvia Hot Lips’. So, when searched on Google with that name, an article by ‘The Guardian’ was obtained in the search result. The article had a similar image and the information in the article corroborated that the flower is ‘Salvia Hot Lips’. The plants are mainly found in southeastern Arizona and in the mountains of Eastern, Western, and Southern Mexico. ‘Salvia Hot Lips’ plant blooms every year from early summer to frost.
Image -3:
When the image in the post is cropped and subjected to reverse image search technique, a link of a website that had the same image was obtained in the search results. From the article in that link, the name of that flower was found to be ‘Protea cynaroides’. It is the national flower of the Republic of South Africa. ‘Protea cynaroides’ or ‘King Protea’ blooms all throughout the year, with a concentration in the summer months.
Also, many other pictures of different flowers are falsely being shared as ‘Mahameru Flowers’. During the search process, no information was found about the existence of ‘Mahameru Flowers’ in the Himalayas. Earlier, when a different image of a flower went viral with the claim ‘Mahameru’ flower, FACTLY has written a fact check article on it and can be seen here.
To conclude, the images of flowers in the posts are falsely shared as ‘Mahameru’ flower.
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created: November 27, 2019


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Images of mask-clad Rahul Gandhi is falsely shared with a sarcastic claim that he eats food with his mask on - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
January 28, 2022
A collage of images is being shared on social media claiming it as the visuals of Rahul Gandhi having a meal with a mask on his face. These pictures show two different instances of mask-clad Rahul Gandhi sitting in front of a served meal. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
The archived version of the post can be seen here.
Claim: Pictures of Rahul Gandhi eating food with a mask on his face.
Fact: The photos shared in the post were taken during two different campaigns  by  Rahul Gandhi. These photos were shot during Rahul Gandhi’s visit last year to Tamil Nadu’s Erode and from his recent visit to Punjab. These photos were clicked when Rahul Gandhi was about to start or completed eating his meal. Rahul Gandhi did not wear a mask during the meal. Multiple news websites have published photos of these campaign programs where Rahul Gandhi was seen eating food after removing the mask on his face. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Photo-1:
On reverse image search of the photo, it is found that the photo was shot in 2021, during Rahul Gandhi’s lunch with weavers in Erode, Tamil Nadu. The Tamil Nadu Congress Committee tweeted a collage of images of this campaign programme in which Rahul Gandhi was seen eating lunch without a mask on his face. The photo shared in the post was clicked when mask-clad Rahul Gandhi was talking to the woman next to him after having lunch in Erode.
அன்பும் பண்பும் நிறைந்த தமிழ் மக்களோடு உணவு உண்டது மகிழ்ச்சி அளிக்கிறது.
– தலைவர் ராகுல் காந்தி#ThalaivarRahulGandhi#VaangaOruKaiPaapom pic.twitter.com/hhc1VNvK1E
Multiple news websites have published articles reporting this election event of Rahul Gandhi in Erode. They can be seen here and here. All these articles and videos show Rahul Gandhi eating lunch without wearing a mask on his face.
Photo-2:
On reverse image search, it is found that the photo was shot during Rahul Gandhi’s recent visit to Punjab’s Golden Temple on 27 January 2022. The Punjab Congress tweeted a photo in which Rahul Gandhi was seen eating langar at Sri Harmandir Sahib (also known as the Golden temple), without a mask on his face. Rahul Gandhi tweeted a video of him having lunch at Sri Harmandir Sahib. This video shows Rahul Gandhi removing his mask before he started eating langar offered in Sri Harmandir Sahib temple.
Shri @RahulGandhi ji visited the Golden Temple, Sri Harmandir Sahib along with CM S. @CHARANJITCHANNI, PPCC President S. @sherryontopp and other prominent Congress leaders of the state and had bhog at the holy shrine. pic.twitter.com/Zt5489SWao
Several news websites have published photos and videos of Rahul Gandhi, without a mask, eating langar at the Sri Harmandir Sahib temple. They can be seen here, here, and here. From all these pieces of evidence, it can be confirmed that the photos shared in the post were shot before Rahul Gandhi started eating a meal and after he finished the meal.
To sum it up, images of mask-clad Rahul Gandhi falsely shared with a sarcastic claim that he eats food with his mask on.

