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The press release on movement restriction for COVID-19 outbreak was issued by PMO-Malaysia, not PMO-India - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
March 19, 2020
Some photos of a press release regarding movement restriction for COVID-19 outbreak is being shared widely on social media with a claim that it was released by the National Security Council, Prime Minister’s Office (PMO – India). Let’s try to analyze the claim made in the post.
Press Release on movement restriction for COVID-19 outbreak by National Security Council, PMO (India).
Fact: The press release in the post was issued by the Malaysian Government, not by the Indian Government. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
In the Press Release, it can be seen that the helpline number is given as ‘03-8888 2010’. So, when searched for that number on Google, it was found in ‘The Star’ news article that the number was set up as a special hotline by the Malaysian Government ‘to address questions and complaints by the public on any issues relating to the movement control order, which was imposed due to the Covid-19 outbreak’. The same number can be also seen in a tweet by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry – Malaysia (‘MITI Malaysia’).
Warta membenarkan pengeluaran kilang2 penting utk disambung semula dengan kadar minimum adalah olh Kerajaan dan peranan kami adalah utk memproses permohonan.Sekiranya anda mempunyai sebarang pertanyaan atau aduan mengenai perkara ini bolehlah diajukan ketalian MKN di 03-8888 2010
The same press release can be also found on the PMO-Malaysia website. So, the press release was not issued by the Indian Government.
A lot of people are sharing the document on social media claiming that it was released by the Indian Government. If one looks at carefully, there are many clues in the document which suggest that it was not issued by the Indian Government. Some of those clues can be found in the picture below:
Also, the Press Information Bureau of India and Prasar Bharati News Services has tweeted that ‘no such Press Release has been issued by PMO-India’.
Claim: A Press Release regarding movement restriction is widely getting circulated on #WhatsApp claiming to be of Government of India.#PIBFactCheck: No such Press Release has been issued by @PMOIndia. pic.twitter.com/6CQOJUhSpG
To sum it up, the press release on movement restriction for the COVID-19 outbreak was issued by PMO-Malaysia, not PMO-India.
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The Hindus in this video did not attack the Luthra Sharif Dargah in Chattisgarh’s Bilaspur - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 12, 2022
A video is being shared on social media claiming it as the recent visuals of a group of pro-Hindu outfits attacking a mosque in Chhattisgarh. This video shows tens of saffron-clad men marching toward a mosque while playing ‘Jai Shri Ram’ music using loudspeakers. A few other social media users shared the same video claiming that this incident had taken place at the Luthra Sharif Dargah in Chhattisgarh’s Bilaspur. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
The archived version of the post can be seen here.
Claim: Video of a Hindu groups attacking the Luthra Sharif Dargah in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh.
Fact: The video shared in the post shows a recent incident that took place at the Luthra Sharif Dargah in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh. On 02 April 2022, a ‘Shobha Yatra’ rally was organized in Bilaspur on the occasion of the Hindu New Year celebrations. The video was shot while this religious procession was passing by the Luthra Shaif Dargah in Bilaspur. But no such violent attack had taken place at the Luthra Sharif Dargah during this religious procession. The Luthra Sharif Dargah spokesperson and Sipat Police officials have termed these rumours of Hindu outfits attacking the Luthra Sharif Dargah as false. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
On reverse image search of the video screenshots, a video with similar visuals was found to be tweeted by a journalist named Vishnukant on 07 April 2022.  Vishnukant reported that a video shot in front of the Luthra Sharif Dargah in Chhattisgarh was presented with the wrong context. He said that the rally took a U-turn immediately after passing the Dargah and further clarified that all the Hindu activists who participated in the rally had returned to their houses without having any confrontation. Vishnukant through another tweet said that the Sipat police station in-charge Rajkumar Souri has also confirmed all the above things reported by him.
#Chhattisgarh के #luthrasharif के सामने का यह वीडियो गलत कॉन्टेक्स्ट के साथ पेश किया जा रहा है।
दरगाह के सामने से रैली निकली, रैली और डीजे वहीं पर से u-turn हुई और लोग बिना किसी वाद विवाद के अपना अपना काम करते हुए घर चले गए।@TheQuint @TheQuint pic.twitter.com/l9wEV5HfC3
The Bilaspur ‘Dainik Bhaskar’ correspondent contacted Riyaz Ashrafi, a spokesperson for the Luthra Sharif Dargah, for clarification regarding this viral video. Riyaz Ashrafi told ‘Dainik Bhaskar’ that the video was shot on 02 April 2022, during the ‘Shobha Yatra’ rally organized on the occasion of the Hindu New Year celebrations in Bilaspur.  Riyaz Ashrafi said, “This procession reached Luthra Sharif Dargah from Gram Panchayat Kauli via village Khamaria. A program to welcome the procession was organized by the Panchayat representative at Luthra Sharif. This video is from during the same event”.  Riyaz Ashrafi confirmed ‘Dainik Bhaskar’ that no such attack took place on Luthra Sharif Dargah during this religious procession held on 02 April 2022.
Further, we contacted Sipat police officials for clarification regarding this video. Sipat police official confirmed to us that no such violent attack took place recently at the Luthra Sharif Dargah in Bilaspur. Speaking to the ‘Newschecker’ fact-checking team, the Sipat police said, “There is no attack here, the allegation is completely false. The incident took place on April 2, on the Hindu New Year, when a Shobha Yatra was being held. The vehicle playing the DJ music was turning the vehicle around, and people in the procession went with him. That’s all that happened. There has been no attack whatsoever. Arrangements for snacks were also made there. The claims are baseless”.
To sum it up, the Luthra Sharif Dargah in Chattisgarh’s Bilaspur was not attacked by Hindu outfits.

