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Morphed photo shared as Yogi Adityanath’s provocative tweet against the Jat community in Uttar Pradesh - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
February 4, 2022
A screenshot of a tweet purportedly made by Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath is being shared on social media claiming that Yogi Adityanath’s tweet has provocative statements against the Jat community in Uttar Pradesh. This purported tweet of Yogi Adityanath asks people to vote for BJP so that could take the Jat community to task in Kairana, Muzaffarnagar, and other places in Uttar Pradesh. In the wake of the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Elections in 2022, this post is being shared on social media. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Yogi Adityanath’s provocative tweet against the Jat community in Uttar Pradesh.
Fact: The photo shared in the post is a morphed one. On 29 January 2022, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath tweeted that the Samajwadi Party candidate from Kairana is making threatening statements and he will will calm down after 10 March once the election results are announced. On 30 January 2022, while addressing a public rally in Hapur, Yogi Adityanath said that the heat visible at Muzaffar Nagar and Kairana will calm down after the elections. Yogi Adityanath made this statement referring to the opposition leaders, not the people of Jat community. Yogi Adityanath did not make any provocative statements against the Jat community on his Twitter handle. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When we searched to check whether Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath had made any such provocative tweet against the Jat community, we could not find any such tweet on the Yogi Adityanath’s Twitter handle. Yogi Adityanath made only one tweet about the Jat community on 18 September 2018. This tweet was about a social meeting organised for the Jat society in Lucknow.
On 29 January 2022, Yogi Adityanath tweeted that the Samajwadi party candidate from Kairana made threatening statements about him and the BJP.  Yogi Adityanath in the tweet said that the opposition candidate will cool down after polling on 10 March 2022. Yogi Adityanath made this tweet referring to Kairana’s former SP candidate Nahid Hasan who was arrested under the Gangster act on 15 January 2022.
कैराना से तमंचावादी पार्टी का प्रत्याशी धमकी दे रहा है, यानी गर्मी अभी शांत नहीं हुई है!
10 मार्च के बाद गर्मी शांत हो जाएगी…
On 30 January 2022, while addressing a public meeting in Hapur, Yogi Adityantath said that those who are feeling emboldened in Kairana and Muzaffarnagar will be taken to task after March 10. Yogi Adityanath’s statement was directed towards Nahid Hasan and other Samajwadi leaders from Kairana and Muzaffarnagar. Also, during his Hapur rally address, Yogi Adityanath referred to Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav and Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Jayant Singh Chaudary as two boys joined up to incite riots in Uttar Pradesh. Several news websites published articles reporting this information. They can be seen here and here.
According to the ‘The Hindu’ article, the statements made by Yogi Adityanath were interpreted in different ways by the BJP supporters and Rashtriya Lok Dal supporters. It is reported that the Rashtriya Lok Dal supporters took Yogi Adityanath’s statement as disrespect to Jats. But Yogi Adityanath did not make any direct provocative statements against the Jat community on his Twitter handle or any public meeting recently held in Uttar Pradesh.
To sum it up, a morphed photo is being shared as Yogi Adityanath’s provocative tweet against the Jat community in Uttar Pradesh.

created: February 4, 2022


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Morphed photo shared as ‘Zee News’ exit poll predicting Samajwadi Party's win in the ongoing UP Elections - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
February 28, 2022
A screenshot of an exit poll purportedly reported by the ‘Zee News’ channel is being shared on social media claiming that the ‘Zee News’ exit poll has predicted Samajwadi Party’s victory in the ongoing 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections. This purported ‘Zee News’ UP exit poll has predicted that SP will secure a majority of 227-230 seats in these elections. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Screenshot of the ‘Zee News’ exit poll predicting the Samajwadi Party’s victory in the UP Elections.
Fact: The photo shared in the post is a morphed one. All mainstream media channels including the ‘Zee News’ will telecast UP exit polls only after 6 pm on 07 March 2022, when the last phase of the UP Elections  concludes. The ‘Zee News’ Final opinion poll predicted that Samajwadi Party will secure 130-151 seats in the UP Elections and become the second-largest party after BJP. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When we searched with relevant keywords, it is found that all mainstream media channels including ‘Zee News’ will telecast the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Exit Polls only after 6 pm on 07 March 2022, when the last phase of the UP Elections poll concludes. ‘Zee News’ did not publish any such exit poll related to the UP elections on their YouTube and other social media handles.
‘Zee News’ had published the Uttar Pradesh Elections Final Opinion Poll results on 04 February 2022. The channel conducted this opinion poll survey in association with a political campaign management company named Design Boxed. The ‘Zee News’ Uttar Pradesh Final Opinion Poll had predicted that BJP will secure 241-263 seats and be the winner in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections. This opinion poll by ‘Zee News’ had predicted that Samajwadi Party will secure 130-151 seats and become the second-largest party after BJP.
On comparing a few templates of the ‘Zee News’ opinion poll with the photo shared in the post, it is confirmed that the photo shared in the post is an edited one.
To sum it up, a morphed photo is being shared as ‘Zee News’ exit poll predicting Samajwadi Party’s win in the 2022 UP Assembly Elections.

source: news-factly

created: February 28, 2022

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

author: Sai Krishna Muthyanolla


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Morphed photo shared claiming Aamir Khan's marriage with Fatima Sana Shaikh - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 24, 2021
A photo through a post is being widely shared on social media claiming that Aamir Khan had married Fatima Sana Shaikh. Fatima Sana Shaikh played the role of Aamir Khan’s daughter in the famous film Dangal. Let us fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Photo confirming the marriage of Aamir Khan with Fatima Sana Shaikh.
Fact: The photo of Aamir Khan with Kiran Rao had been morphed to add Fatima Sana Shaikh. Aamir Khan with Kiran Rao were attending the engagement party of Akash Ambani and Shloka Mehta in 2018. On 03 July 2021, Bollywood actor Aamir Khan and his wife Kiran Rao announced their divorce. However, there are no credible news reports which say that Aamir Khan had married Fatima Sana Shaikh, the actress who played the role of his daughter in ‘Dangal’. Hence, the claim made in the post is False.
When reverse image search is done on the photo, a similar picture was found on a website. However, the picture does not have Fatima Sana Shaikh. The picture reportedly was taken during the engagement party of Akash Ambani and Shloka Mehta in 2018. The same picture can also be spotted in a YouTube video uploaded on 01 July 2018. Aamir Khan could be seen with his wife Kiran (divorced recently) in this picture.
On 03 July 2021, Bollywood actor Aamir Khan and his wife Kiran Rao announced their divorce. However, there are no credible news reports which say that Aamir Khan had married Fatima Sana Shaikh, the actress who played the role of his daughter in ‘Dangal’.
To sum it up, a 2018 photo of Aamir Khan with Kiran Rao has been morphed and is falsely shared as his marriage with Fatima Sana Shaikh.

created: December 24, 2021


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Morphed photos shared as CPI (M) leaders protesting against Indian army in support of China - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
June 21, 2020
Photos of CPI (M) leaders Sitaram Yechury and Brinda Karat holding ‘Indian army Down..Down.. we support to China…Zindabad’ placards, is shared on social media claiming their support to China. These photos are shared in the context of the recent border clash between India and China in Galwan valley (Ladakh). Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Photos of CPI (M) leaders protest against the Indian army in support of China.
Fact: The photos are morphed versions of those captured during CPI(M) protests against government policies, demanding cash transfer to families outside the income tax bracket. The content on the placards held during these protests is edited and shared as ‘CPI (M) leaders protest against the Indian army in support of China’. Hence the claim made is FALSE.
When searched for the information with keywords, it is found out that the photos shown in the post are the edited versions of those related to a protest organized by CPI(M) in New Delhi on 16 June 2020. Original photos related to the incident were shared in the tweet posted by CPI(M) official twitter account.
All India Protest against Modi govt's anti-people policies.#PeopleProtestModiGovt pic.twitter.com/oJRUqXHsN5
Image-1
In the original photo, Brinda Karat held a placard demanding the government to provide 10 kgs of food grains to all the people who are in need.
Image-2:
In the original photo, Sitaram Yechury held a placard, demanding the government to provide rupees 7,500 per month to the people who are outside the income tax bracket, for three months.
More photos of the protest held by CPI(M) leaders on 16 June 2020, can be found on Sitaram Yechury twitter profile. Video coverage on these protests can also be viewed here.
To sum it up, content on the placards held during CPI(M) leaders protests against government policies, demanding cash transfer to families outside the income tax bracket, is edited and shared as ‘CPI leaders protest against the Indian army in support of China’.
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Morphed picture shared as Indian Army Chief Manoj Pande’s photo with Mohan Bhagwat and Nitin Gadkari - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 28, 2022
An image is being shared on social media claiming it as Indian Army Chief Manoj Pandey’s picture along with RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Indian Army Chief Manoj Pande’s picture with RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari.
Fact: The photo shared in the post is a morphed one. This photo was digitally created by adding elements from three different pictures of Mohan Bhagwat, Nitin Gadkari and Indian Army Chief Manoj Pande. Hence, the claim made in the post is False.
On reverse image search of the photo shared in the post, we found a similar posture of RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat in an image published by the ‘India Today’ on ‘05 December 2016’.  India Today’s image shows Mohan Bhagwat with Shivsena leaders Uddhav and Aditya Thackeray. This photo was shot when Uddhav Thackeray met Mohan Bhagwat to discuss the demonetization move taken by the Narendra Modi Government in 2016.
Nitin Gadkari’s picture in the photo was taken from another photo of his with the MNS Party chief Raj Thackeray. Also, the picture of Indian Army Chief Manoj Pande was taken from another photo. So, it can be confirmed from all these pieces of evidence that the image shared in the post is a morphed picture created by combining three different pictures.
To sum it up, a morphed picture is falsely shared as the picture of Manoj Pande’s picture along with Mohan Bhagwat and Nitin Gadkari.