created: January 28, 2022


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Images of meals contributed by donors to this school students are being shared as that of government mid-day meal menu - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
September 3, 2022
A photo of a schoolboy holding a plate with food items like puri, ice cream, fruits, paneer curry, Milkshake, etc. is being widely shared on social media platforms claiming that these items are served under Mid-Day meal scheme in Uttar Pradesh’s Government schools. Let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Image of items served in an Uttar Pradesh Government school under the Mid-day meal scheme.
Fact: The menu displayed on the official Mid-day meal website doesn’t show any of these items. According to Navbharat times, Sarpanch of the village Amit, along with the schoolteachers arrange for these special meals occasionally with the help of donors. Also, through a Facebook post, he clarifies that the viral image belongs to one such event celebrated on 31 August 2022. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING
The background text in the photo says, “Upper primary school, Malakpura. District- Jalaun”. But the menu on the official Mid-Day Meal website doesn’t match with the items seen in the viral picture.
Further, we searched online with relevant keywords and found an article by Navbharat times published on 01 September 2022 about this meal in the school.
According to this article, at the Upper Primary School in Uttar Pradesh’s Malakpura, apart from the regular mid-day meal, items like paneer, puri, vegetables, Rasgulla, sweets, kheer, icecream, etc. are also served to the students on birthdays and select occasions. This is possible due to combined efforts of the teachers and the village sarpanch Amit. Amit said that there are about 90 students in Malakpura and Gulabpura school who are served such food. At the same time, people also complained that in many schools of Jalaun, students are not served with proper mid-day meal menu. We found the latest Facebook post shared by Village sarpanch regarding this issue.
In the post he writes, “School pictures of Gram-Panchayat Malakpura are viral on social media since yesterday. These pictures are of the food given to children under the #dinner. This system is going on in our village panchayat from July 2022. While the Add-on MDM system started earlier continues from 14 February 2022. This is a completely transparent process. Our Panchayat schools are probably the first schools in the state to do this. All this can be possible only with public cooperation”. The Original post shared by Amit on 31 August 2022
A photo of students holding a board which reads, “Happy Birthday Saurabh Bhayya” is also available from these pictures.
Further, we scrolled through the timeline of the Amit and found several occasions where children were treated with special dishes. They can be seen here and here.
To sum it up, the food items shown in the viral image are not served under Mid-day meal scheme by UP government. The school teachers and sarpanch of the village arrange these meals on special occasions with the help of donors.

created: September 3, 2022


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Images of rallies and public gatherings during ‘Maratha Quota Protests’ are being shared as processions in support of CAB - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 18, 2019
A post with four images is being widely shared on Facebook with the claim that they show people rallying in Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra supporting the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB). Let’s analyze the authenticity of the claim in the post.
Images of people in Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra rallying in support of the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB).
Fact: The images are that of rallies and public gatherings during ‘Maratha Quota Protests’ in Maharashtra. So, the claim is FALSE.
When the images in the post are subjected to reverse image search technique, they were found to be related to the ‘‘Maratha Quota Protests’ in the Maharashtra state.
Image-1:
As per the article of ‘DNA’, the image is that of a public gathering in Jalna (Maharashtra) in September 2016 as part of the ‘Maratha Quota Protests’.
Image-2:
As per the October 12, 2016 article of ‘Live Mint’, the image is from the rally of members of the Maratha community during the ‘Maratha Quota Protests’ in Maharashtra.
Image-3:
As per the article of ‘India Today’, the image is that of a rally during ‘Maratha Quota Protests’ in Sangli (Maharashtra) in October 2016.
Image-4:
As per the article of ‘Indian Express’, the image is that of a rally during ‘Maratha Quota Protests’ in Ahmednagar (Maharashtra) in October 2016.
Another post (archived) claiming that the image in it shows people of West Bengal rallying in support of CAB is also doing rounds on Facebook.
As per the article of ‘Maharashtra Times’, the image is that of a rally during ‘Maratha Quota Protests’ in Pune (Maharashtra) in September 2016.
To conclude, the images of rallies and public gatherings during ‘Maratha Quota Protests’ are being shared as processions in support of CAB.
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created: December 18, 2019