source: news-factly

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

author: Sai Krishna Muthyanolla


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The process of making raisins typically involves a similar procedure of dipping grapes into a solution of dipping oil - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
March 28, 2024
A video circulating on social media platforms shows a man dipping grapes in a milk-like solution, accompanied by a claim alleging that it depicts farmers spraying pesticides on grape yields, purportedly causing infections and various diseases (here, here & here). In this article, we fact-check this claim.
Claim: Video depicting grape bunches treated with pesticides.
Fact: We were unable to independently verify if the substance used for dipping the grapes is pesticide or another chemical. Nevertheless, based on available information, the process of making raisins typically involves a similar procedure of dipping grapes into a solution of dipping oil, commonly containing ethyl oleate and potassium carbonate, to remove water from the grapes. It is probable that the viral video depicts the raisin-making process. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
The video displays a man dipping grapes into a solution. However, we could not independently confirm whether the substance is a pesticide or another chemical, and the reason behind the grape immersion remains unverified.
However, using a reverse image search on screenshots from the viral video, we discovered an Instagram post containing identical visuals. This post asserts that the white-coloured liquid is not a pesticide; but is used treat grapes to transform them into raisins.
Taking a cue from the above video, a YouTube search using relevant keywords yielded multiple videos explaining the process of making raisins (here, here & here). These videos also featured visuals demonstrating the treatment of grape bunches with a similar milk-like solution, as shown in the viral video. According to these videos, as part of the raisin-making process after harvesting the grape yield, they are washed with water and then dipped in a solution of ethyl oleate and potassium carbonate before being left to dry.
Further, research papers and journals also corroborated the process of dipping grapes in dipping oil as part of the raisin-making process (here, here, here & here). According to these sources, this practice is commonplace, and typically, a combination of ethyl oleate (1.5%) and potassium carbonate (2.5%) is employed for this purpose. This aids in draining the grapes quickly.
This suggests that the viral video could most likely be showing the raisin-making process, wherein grapes are treated in dipping oil, before drying them. However, as mentioned above we could not independently verify the authenticity of the video. Further, it is important to note that consuming grapes treated with pesticides may pose health risks (here & here).
To sum up, the process of making raisins typically involves a similar procedure of dipping grapes into a solution of dipping oil.