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Morphed picture shared as portrait of PM Modi inside the house of a Gujarat auto-driver where Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal dined - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
September 14, 2022
A picture is being shared on social media claiming that Arvind Kejriwal quickly left the house of the Gujarat auto-driver who invited him for dinner when he saw a portrait of PM Modi in his house. It claims that he just had food and left without eating sweets. Let’s fact-check the claim through this article.
Claim: Arvind Kejriwal left the house of the Gujarat auto-driver who invited him for dinner after he saw a portrait of PM Modi inside his home.
Fact: The photo captured during Arvind Kejriwal’s visit to a Gujarat auto-driver’s house for dinner was published by various media outlets in their news reports. The original picture does not contain a portrait of PM Modi. It is digitally added to the original picture. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
To know the exact details behind the picture, we performed a reverse image search on Google and were led to multiple news media reports which contained the same image (here and here). Reportedly, upon an invitation he received from an auto-driver of Gujarat, the Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, visited the man’s home in Gujarat for dinner.
Kejriwal has posted a few pictures of this meeting on Twitter. The image in the viral post is also part of these pictures. However, there is a difference; the image from the viral post contains a portrait of PM Narendra Modi, while the picture posted by Arvind Kejriwal has some other photograph in the same place.
Another picture captured from a different angle also shows a different portrait in place of the PM Modi’s portrait shared in the viral post.  With this evidence, we can conclude that the post’s picture is digitally morphed, and a portrait of Narendra Modi was added.
To summarise, a morphed picture is being shared as portrait of PM Modi inside the house of a Gujarat man where Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal dined.

created: September 14, 2022


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Morphed pictures shared as PM Modi wearing an Islamic skull cap - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
February 13, 2023
A graphic with a collage of two images in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seen wearing an Islamic skull cap is being shared on social media. Let’s fact-check these photos through this article.
Claim: Pictures of PM Narendra Modi wearing an Islamic Skull Cap.
Fact: PM Modi visited Mumbai on 10 February 2023 to inaugurate the Aljamea-tus-Saifiyah Arabic Academy. The viral post contains two photos of PM Modi captured during this event. However, in the original photos posted on the official Twitter accounts of PM Modi and the Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde, who also accompanied him, PM Modi can be seen without any Skull Cap on his head. Hence the claim made in the post is False.
We observed Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde in one of the photos in the viral collage. Based on this, we made a keyword search the internet for relevant photos. This search led us to a few news reports (here, here and here) containing images of PM Modi and Shinde wearing similar attire. According to these news reports, on 10 February 2023, PM Modi inaugurated the campus of Aljamea-tus-Saifiyah Arabic Academy in Mumbai, the principal educational institute of the Dawoodi Bohra community
Further, we searched the Twitter accounts of PM Modi and Eknath Shinde for photos in the viral post.  In the original photos, both pictures (here and here) do not have PM Modi wearing any cap on his head. This clearly proves that the images in the viral collage have been digitally morphed to make PM Modi look like he wore the Islamic Skull Cap. You can observe this in the comparison drawn between the original and morphed photos below.
Also, this is not the first time that PM Narendra Modi met the Dawoodi Bohra community. In September 2018, he attended a programme conducted by the community in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. You may read news reports on this event here and here.
To sum it up, these pictures of PM Modi wearing a skull cap are digitally morphed.

created: February 13, 2023


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Morphed pictures shared as the visuals of Rashid Khan waving the Indian flag after Afghanistan defeated Pakistan in CWC 2023 - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
November 1, 2023
A photo is being shared on social media claiming that the picture shows Afghanistan cricketer Rashid Khan waving the Indian flag after Afghanistan defeated Pakistan during the ICC World Cup 2023. Many social media users have been posting videos on YouTube sharing different pictures of Rashid Khan waving the Indian flag and claiming that the pictures were taken after the Pakistan vs. Afghanistan match on 23 October 2023. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Pictures of Rashid Khan waving the Indian flag after Afghanistan defeated Pakistan during the ICC World Cup 2023.
Fact: These images of Rashid Khan waving the Indian flag in the cricket stadium are morphed. Rashid Khan did not wave the Indian flag after Afghanistan defeated Pakistan during the ICC World Cup 2023. Hence, the claim made in the post is False.
Image 1:
On reverse image search of the photo shared in the post, a similar photo was found published on the ‘ESPN Cricinfo’ website, with the description, “Afghanistan’s win over Pakistan has Rashid Khan ecstatic. Pakistan vs Afghanistan, Men’s World Cup 2023, Chennai. October 23, 2023.”
In the original photo, Afghanistan cricketer Rashid Khan was not seen holding the Indian national flag.  The comparison of the original and the edited image shared in the post can be seen below.
Image 2:
A YouTube user shared a video saying that Rashid Khan had made a heart-winning gesture with the Indian flag after Afghanistan defeated Pakistan during the ICC World Cup 2023. The screengrab of the viral video shows Rashid Khan waving the Indian flag with both hands while thanking the audience on the ground. On reverse image search, we could not find credible sources of the image. When we searched for further details, we found similar visuals in Pakistan vs Afghanistan full-match replay video published on Disney Hotstar. The original visuals show Rashid Khan waving two hands to the audience. The original visuals do not show Rashid Khan waving the Indian flag.
Earlier, when similar false claims were made on social media that Ratan Tata had announced a reward of Rs. 10 crores to Rashid Khan for waving the Indian flag, Factly published a fact-check article debunking that claim.
To sum it up, morphed pictures are shared alleging that Rashid Khan had waved the Indian flag after Afghanistan’s victory against Pakistan during the ICC World Cup 2023.

created: November 1, 2023


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Morphed tweet falsely claims Amit Shah suffering from bone cancer - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 9, 2020
An image of a tweet supposedly tweeted by Amit Shah was shared on social media platforms claiming him to be suffering from bone cancer in the back of his throat for the past few days, and requesting people of the Muslim community to pray for his health during the good months of Ramzan. Factly found the tweet to be fake. The morphed tweet has more characters than 280 characters limit twitter allows in a single tweet. Also, as the morphed image went viral, Amit Shat through his official twitter account clarified that he is in a perfectly healthy condition and is not suffering from any illness.
Sources:
Claim – Facebook post (archived)
Fact –
1. Amit Shah Tweet – https://twitter.com/AmitShah/status/1259066254511362050
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Morphed tweet falsely shared as Sitaram Yechury addressing Xi Jinping as his ‘Boss’ - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
June 23, 2020
A screenshot of a tweet purportedly made by CPI(M) National Secretary Sitaram Yechury in 2015, is being shared on social media with a claim that Sitaram Yechury called China’s President Xi Jinping as his ‘Boss’. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Sitaram Yechury addressed Xi Jinping as his ‘Boss’ in a tweet posted on 20 October 2015.
Fact: Sitaram Yechury joined the twitter on 29 October 2015. But, the tweet shared in the post shows it was tweeted by him on 20 October 2015. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When searched for the tweet  in the post by using Twitter Advanced Search, it is found that there is no such tweet in the official twitter account of Sitaram Yechury. When the tweet in the screenshot is carefully observed, one can notice that the alignment of text and profile picture is not the same as the format of a normal tweet.
The tweet shared in the post shows that it was posted on 20 October 2015. But, Sitaram Yechury has joined twitter on 29 October 2015. We could check this on the Twitter Analytics Application ‘Foller.me’. When the tweet has gone viral in social media, CPI(M) official twitter handle clarified that the tweet is fake and that Sitaram Yechury joined twitter later than the date mentioned in the screenshot.
Typo. Comrade @SitaramYechury actually opened his Twitter account even later on Oct 29th, 2015.
On reverse Image search, it is found that the photo of Sitaram Yechury and China’s President Xi Jinping was captured at the ‘International Conference of Asian Political Parties’ held during 2015 in Beijing.
To sum it up, a morphed tweet is shared as CPI(M) National secretary Sitaram Yechury addressing China’s President Xi Jinping as his ‘Boss’.
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Morphed tweet now says Amit Shah referred to Sushant Singh Rajput as a Cricketer - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
June 17, 2020
A screenshot of the tweet posted by Amit shah is being shared on social media claiming that Amit Shah referred to Sushant Singh Rajput as a talented cricketer. Factly has found out that the tweet shared in the post is an edited using the tweet by Rahul Gandhi in his official Twitter account. In reaction to the sudden demise of the Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput, Amit shah expressed his grief by tweeting from his official Twitter account. In his tweet, Amit shah referred to Sushant as a talented actor and said he will be remembered for his contribution to Indian cinema. Amit Shah has not referred to Sushant as a cricketer. The tweet shown in the post is an edited version of the Rahul Gandhi’s tweet related to Sushant’s death. The same false tweet was earlier shared as the one tweeted by Rahul Gandhi, which was debunked by Factly.
Sources:
Claim –
1. Facebook post (Archived)
Fact –
1. Amit Shah Tweet –
https://twitter.com/AmitShah/status/1272129046831382531
2. Rahul Gandhi Tweet – https://twitter.com/RahulGandhi/status/1272167327459508224
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Morphed tweet shared as Barack Obama feeling ashamed to shake hands with PM Modi - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 8, 2020
A screenshot of a tweet purportedly made by the Former U.S President Barack Obama is being shared on social media. In the tweet, Barack Obama says he feels ashamed to shake hands with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Barack Obama’s tweet about feeling ashamed to shake hands with Narendra Modi.
Fact:  Tweet shared in the post is a morphed one. Barack Obama hasn’t tweeted anything about PM Narendra Modi recently. Spelling mistakes and tweet alignment clearly indicates that it is a morphed tweet. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When we searched for this tweet on the official Twitter handle of Former U.S President Barack Obama, we found that Barack Obama hasn’t tweeted anything about shaking hands with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. His two tweets on ‘05 December 2020’ were about his book ‘A Promised Land’. On observing carefully, one can notice that the alignment of the profile picture and attached photos are not the same as they appear in a normal tweet.
Spelling mistakes in the tweet clearly indicate that the tweet is not made by the U.S Former President Barack Obama.
On reverse search of the image in the post, it is found that this image of PM Narendra Modi & Barack Obama was captured during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s four day visit to US in 2014. The picture was captured after briefing the media in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on 30 September 2014. From all these pieces of evidence, it can be concluded that the tweet shared in the post is a morphed one.
To sum it up, a morphed tweet is being shared as Barack Obama feeling ashamed to shake hands with PM Narendra Modi.