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Images of under-construction flyover collapse in Nagpur are passed off as from Ahmedabad - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
October 28, 2021
A social media post accompanying a set of images of a bridge collapse is being shared with a claim that these images show Ajit Mill bridge in Ahmedabad.  Let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Images of Ajit Mill bridge collapse in Ahmedabad.
Fact: These images actually show an under-construction flyover collapse in Nagpur, Maharashtra on 19 October 2021. Further, there are no reports of any bridge collapse near Ajit mill circle in Ahmedabad. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
There are no news reports of any bridge collapse near Ajit mill circle in Ahmedabad. If any such incident had indeed happened, the media would have reported it, however, we could not find any such reports.
Google search with relevant keywords led us to a news report which published an image similar to one of the images in the viral post. As per this report, the image is of an under-construction flyover that collapsed in the Kalamna area of Nagpur, Maharashtra on 19 October 2021.
Upon juxtaposing the viral images with the image published in the above-mentioned news article, we can spot similarities, which proves the viral images are actually of a flyover collapse in Nagpur.
Further search yielded multiple news articles which reported the flyover collapse in Nagpur (here, here & here). These articles have also published images similar to those in the viral post, attributing them to the Nagpur flyover collapse. Hence, from all these, we can infer that the viral images are related to a flyover collapse in Nagpur and have nothing to do with Ahmedabad.
A portion of under-construction Pardi-Kalamna flyover in #Nagpur collapsed on Tuesday evening. Around 10 girders of the bridge between two columns caved in between Kalamna and Gomti Hotel Square. No casualty was reported, confirmed commissioner of police. #Maharashtra pic.twitter.com/7eoEenX9v5
To sum it up, images of under-construction flyover collapse in Nagpur are passed off as from Ahmedabad.

created: October 28, 2021


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Images related to Quran recital ceremony are passed off as Muslim parents marrying their own children - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 18, 2022
A social media post accompanying a photo collage in which a photo shows a man posing with a girl and the other images showing a woman posing with a small boy is being shared with a claim that a Muslim woman married her own son as retribution to her husband marrying their daughter. In these images, all four can be seen in garlands. Through this article let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Images of a Muslim couple marrying their own children.
Fact: These images are actually related to a Quran recital ceremony. Oldest social media posts that shared these images claimed them to be of Hafiz-e-Quran ceremony. Moreover, corroboration of the timeline of availability these images on internet suggests that these two images are not related to each other. Many social media users shared similar images claiming them to be of Quran recital ceremony. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Image 1 :
This image of a man posing with a girl is available on the internet at least since February 2016. Reverse image search of this photo yielded few old social media posts which shared the same image claiming that a father and daughter became Hafiz-e-Quran at the same time (here, here & here)
The Urdu description of all these posts loosely translates to ‘Congratulations … Masha Allah, father and daughter graduated from the same class (became Hafiz-ul-Quran). May Allah write’
Islamic Board, an Islamic discussion portal also shared the image back in 2016 with a similar description.
Image 2 :
This image is available on the internet at least since January 2020. Reverse image search of this photo traced the oldest social media post that shared the same image. As per the description associated with this post, the image shows a mother and her son posing on the occasion of the son’s Quran recital ceremony. The Urdu description of the post loosely translates to ‘Today was my son’s final Quran. Who will share after congratulating us’.
Further, this very same image went viral a couple of years ago with a claim that a Saudi woman married her son after her husband passed away.
Whereas the recent post claims that the image shows a woman marrying her own son as retribution for her husband marrying their daughter. This implies that over the years, this image is being circulated with varied claims.
However, neither of the claims associated with the image is true. Corroboration of the timeline of availability of these images (images 1 & 2) on the internet suggests that these images are related to a Quran recital ceremony and both these images are not related to each other.
Hafiz-e-Quran :
Generally, Hafiz is a title for people who memorise the Quran. Collins defines the term Hafiz as ‘a title for a person who knows the Koran by heart’. Hafiz-e-Quran is a popular religious ceremony among the Muslim community. Few social media users shared images related to the event, these can be viewed here, here, and here.
Although we could not independently verify the identity of the persons involved or the location of the viral images, the above explanation suggests that these viral images are related to a Quran recital ceremony and not parents marrying their own children as claimed.
To sum it up, images related to a Quran recital ceremony are passed off as Muslim parents marrying their own children.