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The protesting tribal girl in this video has not been made a collector for two days - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 26, 2022
A video of a girl protesting is being shared on social media claiming that the girl was made a collector for two days. The protesting girl in the video was heard saying: “Otherwise sir, make us collectors. We are ready to take up the job. For whom is the government working? You are treating us as if we have come here to beg. Make some arrangements for our poor sir. We tribal people coming from far away. Do you know how much it costs?” (when translated from Hindi to English). This video further shows the visuals of a girl sitting in an officer’s chair. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Video of a protesting girl who was made collector for two days.
Fact: The video shared in the post shows two unrelated video clips. The first video clip shows Nirmala Chauhan, an NSUI student from Madhya Pradesh’s Jabhua, protesting in front of the Jabhua district collector’s office in 2021. Nirmala Chauhan was not made a collector after this incident. The second video clip shows Dewas collector Chandramouli Shukla honouring a merit student of the District 10th Board Examination. Knowing a merit student’s wish to become a collector in future, Chandramouli Shukla made her sit in his chair. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
The video shared in the post contains two different video clips. Let’s find the details of these video clips one by one.
Video clip 1:
On reverse image search of the screenshots in the video, a video with similar visuals was found published by the ‘Amar Ujala’ news website on 22 December 2021. ‘Amar Ujala’ reported it as visuals of an NSUI student protesting in front of the Jabhua collector’s office in Madhya Pradesh. ‘Amar Ujala’ published an article reporting the incident. Nirmala Chauhan, a first-year BA student reportedly chanted these slogans during the NSUI demonstration in front of the Jabhua collector’s office. Reporting the same, a few other news agencies have also published articles in December 2021. They can be seen here and here. According to these reports, under the leadership of NSUI, hundreds of students marched to the Jabhua collector’s office to give a memorandum to the collector. Expressing their agony of being stopped by barricades, Nirmala Chauhan had made these slogans.
When we searched to check whether Nirmala Chauhan was made a collector after this demonstration, we could not find any credible news report of such an incident. Following the demonstration, when Nirmala Chauhan’s video went viral with a claim that she had become a collector for two days, the Tribal Army through a tweet clarified that the rumours are baseless and fake.
Video clip 2:
On reverse image search of the screenshots of the video, a video with similar visuals was found published on the ‘Dewas Live’ YouTube channel on 06 July 2020. ‘Dewas Live’ news channel reported it as the visuals of Dewas district collector Chandramouli Shukla honouring a 10th Board Examination merit student. According to the article published by ‘Dewas Live’, Chandramouli Shukla honoured 10 children of the district who got a place on the merit list of the state 10th Board Examination. Yukta Chowdary, who was 3rd on the merit list, expressed her wish to become a collector in future. Knowing her wish to become a collector, Chandramouli Shukla made Yukta Chowdary sit in his chair. This video has nothing to do with Nirmala Chauhan’s demonstration that took place a year later.
To sum it up, the protesting tribal girl in this video has not been made a collector for two days.


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The public said ‘murdabad’, not ‘zindabad’, when Amit Shah said - ‘Congress Party’, in this video - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
February 18, 2022
A video is being shared widely on social media with a claim that when Amit Shah said – ‘Congress party’, the public in the meeting said – ‘zindabad’. Let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Video of the public saying ‘zindabad’ when Amit Shah said – ‘Congress Party’.
Fact: The public in the video said ‘murdabad’ (which roughly means downfall and is the opposite of zindabad), not zindabad. The video was taken at a public meeting in Uttarakhand. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When the screenshots of the video were run through Google Reverse Image Search, the extended version of the same video was found in the search results. The video was published with the title – ‘HM Shri Amit Shah addresses public meeting in Raipur, Uttarakhand’, by ‘Bharatiya Janata Party’ YouTube channel. The posted clip can be seen at 11:22 in the video. If one listens to the audio carefully, when Amit Shah said – ‘Congress Party’ and pauses, it can be heard that the public said ‘murdabad’ (which roughly means downfall and is the opposite of zindabad), not zindabad.
For better clarity on the said word, the slowed down, loud version of the posted clip can be seen here. Also, none of the news agencies have reported any ‘Congress party zindabad’ slogans at the BJP Amit Shah meeting in Raipur (Uttarakhand).
To sum it up, the public said ‘murdabad’, not ‘zindabad’, when Amit Shah said – ‘Congress Party’, in this video