created: December 8, 2020


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Morphed tweet shared as Bollywood singer Caralisa Monterio's tweet on Hindu Mukt India - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
February 10, 2021
A screenshot of the tweet by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is being shared on social media claiming that Kejriwal led Aam Aadmi Party supported the alleged tweet posted by Bollywood singer Caralisa Monterio on Hindu Mukt Bharat. The purported tweet also mentions that Caralisa Monterio has orgasmic pleasure every time a Hindu is killed. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Bollywood singer Caralisa Monterio’s tweet on Hindu Mukt India.
Fact: The Bollywood singer Caralisa Monterio’s tweet shared in the post is not real, but a morphed one. One can notice that the alignment of this tweet is different to that of a normal tweet posted on Twitter. Caralisa Monterio also clarified that the tweet is fake and also informed that a case has been filed against it. Also, the Aam Aadmi Party’s tweet shared in this post is from December 2016.  Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When we searched for this tweet on the official Twitter handle of Bollywood singer Caralisa Monterio, we could not find this tweet on her timeline. On observing carefully, one can notice the alignment of Caralisa Monterio’s tweet shared in the post is different from a normal tweet posted on Twitter. The bar that shows the number of quote tweets and likes is absent on this purported tweet of Caralisa Monterio. Singer Caralisa Monterio usually tweets from her android device. But, there is no mention of her device in this viral tweet.
OpIndia founder Rahul Roshan shared this screenshot in response to Caralisa Monterio’s tweet in which she shared the screenshot of a morphed OpIndia article. This tweet is now unavailable on Twitter. The archived version of Rahul Roshan’s tweet can be seen here.
When a user posted this fake screenshot, Caralisa Monterio responded through a tweet saying ‘Tell your dad WhatsApp University band kar lo. And a case has been filed against this fake tweet.’
Tell your dad WhatsApp University band kar lo.
And a case has been filed against this fake tweet. https://t.co/7kLkBY7Lrx
Also, the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) tweet shared in the post is an old tweet. AAP posted this tweet on 20 December 2016.
Bollywood Singer Caralisa Monteiro explains why Goa needs AAP. pic.twitter.com/OAg7w0N7DL
To sum it up, Bollywood singer Caralisa Monterio did not tweet saying that we will soon see a Hindu Mukt India. It is a morphed tweet.

created: February 10, 2021


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Morphed tweet shared as Himanta Biswa Sarma announcing complete closure of schools and colleges in Assam - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
November 5, 2021
A screenshot of a purported tweet made by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is being shared on social media claiming that in the wake of increasing COVID-19 cases, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma had announced a complete shutdown of schools and colleges from 20 November 2021. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma announced complete shutdown of schools and colleges in Assam from 20 November 2021.
Fact: The image shared in the post is a morphed one. The Assam Government did not issue any such orders announcing a complete closure of schools and colleges from 20 November 2021. Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma through a tweet clarified that a fake tweet bearing his name was spreading false information regarding the closure of schools and colleges in Assam. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When we searched to check whether Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma made any such tweet announcing a complete shutdown of schools and colleges from 20 November 2021, we could not find any on Himanta Biswa Sarma’s official Twitter handle. Also, we could not find any such orders on the Assam Government website. If Himanta Biswa Sarma’s government issued any such orders, several news websites would have published articles reporting this information. But we could not find even a single news report about this.
The username on the tweet screenshot shows ‘@himanta Biswa sarma’. But the original username on Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma’s official Twitter handle is ‘@himantabiswa’. We could not find any Twitter handle with the registered username ‘@himanta Biswa sarma’. So, it is confirmed that the tweet shared in the post is a fake one.
On 03 November 2021, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma clarified that a tweet bearing his name is spreading misinformation about the closure of schools and colleges in Assam. Himanta Biswa Sarma emphasized that the screenshot is fake. Reporting Himanta Biswa Sarma’s clarification, several news websites published articles. They can be seen here and here.
A FAKE tweet bearing my name is circulating saying that since cases of #COVID19 have gone up schools & colleges are being closed down from Nov 20. This is WRONG & should not be heeded to.
Stay off misinformation and fake news!
I am advising @assampolice to take note and act. pic.twitter.com/YZpA0I5zyb
To sum it up, a morphed tweet is being shared as Himanta Biswa Sarma announcing complete closure of schools and colleges in Assam from 20 November 2021.

created: November 5, 2021


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Morphed tweet shared as ‘News 24’ channel's apology to Akhilesh Yadav for defaming Samajwadi party - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 29, 2021
A screenshot of a purported tweet made by the ‘News 24’ channel is being shared on social media claiming that the ‘News 24’ channel had issued a public apology to Akhilesh Yadav for projecting a link between the tax evasion accused Piyush Jain and the Samajwadi Party. This tweet shared a news bulletin admitting Piyush Jain as a member of BJP, not from the Samajwadi Party. On 22 December 2021,  the ‘Directorate General of GST Intelligence’ (DGGI) officials raided the premises of Kanpur Industrialist Piyush Jain and seized 177 crore rupees unaccounted cash. The DGGI officials arrested Piyush Jain over the charges of tax evasion. On 29 December 2021, while addressing a public meeting, Yogi Adityanath alleged Piyush Jain is a member of the Samajwadi Party. Several news channels reported Yogi Adityanath’s statement claiming the arrested Piyush Jain as a member of the Samajwadi Party. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: ‘News 24’ channel apologised to Akhilesh Yadav for reporting Piyush Jain as a member of the Samajwadi Party.
Fact: The tweet shared in the post is a morphed one. ‘News 24’ channel through a tweet clarified that this viral tweet circulating on social media is a fake one. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When we searched for this tweet on ‘News 24’ channel’s official Twitter handle, we could not find any such tweet on the ‘News 24’ Twitter handle. ‘News 24’ channel videos and tweets related to the Piyush Jain’s arrest can be seen here, here, and here. On observing carefully, we could see the font difference in the text written in the actual tweet & the tweet viral on social media. The ‘News 24’ text font in the tweet differs from the font of other words in the tweet. Also, the colour and graphics scheme of a normal ‘News 24’ breaking news template differs from the one shared in the post.
‘News 24’ news channel had issued a clarification regarding this viral image circulating on social media. The channel clarified that the viral tweet circulating on social media is a fake one.
This fake screenshot is viral on social media. Pls ignore this.
Please take cognisance @TwitterIndia @TwitterSupport #FactCheck #Fake pic.twitter.com/1FGWEPy00m
Ever since the raid on Kanpur Industrialist Piyush Jain, the BJP and Samajwadi Party leaders have been accusing each other of having links with the accused businessman Piyush Jain, a popular perfume businessman from Kanpur. ‘Amar Ujala’ reported launched Samajwadi perfume in the presence of Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow a month ago. Following Piyush Jain’s arrest, Narendra Modi and Yogi Adityanath have alleged links between Piyush Jain and the Samajwadi Party. However, Akhilesh Yadav responded to BJP allegations and said, “It was our MLC Pushpraj Jain who made the perfume for us. They [BJP] advertised through media that the person raided belongs to SP. By afternoon, journalists understood the person raided had nothing to do with the SP. Then they changed their statements. The raid was done at the wrong place. Against its [BJP’s] own businessman. You should get out Piyush Jain’s call details and you will find BJP people’s names. They wanted to raid Pushpraj Jain, but by mistake raided Piyush Jain. It seems like a mistake of Digital India”.
ANI reported in November 2021 that SP MLC Pushpraj Jain spoke at the launch of ‘Samajwadi Attar’.
Lucknow: Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav launches 'Samajwadi Attar'
"The perfume will end hatred in 2022," says SP MLC Pushpraj Jain at the launch pic.twitter.com/l0SQ11Gvt3
To sum it up, a morphed tweet is shared as ‘News 24’ channel’s apology to Akhilesh Yadav for projecting Piyush Jain as a member of the Samajwadi party.

created: December 29, 2021


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Morphed tweet shared as Qatar Airways response to the 'BycottQatarAirways' trend on Twitter - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
June 7, 2022
A screenshot of a purported tweet made by Qatar Airways is being shared on social media claiming it is the Qatar Airways response to the ‘BycottQatarAirways’ trend on Twitter. The purported tweet refers to the Twitterati trending ‘BycottQatarAirways’ hashtag as Brainless Bhakts and asks them to learn to spell ‘Boycott’ first. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Screenshot of the Qatar Airways tweet responding to the ‘BycottQatarAirways’ trend on Twitter.
Fact: The photo shared in the post is a morphed one. Qatar Airways did not make any such tweet in response to the ‘BoycottQatarAirways’ or the ‘BycottQatarAirways’ trends on Twitter. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When we searched to check whether Qatar Airways had made any such tweet responding to the ‘BoycottQatarAirways’ and ‘BycottQatarAirways’ hashtags trend on Twitter, we could not find any such tweet on the official Twitter handle of Qatar Airways.
When the tweet in the screenshot is carefully observed, one can notice that the alignment of text and profile picture is not the same as that of a normal tweet. The purported tweet shared in the post attached a screenshot of the ‘BycottQatarAirways’ trend on Twitter and then added the #BrainlessBhakts hashtag below the tweet. But, a normal tweet does not display the hashtag below the attached image or video.
The recent Twitter analytics of the ‘BycottQatarAirways’ hashtag trends in India can be seen here and here.
In the wake of the Qatar government’s demand for a public apology from the Indian Government over the BJP spokesperson’s comments on Prophet Mohammed, several Twitter users trended ‘BoycottQatarAirways’ and ‘BycottQatarAirways’ hashtags saying that Qatar is the same nation where Maqbool Fida Hussain, an Indian artist who had made nude and obscene photos of Hindu deities, was given citizenship in their country. But Qatar Airways Airways did not respond to these boycott hashtags trends on Twitter.
To sum it up, a morphed tweet is being shared as Qatar Airways response to the ‘BycottQatarAirways’ trend on Twitter.