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Imatinib Mesylate tablet does not cure all types of blood cancer. - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
October 5, 2023
A social media post is circulating with the claim that a new medication called ‘Emotif Markilet’ (इमोटिफ मार्कीलेट in Hindi) has been discovered for the treatment of blood cancer and is being offered free of charge at the Yashoda Hematology Cancer Institute in Pune. Let’s investigate the veracity of this information.
Claim: ‘Emotif Markilet’ is a cure for blood cancer, which is available for free at Yashoda Hematology Cancer Institute in Pune.
Fact: The original name of this tablet or drug is ‘imatinib mesylate’, which is used in the treatment of certain types of blood cancers. This drug has greatly improved outcomes in patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia, a blood cancer. Medicines are given to the patient depending on the type of cancer, and not all types of cancer can be cured with the same medicine. There are many types of blood cancer, and imatinib mesylate is used to treat some of them. According to the Adyar Cancer Institute, this drug is available all over India. Hence, the claim made in the post is Misleading.
Searching the internet about the drug ‘Emotif Markilet’, some posts (here and here) with similar information were found. According to them, a drug called ‘imitinef mercilet’ cures blood cancer and is given free by Adyar Cancer Institute in Chennai.
However, the Adyar Cancer Institute has issued a notice stating that this is a misleading message. The message said, “It has been noticed that an information is being circulated through the internet as emails and as face book posts regarding the availability of a certain medicine called ‘Imitinef mercilet’at the Cancer Institute, Adyar, Chennai. …….We want to make it clear that this is a misleading message being circulated. We believe that the drug name mentioned is a distortion of the drug called ‘imatinib mesylate’, which is a drug used to treat a type of blood cancer called ‘chronic myeloid leukemia’. This drug is available all over India and is being prescribed at all Cancer Centers and is not exclusive to the Cancer Institute, Adyar, Chennai.”
Imatinib Mesylate is a tablet/drug mainly used in the treatment of ‘Chronic Myelogenous Leukaemia’. Once the patient is diagnosed with this disease, this medicine is used to prevent it from progressing to an advanced stage. Imatinib reduces the production of abnormal white blood cells.
Speaking to the Times of India about the ‘Imitinef Mercilet’ related messages, Hematologist Sameer Melinkeri called it spam. In a press conference regarding ‘Imitinef Mercilet’ in 2015, Dr Vishal Rao (Consultant, Head and Neck Surgery, HCG Cancer Care in Karnataka) said that there is no cure for all types of cancer anywhere in the world.
A user on the Practo website asked if the tablet could cure blood cancer. Dr. Kaushal Yadav, a verified doctor by Practo, said, any medicine is given based on the specific symptoms of the cancer. He said that there is no single medicine for all cancers.
Based on all this, it can be concluded that ‘imatinib mesylate’ is not a cure-all wonder drug for all types of blood cancers. The post says that this drug is available at Yashoda Hematology Clinic in Pune. We called the numbers given in the post to find out about this, but they did not work. To learn about the types of cancers, see here and here. More information about imatinib mesylate can be found here and here.
Finally, imatinib mesylate tablet does not cure all types of blood cancer; it is mostly used to treat a type of blood cancer called ‘Chronic Myelogenous Leukaemia’.