created: February 18, 2022


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The Punjab policewoman in these photos has not been raped. She died in a road accident. - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
October 4, 2020
Some photos of a policewoman are being shared widely on social media with a claim that she was raped and murdered in Amritsar, Punjab. The photos also include an ID which mentions that the name of the policewoman as Nomi, daughter of Sh. Salim Masih. Let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Photos of a Punjab policewoman who was raped and murdered in Amritsar.
Fact: The policewoman in the photos has died in a road accident. She was not raped and murdered. She was hit by a Scorpio vehicle while she was going on her Activa. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When we searched about the policewoman given in the post, several news articles were found in the Google search results. The news articles mentioned that the policewoman Nomi has died in a road accident in Jhander (Punjab). She was hit by a Scorpio vehicle while she was going on her Activa. The news articles can be read here, here and here.
Also, on looking at the FIR filed on the incident, it can be found that there is no mention of rape. The FIR mentions only sections 304-A and 427 of IPC. The FIR can be seen here. The vehicle numbers of Nomi’s Activa and the Scorpio (a photo was also posted by a user) which hit her vehicle can be found in the FIR. Further details about the vehicles can be found below.
To sum it up, the Punjab policewoman Nomi has died in a road accident. She was not raped and murdered.

created: October 4, 2020


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The purported excerpt from Pranab Mukherjee’s book is a cooked-up story - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
September 2, 2020
A post with the image of a purported excerpt from Pranab Mukherjee’s book which reads that Sonia Gandhi took offence of his praise over Narendra Modi’s one year tenure as PM. The so-called excerpt describes an awkward moment between Pranab Mukherjee and Sonia Gandhi, alleging that Sonia Gandhi is used to subservience, is doing rounds on social media. Through this article lets fact-check the claim made in the post.
Image of a purported excerpt from Pranab Mukherjee’s book which reads that Sonia Gandhi took offence of his praise over Narendra Modi’s one year tenure as PM.
Fact: The book ‘The Presidential Years’ from which the purported excerpt is picked from is not yet released. According to news articles, Rupa Publications which acquired the rights of the book is planning to release the book later this year on Pranab Mukherjee’s birth anniversary i.e. on 11 December 2020. With this, we can say that the excerpt in the post is a cooked-up story. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
The purported excerpt in the post describes an incident which took place during Pranab Mukherjee’s Presidential stint. Taking a cue from here, google search with the keywords ‘Pranab Mukherjee’s book on his Presidential tenure’ led us to many news articles which carried news about this book. According to one such news article dated 01 September 2020, the book titled ‘The Presidential Years’ penned by Pranab which chronicles his journey as President of India is planned to be released later this year on Pranab’s birth anniversary i.e. on 11 December 2020. With this, we can say that the book which talks about Pranab Mukherjee’s Presidential years is not yet released and the purported excerpt from this book is a cooked-up story.
Further google search also led us to a tweet made in 2018 by Pranab Mukherjee pitching the idea of penning down his Presidential years.
Look forward to penning down my Presidential Years…#CitizenMukherjee https://t.co/Uq81c5yBmA
The Same purported excerpt was debunked by a few fact-checking websites when it went viral back in 2018. These fact-check stories can be read here and here.
Much fake news revolving around Pranab Mukherjee started doing rounds on social media after Pranab Mukherjee’s demise on 31 August 2020.
To sum it up, the excerpt in the post is a cooked-up story and the book which talks about Pranab Mukherjee’s Presidential years is not yet released.
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created: September 2, 2020