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Morphed tweets shared as BJP’s reply calling journalist Deepak Chaurasia a Dalali - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
February 24, 2023
A screenshot of purported tweets made by journalist Deepak Chaurasia and BJP is being shared on social media claiming that BJP referred to Deepak Chaurasia as a dalali (broker) in reply to the latter’s tweet stating, “Trump haar sakta hai tho phir bhajapa kyu nahin” (when translated to English. “If Trump can lose, then why not BJP”). The purported reply tweet of BJP states Deepak Chaurasia as a dalali who took money from them and supported opposition parties. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: BJP’s tweet calling journalist Deepak Chaurasia a dalali.
Fact: The image shared in the post shows morphed tweets of Deepak Chaurasia and the BJP. Neither Deepak Chaurasia nor BJP had made those tweets. Hence, the claim made in the post is False.
When searched to check whether journalist Deepak Chaurasia had made any such tweets wishing for the loss of the BJP, we could not find any such tweets on the Twitter handle of Deepak Chaurasia.
The username on Deepak Chaurasia’s purported tweet in the post shows “@DChaurasiya2312”. But the original username on Deepak Chaurasia’s official Twitter handle is “@DChaurasia2312”. There is no Twitter account with the username “@DChaurasiya2312”. On comparing a normal tweet of Deepak Chaurasia with that of the tweet shared in the post, it is confirmed that the tweets shared in the post were morphed ones.
Also, the BJP did not make any tweet calling Deepak Chaurasia a dalali supporting opposition parties after taking money from them. From all these pieces of evidence, it can be concluded that the image shared in the shows morphed tweets of Deepak Chaurasia and the BJP.
To sum it up, morphed tweets are being shared as BJP’s reply calling journalist Deepak Chaurasia a dalali.

created: February 24, 2023


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Morphed video shared as Aaj Tak reporting a horrific accident near UP’s Deoria that killed 6 rats - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
November 21, 2022
Video of ‘Aaj Tak’ reporting a horrific accident near UP’s Deoria which killed 6 rats is being widely shared on social media platforms. Let’s find out the truth behind this post.
Claim: Video of ‘Aaj Tak’ reporting a horrific accident near UP’s Deoria which killed 6 rats.
Fact: The original video uploaded by ‘Aaj Tak’ on YouTube on 19 April 2016 with the title “Six killed in road accident in UP” shows the visuals of injured people. Six persons were killed, and 12 others seriously injured when a Maruti car lost control and rammed into a gathering on the roadside in Devariya (Deoria) of Uttar Pradesh. However, visuals of injured people are replaced with an image of dead rats scattered around a toy car in the viral post. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
We searched the YouTube with relevant keywords and found the original video uploaded by Aaj Tak on 19 April 2016 with the title “Six killed in road accident in UP”. At 0:14 seconds, the visuals in this video show people injured in the accident and a damaged car. As per the description, six persons were killed, and 12 others seriously injured when a Maruti car lost control and rammed into a gathering on the roadside in Devariya (Deoria) of Uttar Pradesh. The critically injured have been referred to hospital at Gorakhpur medical college.
Visuals of injured people are replaced with the image of dead rats scattered around a toy car in the viral video.
To sum it up, video of Aaj tak showing visuals of an accident victims is replaced with an image of dead rats in the viral video.

created: November 21, 2022


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Mosque was demolished because it was foreign-funded, not because Muslims got converted into Hinduism - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
June 21, 2019
A post with a couple of photos is being shared on Facebook with a claim that Muslims in Sri Lanka are demolishing mosques and are converting into Hinduism. Let’s try to check the claim made in the post.
Sri Lankan Muslims are demolishing mosques and are converting into Hinduism. They are saying that they finally realized the hatred present in Islam.
Fact: Muslims in Sri Lanka are demolishing a mosque because it was built using foreign funds and the site where it was built was actually allotted for a children library. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When the image in the post was run through Google Reverse Image, Sri Lankan newspaper articles with similar images were found in the search results. According to an article in the ‘Ada Derana’, Muslims in Kekirawa demolished a mosque but not to convert into Hinduism. They demolished the mosque because it was built using foreign funds and was on a site previously allotted for a children library. Also, there was already a mosque in the village so they did not want an additional mosque. The demolition of the mosque is not related to hatred towards Islam or conversion into Hinduism. So, the post tries to mislead people by twisting the reasons behind the demolition of the mosque.
To sum it up, Mosque was demolished because it was foreign-funded, not because Muslims got converted into Hinduism.
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Most of the claims in this list regarding Japan's restrictions on Islam are false - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
February 28, 2024
A social media post alleges that Japan actively limits the presence of Islam by imposing various restrictions on Muslims. The post lists several alleged restrictions, such as Japan’s refusal to grant citizenship or permanent residency to Muslims, along with a stringent ban on the dissemination of the religion. This article aims to fact-check the assertions put forth in the post.
Claim: Japan actively limits the presence of Islam by imposing various restrictions on Muslims.
Fact: The constitution of Japan does not discriminate against Muslims, and it guarantees ‘Freedom of religion to all individuals’. There is no restriction on Muslims being granted Japanese citizenship. Further, the Japanese government does not inquire about religious affiliation when evaluating residency applications. Hence, the claims made in the post are FALSE.
The viral post contains certain claims that cannot be verified, as well as a few that are accurate but not exclusive to Muslims—they apply universally. However, the majority of the claims within the post are false. Below, we examine each such claim in the post.
Japan is the only nation that does not give citizenship to Muslims?
There is no restriction on Muslims being granted Japanese citizenship. Application forms do not even require a person to state their religion. People who are not natives of Japan can acquire Japanese nationality by naturalization. Japanese Ministry of Justice does not mention religion as a criterion for naturalization.
In its ‘2022 Report on International Religious Freedom: Japan,’ the U.S. Department of State cited Hirofumi Tanada from Waseda University in Tokyo, who stated that as of 2020, Japan was home to approximately 230,000 Muslims, of which around 47,000 were citizens.
Permanent residency is not given to Muslims?
The Japanese government does not inquire about religious affiliation when evaluating residency applications. The Japanese Immigration Services Agency does not stipulate religion as a prerequisite for obtaining a Permanent Residence Permit.
Factors taken into account include the duration of residency, age, a record of good conduct, financial self-sufficiency, and a willingness to renounce other nationalities.
Propagation of Islam in Japan is banned?
Article 20 of the Japanese Constitution guarantees ‘Freedom of religion to all individuals’ and specifies that ‘No individual shall be compelled to participate in any religious activity, celebration, ritual, or practice.’ Furthermore, we did not discover any provision in the Japanese constitution that prohibits the dissemination of Islam.
Additionally, according to a study conducted by Tanada at Waseda University, the number of mosques in Japan has risen from just 15 in 1999 to 113 as of March 2021, refuting the claims circulated in the viral post.
In the University of Japan, Arabic or any Islamic language is not taught?
The University of Japan does not exist. However, several other institutions in Japan provide courses in Arabic. For instance, the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, the Arabic Islamic Institute in Tokyo, and Osaka University offer programs in Arabic Studies.
Japan is the only country in the world with a negligible number of embassies in Islamic countries?
Japan maintains embassies in various Islamic countries. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan provides a list of embassies and consulates in several Islamic nations, including Indonesia, Pakistan, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
One cannot import a ‘Koran’ published in the Arabic language?
Japan’s Customs department does not list the Arabic Quran among the prohibited items for importation. In fact, the Arabic Quran is available for purchase on e-commerce portals in Japan.
Muslims cannot even rent a house in Japan?
Article 14 of Japan’s constitution affirms: ‘All individuals are equal under the law, and discrimination based on race, creed, sex, social status, or family origin is prohibited in political, economic, or social relations.’
This underscores the unacceptability of discrimination against any specific religion. While it is documented that foreigners in general may face challenges in finding rental properties, there is no evidence of a prohibition specifically against renting to Muslims or any other religious minority.
Muslims must follow Japanese Law and Language?
This fact applies not only to Muslims but to all individuals in Japan. Muslims, like other Japanese citizens, are required to abide by the country’s laws. Article 14 of the Constitution of Japan explicitly states: ‘All individuals are equal under the law, and there shall be no discrimination in political, economic, or social relations based on race, creed, sex, social status, or family origin.’
Factly has previously debunked a similar claim, and the fact-check article can be accessed here.
To sum it up, most of the claims in this list regarding Japan’s restrictions on Islam are false.

created: February 28, 2024


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Most of the Silver Foil manufactures shifted to modern technologies - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
February 9, 2023
A video showing the making of silver foils (chandi varkh/vark), which are usually used to garnish confectioneries is being widely circulated. The video explains how silver foils are produced by placing silver in between the sheets made of animal intestine and therefore requests public to avoid such foils, classifying them as not vegetarian. Through this article, let us try to know insights on the silver foil making process.
Claim: Silver foil making process still involves animal products.
Fact: It is true that traditional methods of silver foil manufacturing involve animal products. However, after the intervention of food regulatory authorities, courts, and animal rights activists, most of these manufacturers have shifted to modern manufacturing, avoiding animal products. While sporadic events of manufacturers using traditional methods/adulterating have been reported, according to officials, these practices have reduced to a large extent. The viral video could be an old video or related to manufacturer still practicing traditional method. Hence the claim made in the post is PARTLY TRUE.
Silver foils are usually used to garnish sweets, desserts, pan and spices such as cardamom. It is believed that silver has antimicrobial properties and hence prevents the growth of bacteria on food products. Further, increase of shelf life is also a reason behind the use of such foils.
However, in line with the claim made in the viral video, traditional making of silver foils involves animal products. Like mentioned in the video, foils are made by placing the metal in between two layers (made of animal intestine) and pounding till a very thin layer of foil is produced.
The traditional method is banned:
However, taking cognisance of issues pertaining to use of animal products and adulteration using hazardous elements, in 2016, FSSAI (The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India) has banned the use of any animal products in the making of silver foils and issued a notification in this regard.
Through this notification, FSSAI has also fixed the norms for thickness and purity with respect to the silver foil production. Futher, the food regulating body asked the makers to use machines for production of silver foils. As per the notification, the sheet needs to be of uniform thickness, free from creases and folds, have weight of silver foil up to 2.8 gm/sq-m and silver content of minimum 999/1000 fineness.
The ban on making silver foils using animal products was stalled for a brief period, when the Delhi High Court in July 2017 stayed the enforcement of the FSSAI order, after some manufacturers went to court citing loss of livelihood for several workers in the business. But later in February 2018, the court lifted the stay and allowed the ban on using animal products in making. And FSSAI has communicated the court’s decision to all the states and UTs and requested them to implement the earlier orders with respect to manufacturing of silver foils.
Sporadic events of unhygienic manufacturing reported:
However, even after the ban on using animal products & hazardous elements in the making of silver foils, some sporadic instances of unhygienic manufacturing of food grade silver leaves have been reported. In view of these complaints, FSSAI in 2018, has ordered all the states and UTs to carry out surveillance and ensure the compliance of earlier orders.
Manufactures have moved to modern technology:
While it is true that some sporadic events of using traditional methods & adulteration using hazardous methods have been reported, following the FSSAI regulation and court’s order, most of the manufacturers have shifted to using machines.
If reports are to be believed, approximately 1.5 lakh Varkh makers are estimated to have lost their livelihood.
A 2014 news article by the New Indian Express reported Mohammed Waliuddin, owner of a varkh production company near Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad, assuring that technology has long replaced the traditional practice of using animal products. ‘With the rise of awareness of safeguarding animals and introduction of modern equipments, intestines of bulls and animal skins were replaced with iron headed hammers and German sheets of butter paper respectively’, he added.
How to identify a good foil:
While there are still a few manufactures producing adulterated silver foils, experts advise some simple techniques to distinguish a good foil from that of an adulterated one. ‘It is very easy to recognise between the pure silver vark and an alloy of aluminium and silver, or even a pure aluminium vark. While the silver vark is very fine and wafer thin, aluminium-mixed varks aren’t as fine. Also, silver varks disintegrate rapidly when rubbed between the fingers whereas aluminium varks tend to roll up into a solid ball’.
Few hacks to identify a pure silver foil over an adulterated one can be read here.
To sum it up, most of the silver foil manufactures shifted to modern technologies.