created: October 5, 2023


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IMF's April 2020 estimate of 1.9% GDP growth in India fell to -4.5% in recent estimates - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
August 27, 2020
A post with an image of the alleged list of growth forecast of major economies for the year 2020 by IMF is doing rounds on social media with the claim that India is going to witness highest GDP growth in 2020 among major economies. Through this article let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
IMF estimates a 1.9% GDP growth in India for the year 2020, the highest in 2020 among major economies.
Fact: According to the projections released by IMF in the month of April 2020, India’s GDP is expected to grow at 1.9% in 2020, whereas the revised estimates released by IMF in the month of June 2020 predict India to witness a negative growth rate of -4.2%. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
If we take a close look at the image in the post, we can clearly see the source for these projections is IMF. Taking a cue from here, we searched for these numbers on IMF website and found that these projections are taken from ‘World Economic Outlook’ report which was released in April 2020 estimating the growth of countries in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.
However, in the month of June 2020 through another report , the IMF has released revised estimates. In this report, GDP growth of India for the year 2020 is projected at -4.5%, whereas China is the only country projected to have a positive growth rate (1.0%) among the major economies according to this report. With this, we can conclude that the growth projections in the post are indeed made by the IMF but these projections are not the latest ones.
Multiple other organizations like World Bank, Asian Development Bank, World Economic Forum, etc. also release growth projections. In one such report titled ‘World Economic Prospects’ released by the World Bank in June 2020, India’s growth rate for the year 2020 is projected to be -3.2%.
Whereas the Asian Development Bank projected that India is going to witness  -4.0% growth for the year 2020.
To sum it up, old GDP growth estimates are being shared as the latest ones claiming that India is going to register the highest growth rate in 2020 among the major economies.
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Immigrants and Hate Crime in the United States - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 22, 2017
The killing of an Indian Engineer in Kansas City has renewed the debate on hate crime in the USA. Contrary to popular perception, hate crime incidence is not higher in places with high immigrant population.
In the wake of a suspected hate crime against two Indians in the US state of Kansas; media in India has sensationalized the incident in a way that it could trigger fear and uncertainty for many immigrants living in the United States and their families in India. This report is a fact check about states in the United States that have been top immigrant destinations and their corresponding hate crime rates. The incidence of hate crime in this story is taken as number of hate crime incidents per 100000-immigrant population in a particular state. The census data of 2013 is considered for the immigrant population.
According to PEW Research Center analysis of Census Bureau Data, the immigrant population in the United States has increased significantly between 1990 and 2014. In 1990, United States was home to 19.8 million immigrants compared to 42.2 million in 2014. The reports indicate that though the numbers have increased over the years, the states that immigrants are choosing to settle has largely remained the same.
The states with top immigrant population in terms of percentage include California, New York, New Jersey, Florida, Nevada, Hawaii, Texas, Massachusetts, Maryland, Illinois and DC metropolitan area.
An analysis of FBI Hate Crime Data by Jurisdiction from 2010-2015 clearly shows that the states of Massachusetts and DC metropolitan area are the only two areas with high immigrant population, which also has reported high incidence of hate crime (hate crime incidents per 100000 immigrant population). These are the only two states that have consistently figured in the top 15 states with high incidence of hate crime. The two states also have very different demographics.
DC’s African American population is the highest in the country at 49% as of 2014. Considering that most hate offenders in the United States are white Americans with a racial bias, this might be a probable cause of high hate crime incidence in DC. DC’s white population is 43.6% and Asian population is 4%. Unlike DC, Massachusetts’s African-American population is only 8.1% and 83.2 % population constitutes white Americans. Asian population is 2% higher than DC.
The southern states of the United States are often referred to as the ‘Bible Belt’ due to the population’s conservative policies as well as considerable population of Catholics. Out of the 15 states with the highest hate crime incidence per 100,000-immigrant population, five states – West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, South Carolina and Alabama are from this region.
While all the five states figures have remained more or less steady, the southern state of Alabama had a sudden spike to hate crime in incidents between 2011-2012. This is the same time that an anti-immigration law (HB 56) was passed. This controversial law required all immigrants to carry their documentation at all times and allowed holding them in jail until they could prove that they were legal residents in the United States. Even though, the law largely effected Hispanic population, it created fear, victimization and anxiety among all immigrant populations.
The President Donald Trump has been a vocal supporter of such laws in the speeches, interviews and remarks on various occasions since his campaign started. Besides Alabama, five other US states – South Carolina, Arizona, Utah, Georgia and Indiana enacted similar laws. He was  in favor of controversial anti-immigrant laws such as Arizona’s SB 1070 law for a long time and suggested during his campaign that he would implement similar laws nationally. Even though it might not be as easy due to the power of individual states to pass these laws, his intentions and actions could certainly influence the creation of harsh anti-immigration laws. This could also create uncertainty and unrest in immigrant populations and their decision to live in the United States.
The other states with high hate crime incidence per 100,000-immigrant population spread across the mid-western region. It has six states – North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Michigan, Missouri and Kansas on the list. The states of North Dakota, South Dakota and Kansas are considered republican strongholds. The Republican Party’s views are conservative with regard to immigration policies.
The northern-eastern region of the United States has three states on the list – DC metropolitan area, Maine and Vermont and the western region has one state- Montana.
States with large Indian Immigrants and Hate Crime Incidence
According to US Census Bureau Statistics (2009-2013 ACS), states with the largest number of foreign born/ immigrants from India are concentrated in California (19%), New Jersey (11%), Texas (9%) along with sizeable presence in states of New York, DC Metropolitan area, Illinois, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Georgia. All these states also have major metropolitan city divisions in the United States indicating large urban populations and high economic and market activities.
Out of the nine states with large Indian Immigrant population, District of Columbia (DC), New Jersey and California are slightly on the higher side in regard to incidence of hate crimes compared to the rest. But California also has twice as many as immigrants than the rest of the country and also 38.2 % of its population is Hispanic. California, DC and New Jersey are also part of critical metropolitan divisions and California has up to five metropolitan  divisions.
It is important to understand any hate crime in the context of the national picture and evidence over a period of time. The only sub category of the FBI data that includes foreign born or immigrants is under Asian and Hispanic populations. Hate crimes against Asian population has remained 2-2.5% of the overall hate crime in the United States and hate crime in states with high immigrant populations has been relatively low barring the states of District of Columbia (D.C) and Massachusetts.
Even though the atmosphere might be politically charged and hate crime incidents targeting immigrant, religious and other minority communities are being reported more, it is important not to panic. It is important to report these hate crimes to the US Department of Justice and civil rights organizations that work in this area.
Hate Crime Reporting and Prosecution
The 2015 Hate Crime Report By the Los Angeles Commission on Human Relations says “the National Crime Victim Survey published by the U.S. Justice Department in 2014 found that hate crimes occurred 22 to 40 times more than the number reported by police to the FBI. This is due to victims not reporting hate crimes to police, as well as a failure of law enforcement to classify hate crimes and report them to federal authorities.”
The report also indicates the common reasons victims do not report the incidence to law enforcement is due to fear of retaliation by perpetuator or related people, linguistic or cultural barriers, immigration status, lack of knowledge of the immigration system as well as previous negative experiences with law enforcement authorities. Besides the victims, the law enforcement authorities also consider reporting hate crime as a low priority due to lack of standard, uniform training and practices. Some authorities might play down hate crime in order to shield their states and counties from negative publicity.
Along with low hate crime reporting rate, another reason hate crime offenders in the United States seem to be complacent is due to the low prosecution rates of hate crimes. The Transactional Records Clearing House (TRAC), a data research and distribution organization in Syracuse University found a very small percentage of the hate crime allegations end in conviction or even an arrest. One of the reasons is because even though many offenders are counted as known by the FBI, it only means that they have some information on the probable race, gender or any other parameter but does not mean they know who that person really is. Hate crime researchers also believe that bias and motivation in a hate crime are the core evidence in favor of the victim but it is the hardest in prove in the courtroom. Highest number of hate crimes are not prosecuted due to insufficient evidence, lack of evidence to prove criminal intent or weak insufficient admissible evidence.
It is therefore very important for residents to understand their rights, criminal justice system and anonymous agencies that they can report any hate crime incidents irrespective of their nationality or immigration status. Building strong immigrant community resources for solidarity in all regions, educating people about possible hate crimes, suitable responses and consequential action within communities is the best form of defense to hate crimes.