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The quarantine center seen in the video is not Kanipakam ‘temple’, it’s a ‘pilgrim lodge’ in Kanipakam - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 9, 2020
A video is being widely shared on Facebook and it has the following text with it- ‘Famous Kaanipaakam temple has been converted into Quarantine center. The worst part is all are Muslims and ROAMING freely with chappal inside the temple’. Let’s analyze the claim made in the post.
The Government of Andhra Pradesh has made Kanipakam temple a quarantine center for coronavirus suspects.
Fact: The building in the video is not Kanipakam temple, it is a pilgrim lodge (‘Sri Ganesh Sadan’) in Kanipakam that is being used as a quarantine center by the Andhra Pradesh government. So, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When one goes through the video carefully, a board with the name ‘Sri Ganesh Sadan’ can be seen on the building.
So, when searched on Google with the text ‘Sri Ganesh Sadan Kanipakam’, a pilgrim lodge is found to exist with that name in Kanipakam. When one goes through the photos of that lodge, the building in the video can be seen. So, it is not a temple as claimed in the post. As it is a lodge, people can be seen wearing footwear in Google photos too.
An article of ‘Eenadu’ with the news that ‘Sri Ganesh Sadan’ will be used as a quarantine center in Kanipakam can be read here.
To summarize, the quarantine center seen in the video is not Kanipakam ‘temple’; it’s a ‘pilgrim lodge’ in Kanipakam.
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The Railway Ministry has already clarified that it has no plans to lay-off 3 lakh Railway employees - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
October 28, 2019
A video is being shared on social media with a claim that three lakh Indian Railway employees will lose their jobs. The same video can be also found on YouTube. Let’s try to analyze the claim made in the post.
3 lakh employees of Indian Railways will lose their jobs.
Fact: When similar news was reported by some media channels in July-2019, the Railway Ministry has clarified that there is no such proposal and the inference being drawn from its circulars is without substance. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When search on Google with keywords, ‘3 lakh railway employees lose jobs’, many newspaper articles published in July-2019 were found in the search results. Some articles have a similar claim that the Indian Railways will lay-off around 3 lakh employees. The news was based on the letters sent by the ministry to zonal offices to identify employees above the age of 55 years and those who have completed 30 years in service. But, on 30 July 2019, the Ministry of Railways has given a clarification on this issue. The Ministry tweeted saying, ‘it is clarified that letters have been issued to Railway Zones/Production Units etc., merely by way of reiteration, to conduct the routine review of performance of the Railway employees in pursuance of the service conditions………It is a routine exercise which is required to be conducted by the Administration in public interest and the same has been conducted in previous years as well. Any inference regarding the number of employees being retired under such Rules, as drawn in such clippings, is thus without any substance.’ So, an issue which has already been clarified is being shared again.
Indian Railways have recruited approximately 1,84,262 employees in various categories during year 2014-19.Recruitment exercise for 2,83,637 posts is underway,out of which tests have already been conducted for 1,41,060 posts and the process shall be completed within next 2 months. pic.twitter.com/DyhQLVdXeB
To sum it up, the Railway Ministry has already clarified that it has no plans to lay-off 3 lakh Railway employees.
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created: October 28, 2019