created: February 9, 2023


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Most of these photos of monuments in various countries with Indian tricolour are edited - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
August 16, 2022
A group of photos are being widely shared on social media with the following claim – “The whole World is celebrating 75th India Independence Day. Wonderful Tricolor exhibited in their best monument of various countries”. These photos are being shared in the context of India completing its 75 years of Independence. Let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Photos of monuments in various counties with Indian tricolour on the occasion of 75 years of Indian Independence.
Fact: Most of the posted photos are edited ones. The edited photos were originally posted by the ‘FilterCopy’ in 2017 with the following disclaimer on each photo – “this is an edited picture”. A couple of photos in the post are real photos but they are old. While it is true that some monuments in other countries like Australia and Canada were lit up in Indian tricolour on the occasion of 75 years of Indian Independence, the posted photos are not related to them. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
When the posted photos were run through Google Reverse Image Search, most of them were found in a post published by the ‘FilterCopy’ in 2017. In the post, the ‘FilterCopy’ has the following description – “If famous monuments and buildings were lit up in the Indian tri-colours, here’s what they would look like!”. Also, on each photo posted by the ‘FilterCopy’, there is a disclaimer saying – “this is an edited picture”. The original versions of some of those photos can be seen here, here, and here. So, most of the posted photos are edited.
A couple of photos in the post are real photos but they are old. The old posts related to them can be seen here and here.
While it is true that some monuments in other countries like Australia and Canada were lit up in Indian tricolour on the occasion of 75 years of Indian Independence, the posted photos are not related to them. Some of the actual photos can be seen here, here, and here.
To sum it up, most of these photos of monuments in various countries with Indian tricolours are edited.


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Most of these statements were not made by former RBI Governor Y. V. Reddy in his autobiography - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
August 18, 2020
A post is being shared on social media with a claim that the post consists of excerpts from the book – ‘Advice and Dissent: My Life in Public Service’, an autobiography of former RBI Governor Y. V. Reddy.  In the post, it is also being claimed that India did not take any loan from the World Bank between 2015-2019. Let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Excerpts from the book – ‘Advice and Dissent: My Life in Public Service’, an autobiography of former RBI Governor Y. V. Reddy.
Fact: Most of the quotes in the post are exaggerated and not referred to by Y. V. Reddy in the same context in his book. There are also some factual errors. Also, the autobiography ends in December 2014, so he did not talk about the Indian economy during the Modi government in his book. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
There are many discrepancies in what Y. V. Reddy has written in his autobiography and what is written in the post. Let’s compare them below:
STATEMENT IN THE POST: ‘RBI had to pledge around 47 Tons of Gold for just Rs 40 Crore’.
EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK: ‘The RBI had to ship 47 tonnes of gold to the Bank of England to raise $405 million.’
DIFFERENCE: It is not just 40 crores but $405 million [i.e. around Rs 900 crores (exchange rate – Rs 22.68 / 1 USD in 1991)]
STATEMENT IN THE POST: ‘The case of brokerage in Bofors Guns leaked out’.
EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK: ‘The leeway available in commercial agreements entered into by the government with other governments and agencies was also explored. The intention was to delay such payments, without technically incurring default. Large payment obligations were looked at to explore the scope for temporary relief. One such agreement that involved large payout was identified as the arms purchase contract signed with the Swedish firm Bofors. My hope was that when the order was placed with this firm, as is often the case, it was linked to some offset arrangement, such as mandatory export of commodities from India. I, therefore, sought access to the relevant papers and found that all instalments for the Bofors arms supply had to be paid promptly without any reference to the timing of fulfilment of any offset export of commodities from India to Sweden. Our exercise proved to be futile since all such agreements were watertight in terms of discharging our obligations to pay for import.’
DIFFERENCE: He did not say anything about the brokerage in Bofors agreement or any leaks coming out. He referred to it only in the context of looking for an option of getting temporary relief by delaying some large payment obligations.
STATEMENT IN THE POST: ‘47 tonnes of Gold was sent on a very old RBI Private Van and was sent with Two Security Guards and a Driver. On its way to Airport, its two tyres got punctured and it took nearly Hours to get the tyres changed and the entire Gold was guarded by Two aged Security Guards.’
EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK: ‘The van that was transporting gold from the vaults of RBI to the airport in Mumbai in a night-time operation punctured a tyre. While the sound of the tyre burst drew attention, more noticeably still, as the van came to a stop, armed guards escorting the truck jumped out and took position all around it instantly. This invited curiosity among a few bystanders (mercifully there were no mobile cameras at that time to record the scene!)’.
DIFFERENCE: The incident has been exaggerated, saying old van with old-aged guards, to show that India at that time was in deplorable condition.
STATEMENT IN THE POST: ‘Mr Y.V.Reddy further goes and writes that he was shocked and angry when people who earlier Mortgaged the whole country for just Rs 40 crore are now blaming say that Modi Government has ruined India’s economy’.
EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK: ‘The story begins with my birth in 1941 and our gaining Independence in 1947. It ends with my submitting the report of the Fourteenth Finance Commission in December 2014.’
DIFFERENCE: He did not make any such statement, as mentioned in the post, in his book as the book does not discuss the events after 2014.
The reasons mentioned by him in his book for the situation in 1991 can be read below:
Indian Government did not take any loan from the World Bank between 2015 and 2019
Fact: Indian Government & various state governments took loans from the World Bank for many projects even during the period 2015-19. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When searched on the World Bank website about the loans taken by India, it can be found that India took loan under different categories for different central and state projects across India, from the World Bank’s IBRD (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development) and IDA (International Development Association) even during the period 2015 – 2019.  The details can be found in the image below.
To sum it up, most of the statements in the post were not made by former RBI Governor Y. V. Reddy in his autobiography. Also, the Indian Government took loans from the World Bank for many projects even during the period 2015-19.
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Motorbike parade video from Brazil is shared as visuals of 20,000 bikers riding for a German boy diagnosed with Cancer - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
February 22, 2022
A video is being shared on social media claiming it as the visuals of 20,000 bikers in a motorbike parade to cheer a 6-years-old boy in Germany diagnosed with cancer. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Video of 20,000 bikers performing a motorbike parade for a 6-years-old boy diagnosed with cancer in Germany.
Fact: The video shared in the post shows video clips from two different motorbike parades. The first portion of the video shows an old motorbike parade organized by Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro and his supporters in San Paulo, Brazil. Jair Bolsonaro held this protest against the state governors and mayors in Brazil for imposing lockdowns to control the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. In July 2021, around 15,000 bikers have paraded through East Frisian town in Germany to cheer a 6-years-old boy diagnosed with cancer. The last portion of the video shows the  boy cheering at the motorcyclists who rallied in thousands for him. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
On reverse image search of the screenshots in the video, similar visuals of the motorcycle parade were found in a video published by a YouTube channel on 14 June 2021. This YouTube channel reported it as the visuals of a motorbike parade led by Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro in San Paulo, Brazil.
When we searched for more sources using keywords, we found similar motorbike parade visuals in the videos published by different news websites in June 2021. They can be seen here, here, and here. According to the reports, Jair Bolsonaro and his supporters organised this parade in June 2021 to protest against the state governors and mayors in Brazil for imposing lockdowns to control the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
On searching for the details of the second portion of the video, a video with similar visuals was found on YouTube with a description, “20000 Bikers in Germany Drove to the house of a 6 year old Cancer Boy || Humanity still exists”. On searching for further details, it is found out that in July 2021, around 15,000 bikers did a parade through East Frisian town in Germany to cheer a 6-years-old boy diagnosed with cancer. Several news websites have published articles reporting this information. They can be seen here and here. The second portion of the video shows the boy diagnosed with cancer cheering at the motorcyclists who rallied in thousands for him. From all these pieces of evidence, it can be concluded that the video shared in the post shows video clips from two different motorbike parades.
To sum it up, an old video of a motorbike parade in Brazil is shared as visuals of 20,000 bikers riding for a boy diagnosed with cancer in Germany.