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Impala Spared by Crocodile Not Pregnant, but Rather Male - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
March 14, 2023
A video of a crocodile catching what appears to be a deer-like animal and subsequently releasing it has been circulating on social media claiming that the crocodile set the animal free because it discovered that it was pregnant. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Visuals of a crocodile letting a deer go after realizing it is pregnant.
Fact: The video, filmed in 2017, shows a crocodile’s unsuccessful attempt to catch a male impala (not a deer) at Namibia’s Etosha National Park, dispelling any possibility of the impala being pregnant. As per the videographer, the crocodile probably released the impala because it was outside its natural habitat and unable to execute its deadly death roll on land. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
After conducting an internet search using relevant keywords, we came across a Daily Mail article published in November 2017 titled “Lucky impala cheats death as a crocodile inexplicably releases it from its huge jaws after snatching it by a river“. The article featured a clear video that revealed the impala’s gender, as it had visible antlers indicating it was a male, thereby ruling out the possibility of it being pregnant.
The difference between male and female impalas can be seen in this National Geographic article.
According to Daily Mail, the incident in the video occurred in 2017 near a river in Namibia’s Etosha National Park. A group of wild dogs chased an impala, which then narrowly escaped them near the water’s edge. However, while trying to get away, the impala’s hind leg got caught in a crocodile’s deadly jaws. Despite being on land, the crocodile held onto the impala for a while before inexplicably releasing it and calmly swimming away. According to the person who captured the footage, the crocodile likely let the impala go because it was out of its element and unable to perform its infamous death roll on land.
To sum it up, the notion that the crocodile released the impala in the vial video because it was pregnant is a misconception, as the impala was actually a male.