created: February 22, 2022


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Motorcyclists in the video were swept away in a flash flood in Cambodia, not in Karnataka - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
August 14, 2019
A video of two persons on a bike being swept away in a flash flood after a bridge collapsed, is being shared on social media with a claim that the incident happened in Karnataka. Let’s try to analyze the claim made in the post.
Video shows two motorcyclists being swept away in a flash flood after a bridge collapsed in Karnataka.
Fact: The incident in the video happened in Cambodia, not in Karnataka. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE .
When the screenshots of the video were run through Google Reverse Image Search, a video uploaded by ‘Viral Press’ on YouTube in July-2019 can be found in the search results. The description below the video reads, “This is the shocking moment two motorcyclists were swept away after a bridge collapsed during a flash flood. Kinak DaLi and Sok Vandy, soldiers from the 1st Light Infantry Division, were riding over the crossing made from logs and mud when it gave way due to the force of the river below. They both plunged some 10ft into the torrent of water and have been missing since the accident yesterday (24/07) afternoon in Siem Reap Province, Cambodia.” So, it can be concluded that the incident is not related to any flood in Karnataka.
The incident happened on 24 July, 2019 as per the news reports which can be read here and here.
To sum it up, motorcyclists in the video were swept away in a flash flood in Cambodia, not in Karnataka.
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Movie visuals being shared as real footage of Savarkar shot by a British journalist in Andaman jail - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
November 26, 2020
A post with a video is being shared claiming to be the rare footage showing Savarkar in Andaman jail shot by a British journalist, which was also featured on BBC. Through this article let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Rare footage of Savarkar in Andaman jail shot by a British journalist.
Fact: The video does not show real Savarkar shot by a British journalist. This video is made by digitally stitching together visuals from the various films made on Savarkar by Prem Vaidya in 1983. These films are available with the films division of Ministry of Information & Broadcasting. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
YouTube search with relevant keywords led us to a 2014 video uploaded on the official channel of Ministry of Information & Broadcasting. The title of the video reads “Life of Shri Vinayak Damodar Savarkar” and according to the description, the video depicts important events of Savarkar’s life. In this video, at a timestamp 25:08, we can spot exact visuals similar to the one in the post. Also at timestamps 27:29 and 29:45, we can spot visuals similar to the one in the post.
This video is credited to ‘Films Division’ as we can spot the watermark at 1:25 timestamp. Taking a cue from this, search on the website of Films Division under the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting website led us to three versions of the films on Savarkar directed by Prem Vaidya in 1983. All these establish that the video in the post does not show real Savarkar but is  a video made by digitally stitching together visuals from the films made on Savarkar by Prem Vaidya. These were not shot by a British journalist.
To sum it up, the visuals from various films depicting life events of Savarkar are shared as footage of Savarkar shot by a British journalist in Andaman jail.

created: November 26, 2020


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MPs’ Salaries – What about the Rest of the World? – Part 1 - Factly
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
October 2, 2015
The Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs has proposed that a 3-member Independent Commission be setup to recommend on salaries and allowances to MPs. The proposal also includes broad principles based on which this decision is to be made. In a two part series, we look at the salaries to MPs in India and elsewhere and various other issues related to salaries, allowances & services to MPs.
MPs’ Salaries was again in the news, thanks to the proposal of setting up an independent Commission to recommend MPs’ salaries. The Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs has proposed a 3-member independent Emoluments Commission to recommend salaries and other allowances for the Members of Parliament (MPs). This proposal is contained in the Agenda Notes prepared by the Ministry for the two day All India Whips’ Conference. In a two part series, we will look at whether MPs in our country are getting enough salary & support and how does it compare to the rest of the world.
What is the Current Setup?
Presently, as per Article 106 of the Constitution of India, salaries of MPs are determined by the Act of 1954, amended from time to time. In other words, the Parliament (MPs themselves) decides the salaries of MPs.
The last revision in salary of MPs was made in 2010 and MPs presently get a basic salary of Rs.50,000 per month. Salaries of Members of State Legislatures are decided as per Article 195 of the Constitution. Apart from the monthly basic salary, they are given a Constituency Allowance of Rs 45,000 per month and Office Expenses of Rs 45,000 per month. All of this put together, they get around 1,40,000 of fixed pay per month.
There also other allowances & benefits extended to MPs like the following travel allowance, free accommodation in Delhi, free water, free electricity, free air travel etc.
What is being proposed?
The Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, in the Agenda Notes for the Whips Conference stated that “The setting up of an independent Emoluments Commission for recommending the salaries and allowances of the Members of Parliament will not only put to rest the public outcry and media criticism over MPs themselves deciding their salaries, it will also provide an appropriate opportunity to take into consideration the huge responsibilities and the important role they play in our representative democracy. It would ensure that recommendations on Parliamentary salary are reached in a fair, transparent and equitable way. Once there is consensus on setting up of the Commission, the Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament Act,1954 will suitably amended”.
The general principles suggested by the Ministry for determination of salary should be:
How is it elsewhere?
The Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU) – an international organization of Parliaments, has done a survey in 2013 on parliamentary salaries and allowances. The survey report is based on responses from 104 parliaments (96 countries) and 138 parliamentary chambers. A country can have more than one parliamentary chamber like the Lok Sabha & the Rajya Sabha.  According to this research,
Three parliaments responded that there are independent bodies which set parliamentary salaries; the Pay Commission for the Bhutanese National Council; the Public Office Bearers Commission for both chambers of the Namibian Parliament and the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) for the UK House of Commons.
Disclosure of Salaries
According to the IPU survey, 41.1% parliaments publish the amount of parliamentary salaries, and 44.4% publish information about allowances. 24.2% also publish the amount of allowances received by each member on their websites. The Lok Sabha also publishes this data on its website.
The IPU report also made an interesting observation, that in 23.2% parliaments, parliamentary salaries or allowances have been reduced since 2008. The report notes that this may be a consequence of the global economic crisis.
Parliamentary Budgets allotted to Salaries & Allowances
The survey notes that the percentages of parliament’s budget allotted to parliamentary salaries and allowances were not available for certain chambers which do not have separate budget lines for salaries and allowances.  Only 101 chambers provided the percentage for the salaries and 102 did for the allowances.
Among the 101 chambers, an average of 15.9 per cent of the budget was allotted to parliamentary salaries. 45 chambers (45 percent) allotted between 10 and 20 per cent. The percentages varied between 0.51 and 66.55; with 12 parliaments allotted below 5 per cent.
Services provided to Parliamentarians
Apart from salaries & allowances, certain other services are provided to parliamentarians in various countries. Close to 2/3 of the Parliaments provide an office space in parliament, 47% provide Staff, only 1/6 provide office space in the constituency, and 36% provide housing.
In part 2, we will look at salaries & allowances across the world and compare with the salaries of Indian MPs.

created: October 2, 2015


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MPs should read the RTI act before talking about its misuse
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 30, 2016
MPs cutting across party lines raised concerns about the ‘misuse’ of RTI act among other issues. One of them wondered if the act was passed under pressure by the USA while another felt that state secrets were being leaked using RTI. But are their concerns valid?
It is very rare to see Members of Parliament (MPs) from various parties agree on a specific issue. In the Rajya Sabha, on 28 April, 2016 MPs from various parties spoke about the ‘misuse’ of Right to Information (RTI) by citizens and even wondered if the act was passed in haste. One particular MP went to the extent of asking the government if the RTI act was passed because of the pressure from the United States.
The tag ‘RTI Activist’ is being used as a designation
It all started with the BSP MP, Salim Ansari’s question about a study report by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI). He asked whether various government ministries are reluctant and unwilling to share basic information under the RTI act and sought to know if the government is taking any action to strengthen the implementation.
The question was answered after a prolonged discussion involving Salim Ansari and the Minister in charge Dr. Jitendra Singh. At this point, Congress MP & IPL Chairman Rajeev Shukla intervened and said that the idea behind enacting the RTI legislation was to solve problems and grievances of the common man. He then went onto say that RTI is being misused and a few people are printing ‘RTI Activist’ on their cards as if it’s a designation. He also said that people are blackmailed and money is being earned in the pretext of using RTI.
The minister then said he was glad that the issue is being raised across the lines.
RTI Act passed under US Pressure?
It was then the turn of MP from SP, Naresh Agarwal. He asked the minister if the RTI act was passed in 2005 under pressure from the USA. Congress MP Jairam Ramesh kept saying that there is no truth to this.  The Chairman of the house then intervened to say that the Parliament has enacted the law and hence it has to be left at that.
It turned from bad to worse. Mr. Naresh Agarwal said that PIL & RTI have turned into the biggest problems in the country. He also asked the government if more and more government departments are requesting to be exempted from the RTI act and if they felt that many secrets of the country were getting leaked because of RTI.
Dr. Jitendra Singh responded by saying that there must have been a noble intention behind enacting the legislation and that a constant review is being done. He also quoted various safeguards in the RTI act.
Naresh Agarwal also sought to know if our neighbouring countries Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh & Sri Lanka have a similar legislation to which Dr. Jitendra Singh said that he is only assigned to talk about Government of India and not other governments.
Praful Patel’s turn to complain
Praful Patel, MP from NCP and the former Minister for Civil Aviation went a step ahead and shared the plight of officials. He said a sense of objectivity is lost because officials have to now think about what will come out of RTI later. He also wondered if the act was passed in haste. He said that amendments should be made to the act to the extent of asking locus standi of those who seek information. He said with ten rupees, even a chaiwallah or a panwala is asking who made the missile etc. He also said there must be some restriction.
While there was no assurance from the minister about considering an amendment, he did say that there should not be anything done which cuts down or intimidates or causes unnecessary harassment to any officer or reduces his initiative.
Why are the MPs wrong?
All the concerns raised by MPs have no basis whatsoever. Adequate safeguards are already present in the RTI act for some of the concerns while the others have just no basis. Let’s address their concerns one by one.
Has the act been passed because of pressure by the US?
Naresh Agarwal should have googled about the history of the RTI act to understand that the legislation was a result of a 20 year struggle and not because of the pressure by US. By the way, India is not the only country to have this legislation. By last count, 109 countries across the world have similar legislations.
What about Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh & Sri Lanka?
Again, a simple google search would have helped Naresh Agarwal get the answer. Pakistan, Nepal & Bangladesh have an operational legislation similar to RTI while in Sri Lanka, a RTI bill was tabled in the parliament last month. Pakistan passed this law in 2002, Nepal in 2007 and Bangladesh in 2008.
Are State secrets, information on international relations being disclosed?
Praful Patel, being a minister in the previous regime should have known that the RTI act has an inbuilt Section 8 that deals with exemptions. The first clause of section 8 clearly states that information which would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State, relation with foreign State or lead to incitement of an offence is exempted from disclosure. All the concerns of Praful Patel are taken care of in the very first clause of Section 8 of the RTI act.
But expecting our MPs to read before making their arguments is probably a little too much.


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MPs’ Salaries – What about the Rest of the World? – Part 2 - Factly
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
October 2, 2015
In Part 1, we looked at who decides the MPs salaries, services extended to them and the proportion of parliamentary budget earmarked for MP salaries. In Part 2, we look at the distribution of MP salaries across the world apart from comparing Indian MP salary with the others.
The Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU) Survey report has detailed information on the average salary of MPs from across the 104 Parliaments that responded to the survey. The salary figures are adjusted to Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) based on World Bank’s conversion factor.
Salary Analysis
The IPU survey report is based on the basic salary (in gross amount before tax) per parliamentarian per year in the year 2012. The survey notes
The survey also notes that the way that the ‘basic salary’ is understood can be very different from one country to the other. For eg, in some countries like  Liechtenstein, Slovenia (upper) and United Kingdom (upper) – parliamentarians work on a part-time basis, thus members of these parliaments/chambers do not receive basic salaries equivalent to their counterparts working full-time in other parliaments.
According to the survey, 1/4 of the Parliamentarians received less than 25,000 PPP dollars. More than half of them received less than 50,000 PPP dollars. There are also 14% who received over 100,000 PPP dollars. Countries like the US, Israel fall into this category.
Remunerated employment outside Parliament & Reporting
As per the survey, 76.4% parliaments reported that MPs can have remunerated employment outside parliament and in 58.8% parliaments members are required to declare income from other employment to parliament. In some parliaments, members cannot hold any other jobs except for teaching posts. Some other parliaments reported that member’s employment outside needs to be authorized by the parliament.
And interestingly, the average salary of parliamentarians who are allowed to have other remunerated work was higher than the overall average; 105,003 PPP dollars against the overall average of 62,075 PPP dollars.
Salary plus Allowances
If allowances are included, the overall average goes up to 81,207 PPP dollars. There is a considerable difference in the distribution when allowances are included. While only 14% parliamentarians received over 100,000 PPP dollars in Basic Salary, the percentage has more than doubled to 29% when allowances are included.
Other Allowances
The survey noted that basic allowance was difficult to arrive at since different parliaments paid allowances differently. Some of them are yearly allowances while some other are monthly. Some parliaments also pay attendance allowance and hence the allowances vary widely. Close to 37% of the parliaments pay attendance allowance. Some parliaments pay travel allowance that depends on the distance of the constituency from the capital city.
The survey also noted that Speakers are paid more than MPs in most parliaments. The average salary paid to the speaker was 104,639 PPP dollars.
India Vs Others
While there is a lot of criticism surrounding the salary of Indian MPs, their basic salary is on the lower side when compared to most other developed countries. The nearest to the salary received by an Indian MP is by a South African MP who receives more than twice the amount received by his Indian counterpart. The highest salary is received by an Australian MP, about 6.5 times the amount received by an Indian MP. Even a Brazilian MP receives more than 6 times the basic salary of an Indian MP. An Indian MP earns roughly 1/6 of what his American counterpart gets as a basic salary.
Indian MPs are in the 25,000 PPP dollars per annum range when basic salary is considered and go into 75,000 PPP dollars per annum range when allowances are also considered.
Support Staff to Parliamentarians
According to a UNDP report published in 2012, the global average of parliamentary staff per MP is 3.76. In India, the average was 4.67, less than 1/6 of the American average of 29.73.
In the USA, the parliamentarian is allowed to employ up to 18 employees and a total support of about 16 lakh rupees per month (PPP adjusted) is given to pay their salaries. For a MP in India, a meager 30,000 rupees per month is provided as part of office expenses to hire assistants.
Does it mean the salary should be increased?
The individual MP’s salary may not need a revision since the allowances more than make up for the lower salary. What needs to be seriously considered is increased support for hiring staff so that the MPs can work more effectively.


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Morphed photo shared as Congress workers offering cake to Mia Khalifa - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
February 8, 2021
A photo is being shared on social media claiming it as the picture of Congress party workers offering cake to the poster of adult film actress Mia Khalifa. In the wake of Mia Khalifa’s tweets supporting the ongoing farmers’ protests in India, this post was shared on social media. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Photo of Congress party workers offering cake to Mia Khalifa poster.
Fact:  The photo shared in the post is an edited one. In the original photo, Congress workers were offering cake to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s poster. This photo was captured when Congress party workers were celebrating Rahul Gandhi’s 37th birthday in New Delhi on 19 June 2007. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
On reverse image search of the photo shared in the post, we found the original version of this photo in ‘Getty’ image sharing website. In the original photo, Congress workers were offering cake to a poster of Rahul Gandhi, not to the poster of adult actress Mia Khalifa.  In the description of the photo, it is mentioned that the Indian Youth Congress supporters cut a huge birthday cake in New Delhi, during the 37th birthday celebrations of Rahul Gandhi on 19 June 2007. This photo was credited to the AFP reporter Raveendran.
The original photo was also shared in ‘The Times of India’ news  article published on 19 June 2007. This article reported that the supporters of Indian Youth Congress cut a huge cake during the 37th birthday celebrations of Rahul Gandhi on 19 June 2007. From all these pieces of evidence, it is concluded that the photo shared in the post is an edited one.
To sum it up, an edited photo is shared as the picture of Congress workers offering cake to Mia Khalifa’s poster.

created: February 8, 2021


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MS Dhoni did not visit a Gurdwara after the farmers’ protest; this photo is from 2022. - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
February 29, 2024
A viral photo of former India cricket team captain, MS Dhoni, visiting a Gurdwara (Sikh temple) has lately been the talk of social media. The image has been shared widely, with the claim that it was taken during the ongoing farmers’ protest. Some netizens have even praised him for his spine to skip the Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha in January 2024 but choose to visit a Gurdwara amid the farmers’ protest. Let’s fact-check this claim through this article.
Claim: The photo depicts MS Dhoni visiting a Gurdwara during the current farmers’ protest.
Fact: This photo is from 2022, captured during Dhoni’s visit to a Gurdwara in London. Hence, the claim made in the post is False.
To verify this claim, we first performed a reverse image search on the viral photo. We discovered this photo on the Twitter handle of a user named Gurpreet Singh Anand, who posted it on 26 February 2024. His caption read, ‘Mahendra Singh Dhoni at the @khalsajatha.’
Mahendra Singh Dhoni at the @khalsajatha. pic.twitter.com/rDGHMHPPXq
A few users in the comment section pointed out that the photo is old, possibly dating back to 2022. Following these leads, we went through Anand’s other social media profiles and found a cropped version of the same photo he uploaded on Instagram on 17 July 2022.  His caption there read, ‘Bowled over with the legendary @mahi7781.’
A post shared by Gurpreet Singh Anand (@gurpreet.singh.anand)
From this, it is clear that the photo in question is from 2022 and unrelated to the farmers’ protest that began on 13 February 2024 (here and here).
We also found several news reports (here and here) in 2022 stating that Dhoni was in London around the same time. NDTV Sports reported that he was seen strolling in London, accompanied by his bodyguards, which further corroborates the actual timeline of the photo.
To sum up, the viral photo of MS Dhoni at a Gurudwara is from 2022, during his visit to London, not during the current farmers’ protest of 2024 as claimed.

created: February 29, 2024


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MS Dhoni's old photo Falsely shared as his support for Congress party - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 23, 2024
A photo (here, here and here) of MS Dhoni has gone viral, asserting that he supports and has voted for the Congress party. In this viral photograph, Dhoni is seen showing six fingers, which supposedly signifies his support for the Indian National Congress (INC). We fact-check this claim through this article.
Claim: MS Dhoni has voted for the Congress party, and encourages everyone to vote for the INDI Alliance
Fact: The viral photo of MS Dhoni dates back to 2020 when Dhoni celebrated the Chennai Super Kings ‘X’ handle reaching six million followers on a social media platform. Hence, the claim made in the post is False.
To verify the claim, we initiated a reverse image search, which directed us to the verified social media handle of Chennai Super Kings (CSK). The same photo was shared (archive) by CSK in October 2020 to celebrate their achievement of six million followers on the platform.
Nandri filled Thala Dharisanam as our Twitter fam becomes 6 Million Strong! #SixerOnTwitter #WhistlePodu #Yellove 🦁💛 pic.twitter.com/GJc6vBYf39
In addition to this, we found that several news publications (here, here and here) published the same photograph during that time, each of them reiterating that the photo was shared by CSK celebrating their follower milestone.
Further, we searched MS Dhoni’s official social media channels and found no statements of him endorsing the Congress party in the upcoming 2024 elections.
To sum up, an old and unrelated photo of MS Dhoni is being falsely shared as him supporting the Congress party.