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Implementation of Victim Compensation Scheme leaves a lot to be desired
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 14, 2018
The implementation of the Victim Compensation scheme in states leaves a lot to be desired.  Fund release under the Central Victim Compensation Fund(CVCF) does not seem to be based on any rationale.
India follows a criminal procedure code, commonly known as the CrPC to deal with criminal cases. It is the common code for all states in India. In 2008, the code was amended to introduce a new section i.e., 357A that makes it mandatory for the state governments to have a scheme/Act for victims. In this context, victim means, the one at the receiving end of crime, family of the person who was murdered, the rape victim etc.
Every state started formulating a scheme for the victims, and allocated budget for the victim compensation fund, from which the victims will be paid money to ‘ compensate ‘ for the misery they have gone through.
Victims can access the fund in two ways. One, the judge dealing the case will recommend compensation amount to the victim. Second, victims can approach the District Legal Services Authority and submit an application to them. There is no specific application format and the application can be made on a white paper.
Different States – Different methods & amounts
While this looks good on paper, things on ground are different. Each state set a different compensation amount based on the category of victim. Moreover, there is no systematic method for categorization of the victim based on the nature of the crime or the age of the victim. Some states took the age of the victim into account while others did not.
Government of India sets up CVCF
After the Nirbhaya incident in 2012, Government of India established Nirbhaya Fund in 2013, with an initial corpus of Rs. 1000 crore. There have been widespread reports of the non-utilization of the fund. Government data also shows that a lot of projects are yet to take off.
In 2015, to ward off the criticism over non utilization of the Nirbhaya Fund, the Government of India (GoI) setup the Central Victim Compensation Fund(CVCF).  The CVCF was also setup to streamline the compensation amount in various states for different categories of crime. GoI issues guidelines for the CVCF in 2015 and allocated Rs 200 crore from the Nirbhaya Fund to this scheme. The CVCF was aimed at harmonizing the state schemes with a minimum fixed amount of compensation for victims of various crimes.
Fund disbursement under CVCF – No apparent rationale
The highest amount of Rs 28.1 crore was released to Uttar Pradesh followed by Rs 21.8 crore to Madhya Pradesh. Odisha, Rajasthan, West Bengal & Maharashtra are the only other states to have received more than Rs 10 crore. There does not seem to be any rationale in the amount of funds disbursed to various states under the CVCF. If one were to go by the population or even female population, Madhya Pradesh is in the 6 place where as the state received the most funds after Uttar Pradesh. Nagaland received an amount of Rs 10 lakh, same as what was released to Lakshadweep. Nagaland’s population is more than 30 times that of Lakshadweep. In fact, Nagaland received less than that of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, though the population is 5 times more.
Even if one were to go by crimes against women, the most crimes against women (per every one lakh population) were reported from Delhi & Assam from 2014 to 2016. Hence it looks as though the release of funds under CVCF had no rationale.
Implementation leaves a lot to be desired
The major problem in implementation of victim compensation schemes is the serious lack of awareness. We could not find any posters, materials or any other publicity material while googling for relevant information on the scheme. The lack of awareness shows in the number of victims making use of the scheme. For instance, in Telangana, only 9 victims availed compensation under this scheme in 2016-17 and 2017-18 (till November 2017). Most of these 9 victims were from only one district.
The victims availing compensation under the scheme is nowhere close to the incidents of rape being reported every year. As per government data, close to 39000 case of rape were reported across the country in 2016. Even if we were to go with the conviction rate of around 25%, we are talking about thousands of victims each year. And if compensation of Rs 3 lakh in each case was extended to these victims, the total compensation for rape victims alone would be more than Rs 100 crore. The allocation under CVCF has to be increased match the number of victims. Victim compensation has to become a right of the victim and her family.