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MSMEs in Maharashtra & Tamil Nadu are biggest beneficiaries of Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 4, 2020
As per the data provided by the government in Lok Sabha, the greatest credit amount under the ECLGS was disbursed by HDFC Bank as of September 2020. MSMEs from Maharashtra & Tamil Nadu are the biggest beneficiaries of the scheme. Here is a review of the scheme & associated numbers.
On 12November 2020, Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs made an announcement listing a series of measures under Aatmanirbhar Bharat 3.0. One of the announcements was regarding the Emergency Credit  Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS), which has been extended until 31March 2021.
Apart from extending the timeline, the scheme was also extended under this ECLGS 2.0 to include 26 stressed sectors impacted by COVID-19 including the Healthcare sector.
The scheme was initially announced as part of the Rs. 20 Lakh crore Aatmanirbhar Bharat package announced in May 2020 as part of COVID-19 relief measures. Under this scheme, collateral free automatic loans were extended to Businesses/MSMEs from Banks & NBFCs. As per the initial announcement, the scheme could be availed until 31 October 2020, which was later extended by one month to 30November 2020.
ECLGS 2.0 removes the annual turnover capping limit on the businesses seeking loans
The situation created by the spread of COVID-19 and the subsequent lockdown has affected many businesses, especially MSMEs. Many of the business were cash strapped, rendering it difficult to continue or re-start the business.
The ECLGS was formulated in this context to mitigate the economic distress of these MSMEs by providing them with additional funding in the form of fully Guaranteed Emergency Credit Line (GECL). The government approved a funding of Rs. 3 lakh crores towards this scheme.
While the  Government has set up a corpus of Rs. 41.6 thousand crores to be spread across three financial years, the main objective of the scheme is to provide an incentive to Member Lending Institutions (MLIs) i.e. Banks, NBFCs, Financial Institutions etc to enable availability of additional funding facility to MSME borrowers so that they can meet their operational liabilities. This scheme also focusses on mitigating the losses to Financial Institutions due to non-repayment of loans by these borrowers.
There is an upper limit of Rs. 3 lakh crores set for the loans being sanctioned under this scheme. This includes all the loans sanctioned under GECL from the date of announcement of the Scheme to 31 October 2020 or till an amount of Rs. 3 lakh crores are sanctioned under GECL, whichever is earlier. As per the update on 02 November 2020, a total of 2.03 lakh crores were sanctioned by 31 October 2020. Hence the cut-off was extended to 30November 2020 or Rs. 3 lakh crores whichever is earlier.
ECLGS 2.0 made some changes to the existing scheme.
Greatest amount of loans under ECLGS 1.0 was offered by HDFC followed by SBI
As highlighted earlier, one of the main purposes of this scheme is to encourage Lending Institutions to provide credit facilities for businesses/MSMEs who are under financial distress.
Responding to a question in Lok Sabha on 19 September 2020, the government provided the details of credit issued under this scheme.
As per the data provided by the government, as on 16September 2020, a total of Rs.1.19 lakh crores were issued by various Lending Institutions. Among these, HDFC Bank Ltd has extended the highest amount of credit under this scheme with a total of Rs. 16.7 thousand crores. SBI & ICICI Bank Ltd complete the top three with  Rs. 15.1 thousand crores and Rs. 9.3 thousand crores respectively. All the top 10 lenders are banks. In fact, there are only two Finance Institutes/NBFCs (Shriram Transport Finance Company Ltd & Tata Motors Finance Ltd.) in the Top 30 lending institutions by the total amount of credit under this scheme. The rest of them are banks.
Greatest amount of loans disbursed in Maharashtra
Top three states in terms of the greatest amount of credit disbursed under ECLGS are among the largest industrial/business states i.e. Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu & Gujarat. As per the information provided in Lok Sabha, as on 16September 2020, a total of around Rs. 14.36 thousand crores worth of loans were disbursed in Maharashtra. Maharashtra & Tamil Nadu are coincidentally the states which also are among the ones with highest number of COVID-19 cases.
It has to be noted that this information is as on 16 September 2020, for the total credit disbursal of Rs. 1.19 lakh crores. However, as per the update on 02 November 2020, a total of Rs. 1.48 lakh crores have been disbursed out of the sanctioned Rs. 2.03 lakh crores to around 60.67 lakh borrowers.
A study notes  the scheme helped in short term liquidity but there is inequitable distribution
On 16September 2020, a Study on impact of ECLGS was submitted by National Institute of Bank Management for NCGTC. An earlier Impact Assessment report was published on 26 August 2020. As per the survey conducted across 1948 firms (including MSME & business enterprises), it was observed that :
Many of the respondents acknowledged that it was an easy process for them to avail the loans from Banks & Financial Institutions.
However, few concerns have also been highlighted as part of the assessment study:
Featured Image: Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme

created: December 4, 2020


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Mughal emperor Aurangzeb never fought the Chinese for control of Kailash Manasarovar - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 24, 2022
A post is being widely shared on social media claiming that Mughal emperor Aurangzeb fought the Chinese and took control of Kailash Manasarovar. Let us fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Mughal emperor Aurangzeb fought the Chinese and took control of Kailash Manasarovar.
Fact: There is no evidence to show that Mughal emperor Aurangzeb fought the Chinese and took control of Kailash Manasarovar. Aurangzeb, since he came to power in 1658, had military campaigns against Ahoms in the north-east, Yusufzai and Sikhs in the north-west. He annexed Bijapur in 1685 and Golconda in 1687. Aurangzeb faced fierce rebellion of the Marathas in the Deccan. But he never had a military campaign against the Chinese. Historically and otherwise, Kailash Manasarovar comes under Tibet, not China. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
According to NCERT, in the list of Military campaigns by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, there was no mention of China. Aurangzeb, since he came to power in 1658, had military campaigns against Ahoms in the north-east, Yusufzai and Sikhs in the north-west. He annexed Bijapur in 1685 and Golconda in 1687. Aurangzeb faced fierce rebellion of the Marathas in the Deccan.
When a similar claim went viral on social media, Times of India had written a fact-check article and confirmed it as fake. They reached out to renowned historians about Aurangzeb’s campaign against the Chinese for Kailash Manasarovar, who said, “Aurangzeb never mounted any military campaign against China or Tibet.” However, Kailash Manasarovar comes under Tibet, and not China.
To sum it up, Mughal emperor Aurangzeb never fought the Chinese for control of Kailash Manasarovar.


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Multiple fraudulent offers are being shared as giveaways ahead of Christmas - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
November 15, 2022
Factly noticed a few social media scams related to famous retail chains giving away free gifts to users as Christmas season giveaways. One such post is being shared widely on Facebook, which claims that any user who types ‘Morrisons’ under the post and shares it will be gifted three Cadbury selection boxes. Let’s fact-check the claim made in this post.
Claim: Morrisons is gifting three Cadbury selection boxes to anyone who types ‘Morrisons’ under the post and shares it.
Fact: Morrisons has not officially announced such a scheme through their social media handles or website. A few years ago, when claims similar to this went viral, Morrisons alerted its customers not to fall for social media posts which claim to gift a free voucher if they like, share and comment ‘Thanks, Morrisons.’ Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
To check for the claim’s veracity, we performed a reverse image search on the post’s image, which did not lead us to any relevant information. We noticed ‘Morrisons Warrington’ written on the welcome board of the supermarket and searched if Diana Reid was the manager there, as the post claims. This did not lead us to any credible evidence to conclude.
Then, we went through Morrisons’ verified social media profiles (here, here and here) and official website to check if they have made official announcements about gifting social media users Cadbury selection boxes. But we did not find any such announcements there.
On further search, we found that Morrisons has alerted their customers not to fall prey to scams that promise to give exciting gifts on liking, sharing and commenting on social media posts. News reports about this can be read here and here. Official scam alerts issued by Morrisons can be seen here and here.
Facebook alerts its users to always look for ‘ Unverified Pages claiming to represent a large organisation or public figure.’ The viral post was made by a Facebook page named Morrisons Club, Fans which is unverified and its first post was made on 13th November 2022. From all of this, we can conclude that this is a scam post.
Similar fraudulent Christmas offers were debunked by Factly earlier:
1. This purported ‘M&S’ promotional message offering golden ticket giveaways as part of Christmas celebrations is fake
2. Fraudulent link is shared as ‘Amazon’ website offering gifts for Christmas
3. This purported ‘Ramraj Cotton’ website conducting a competition for gifting 20,000 rupees is fraudulent
To sum it up, multiple fraudulent offers are being shared as giveaways ahead of Christmas celebrations

created: November 15, 2022


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Multiple gaming videos are being misconstrued as related to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis. - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 21, 2022
Update (21 APRIL 2022):
Another video with similar visuals is also being shared on social media as related to the war of Ukraine vs Russia. However, the video was found to be originally published by ‘SONGamingStudio‘ with the title – ‘7 Su-34 Fighter Jets Shot Down By Air Defense System | Military Simulation ARMA 3 B7‘. So, this video is also related to the ‘ARMA – 3’ game. It does not show a real incident.
Published (23 FEBRUARY 2022):
A lot of videos (video 1, video 2, video 3) are being shared on social media which are being misconstrued as the actual visuals of the fight between the forces of Russia and Ukraine. The videos are being shared in the context of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis. Let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Visuals of a fight between the forces of Russia and Ukraine.
Fact: The posted videos do not show real-life events. They are picked from a game called – ‘ARMA – 3’. The visuals have nothing to do with the ongoing crisis between Russia and Ukraine. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
While some users have mentioned in the description that the videos show the visuals of a game called – ‘ARMA – 3’, others have just posted the videos saying that they show actual visuals of ‘Russia vs Ukraine’. However, in both cases, many users are believing & misinterpreting the videos to be the actual visuals of the ongoing crisis between Russia and Ukraine. (related comments can be seen in the below picture).
When we searched about the game (‘ARMA – 3’) on the internet, many similar videos were found in the search results. Some of those videos can be seen here, here, and here. So, the posted visuals do not show real-life events.
Also, when similar videos from the ‘ARMA – 3’ game went viral previously with other false claims, FACTLY has debunked them. Those fact-check articles can be read here, here, and here.
To sum it up, multiple gaming videos are being misconstrued as related to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis.


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Multiple news agencies have reported that Warren Buffett regrets not investing early in Google - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 9, 2022
A video is being shared widely on social media with a claim that Warren Buffett earns 1500 crore dollars annually from his investments in Google’s shares which is much more than what Sundar Pichai earns as CEO of Google. Let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Warren Buffett earns 1500 crore dollars annually from his investments in Google’s shares.
Fact: There are multiple news reports on the internet about Warren Buffett’s regret of not investing early in Google. Also, there is no evidence of Warren Buffett investing heavily in Google and earning 1500 crore dollars annually. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When we searched on the internet regarding Warren Buffett’s investment in Google’s shares, many news articles were found in the search results. In the ‘Markets Insider’ article, it can be read that – “Warren Buffett considered investing in Google but decided against it, meaning Berkshire Hathaway shareholders haven’t seen a dime from the tech titan’s breathless rise to a $1 trillion market capitalization”. Warren Buffett is the Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.
Warren Buffett’s comments about him getting late into technology investments can be seen in the ‘CNBC’ video posted in 2017. The investments of ‘Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’ can be seen in its annual report here. The annual report does not mention any shares in Google or parent company Alphabet.
The income from shares is dependent on multiple factors. Just because someone has invested in some company’s shares, he will not receive income from them. The dividend one gets from a shares of a company is declared by the board of directors of the company. Hence, there is no basis for the 1500 crore figure mentioned in the viral video.
To sum it up, multiple news agencies have reported that Warren Buffett regrets not investing early in Google.