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Review: Karnataka High Court issues guidelines for search & seizure of Electronic Devices
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
March 17, 2021
In this roundup of the important court judgments, we look at directions about guidelines regarding the search of electronic devices, independence of State Election Commissioner, protection of inter-faith/inter-caste couples, and pendency under forest/animal law.
Karnataka HC: Issues guidelines for the search of computers, mobile phones, email accounts, electronic equipment, etc.
In the case Virendra Khanna vs. State of Karnataka and others, the high court underlined guidelines to be followed by investigating officers regarding the manner of carrying a search and/or for preservation of evidence gathered during an investigation that concerns smartphones, electronic equipment or email accounts.
The court was hearing a case where the investigation involved the search and seizure of an accused mobile phone. In this context, the judgement highlights that there is no specific law regarding the procedure to be followed during an investigation that involves electronic devices.
The judgement concludes that detailed guidelines must be prepared by the police department in relation to search and seizure of electronic devices. Meanwhile, until such instructions are formulated, the court issued a minimum set of rules to be followed in any such scenario.
The bench of Justice Suraj Govindaraj issued the followed guidelines:
In the case of a personal computer or a laptop;
Apart from the above steps regarding the seizure of the computer, laptop, etc., if the said equipment is connected to a network, the following was recommended:
In case of mobile devices, the following was recommended:
Supreme Court: State Election Commissioner must be a person who is independent of the State Government.
In the case State of Goa and another v Fouzia Imtiaz Shaik, the Supreme Court held that serving government employees cannot simultaneously function as State Election Commissioners.
In November 2020, the Governor of Goa appointed the Law Secretary of the Government of Goa, a member of the IAS, as State Election Commissioner in addition to his duties as Law Secretary.  The court was hearing a batch of civil appeals that raise important questions on the provisions contained in Part IXA of the Constitution of India, which deals with Municipalities.
In the context of these appeals, the court held that the appointment of Law Secretary as State Election Commissioner was a subversion of the constitutional mandate contained in Article 243K of the Constitution, which says that the direction and control of all elections to the Panchayats shall be vested in a State Election Commission. The State Election Commissioner must be a person who is independent of the State Government as he is an important constitutional functionary who is to oversee the entire election process in the state, including panchayats and municipalities.
The bench of Justices RF Nariman, BR Gavai, and Hrishikesh Roy opined that giving an additional charge of such an important and independent constitutional office to an officer who is directly under the control of the State Government is a mockery of the constitutional mandate.
In conclusion, the Goa Government was directed to remedy this situation by immediately appointing an independent person who is not holding any office or post in the Central or State Government.
Punjab HC: Recommends steps for the protection of inter-caste/inter-faith couples/runaway couples.
In the case Lovepreet Kaur & Anr v. State of Punjab & Ors., the high court recommended steps for the protection of inter-caste/inter-faith couples/runaway couples to ensure the protection of life and personal liberty as guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.
The court was hearing the plea of a married couple who solemnised marriage on 04 March 2021, against the wishes of their parents, and have been requesting protection. The court noted that a number of such protection petitions are being filed by the couples who marry against the wishes of their parents and relatives and the court is also being approached by couples in the case of live-in relationships.
A Single Bench of Justice Avneesh Jhingan held that genuine cases of threat are often overlooked amid a pile of cases that are filed on a daily basis.
The judgement states that it is impossible for the court to gauge the genuineness or the extent of threat perception and it is ultimately the police authorities who must look into and deal with it. However, the judgement suggested the following:
The judgement highlighted that the entire endeavour of the exercise is that some sort of workable mechanism is put in motion to ensure the protection of life and personal liberty as guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India
In conclusion, the court ordered that in case a request is made by the petitioners, they may be provided shelter in a safe house till the next date. It also directed Advocate General(s) of both the States, Senior Standing Counsel for Union Territory, Chandigarh, and Member Secretaries to make a joint effort to give their inputs for dealing with the abovementioned mentioned issue.
Calcutta HC: Pending cases under forest/animal law in subordinate court should be addressed on war footing.
The high court on its own motion regarding smuggling and illegal trading of endangered species, held that all pending cases under forest/animal law in subordinate court should be addressed on war footing.
The High Court Administration placed on record a report which discloses the pendency of cases under different animal laws and forest laws. The court notes that there are 1140 cases pending under the forest laws.
The judgement highlights two important observations from the report:
Upon considering all the facts of the report, the bench of Chief Justice Thottathil B. Radhakrishnan and Justice Arijit Banerjee directed that all the subordinate courts where such matters are pending shall forthwith proceed on war-footing since the victims are voiceless creatures who cannot be represented before any adjudicating authority except by the duly authorised representative of the State Government. It also directed that the Registrar General will ensure that a circular following this order is issued within a week requiring all courts below to proceed with an action.
Further, the high court adjourned the matter to 26 March 2021, within which time a further affidavit is directed be filed by the conservator of forests disclosing the volume of illegal activities in trade or otherwise affecting the animal wealth and streamlining what could be suggested by the department.
Featured Image: Important court judgments


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Imran Khan was not beaten up by Pakistan nationals. Visuals shown are from an accident in 2013 - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
March 2, 2019
A video has been posted by a page called ‘ Digital Congress’ on Facebook with the title ‘PM Imran Khan was beaten by Pakistani nationals’. Let’s try to analyze the claim made in the post.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was beaten by Pakistan nationals
Imran Khan fell from a stage and got injured at an election rally in 2013. So, the claim made is FALSE.
When searched for ‘Imran Khan Injury’ on Google, a link to a YouTube video can be found in the results. The description below the video clarifies ‘Imran Khan sustained head injuries and was rushed to hospital after falling off a lift taking him onto the stage for an election rally’. The timestamp shows that the video was uploaded in 2013. So, there is no truth in the claim made in the post.
Finally, Imran Khan was not beaten up by Pakistan nationals. He met with an accident during an election campaign in 2013.