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The Rajasthan cop in the video did not fake a head injury during the Jodhpur clashes - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 7, 2022
A video is being shared on social media claiming it as visuals of a Rajasthan policeman faking a head injury by tying a blood-stained handkerchief on his forehead during the Jodhpur riots. This post claims that newspapers too have misled people by publishing the fake injury photos of this policeman. In the wake of the recent communal riots that took place in Jodhpur on Eid, this video is being shared on social media. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Video of a Rajasthan Policeman faking a head injury during the Jodhpur communal riots.
Fact: During the communal riots that broke out in Jodhpur on Eid, Jodhpur ASI Dhanaaram did sustain a head injury when a stone hit his head. Jodhpur Police tweeted a few photographs showing clear visuals of the injuries on ASI Dhanaaram’s face and clarified that he had suffered a head injury during the clashes. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
When we searched with relevant keywords, we found the same photo of an injured policeman in articles published by several media outlets. They can be seen here and here. All these news articles reported it as the visuals of a policeman injured during the Jodhpur clashes.
On searching for further details, we found that Jodhpur Police had made a tweet on 06 May 2022 and issued a clarification regarding the viral claims circulating about this incident. Jodhpur Police through the tweet clarified that Jodhpur ASI Dhanaaram did sustain a head injury during the Jodhpur communal clashes. Jodhpur Police shared a few other pictures in their tweet showing clear visuals of injuries on ASI Dhanaaram’s face & forehead. Jodhpur Police informed that the policeman was immediately taken to the hospital after the incident and that an FIR was filed against the attack at the Sardarpura police station in Jodhpur.
#Jodhpur
ASI श्री धन्नाराम की जालोरी गेट घटना में लगी चोट के संबंध में भ्रामक खबरों की सच्चाई…
घटना में लगी थी ASI के सिर में चोट जिससे हाथ और रुमाल पर लगा था  खून…
घटना के बाद चोटिल ASI का कराया गया था मेडिकल व थाना सरदारपुरा मे दर्ज की गई F.I.R. …#AvoidFakeNews pic.twitter.com/LKtJxm0Xki
The ‘BOOM’ fact-checking team had contacted ASI Dhanaaram for more clarification regarding the viral claims circulating about his head injury. Speaking to the ‘BOOM’, ASI Dhanaaram said, “I cleaned my face with the handkerchief before tying it on my forehead. In the video, there’s no blood on my face but blood can be seen on the handkerchief and my hand. I had received a head injury”. ASI Dhanaaram had also shared a few other pictures with ‘BOOM’ that clearly show the injury mark on his head.
To sum it up, the Rajasthan cop in the video did not fake a head injury during the Jodhpur clashes.


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The rape accused with a bitten lip in this photo is not a Muslim - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
February 16, 2023
A photo of a youth with a chopped-off lip is being shared on social media claiming that he is a Muslim named Mohammed Israr and that his lips were bitten off by a woman when he attempted to rape her in the Meerut district of Uttar Pradesh. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Photo of a Muslim youth whose lip was bitten off by a woman when he tried to rape her in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh.
Fact: The photo does show the picture of the rape accused whose lip was bitten off by a woman when he tried to rape her in the Meerut district of Uttar Pradesh. But the name of the accused is Mohit Saini, not Mohammed Israr as mentioned in the post. The accused does not belong to the Muslim community. Hence, the claim made in the post is False.
On reverse image search of the photo shared in the post, a similar picture was found in an article published by the ‘Dainik Bhaskar’ on its website. Sharing the picture, this article reported that a woman had cut off the lips of a youth when he attempted to rape her in a village near the Daraula police station area in Meerut district of Uttar Pradesh. This article reported the accused youth’s name as Mohit Saini.
Reporting the complete details of this incident, several other news websites have also published articles on 05 February 2023. They can be seen here, here and here. According to these reports, on 04 February 2023 afternoon, the accused grabbed the woman by her back while she was working in the field, tore off her clothes and forced her to kiss him. In an act of self-defence, the woman bit off the accused lips and shouted for help. The villagers nearby reportedly caught the accused and handed him over to the police.
The victim filed a complaint & as per the FIR at the Daraula police station, the accused is identified as Mohit Saini and the accused father’s name was mentioned as Mulchand Saini. From all these pieces of evidence, it can be concluded that the rape accused shown in the photo is not a Muslim and there is no communal angle in the incident.
To sum it up, an image of a rape accused from Meerut was shared with a communal narrative.

created: February 16, 2023


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ట్యాంక్‌బండ్‌పై మిలాద్ఉ-న్- నబి ర్యాలీలో పట్టుకున్న మతపరమైన జెండాలను, పాకిస్థాన్ జెండాలు అంటూ షేర్ చేస్తున్నారు. - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
October 3, 2023
రోడ్డు పైన కొంత మంది పచ్చ జెండాలు పట్టుకొని ర్యాలీ చేస్తున్న వీడియో ఒకటి షేర్ చేస్తూ, ట్యాంక్‌బండ్‌పై పాకిస్తానీ జండాలతో పాతబస్తీ మతోన్మాదులు ఊరేగుతున్నారు అని, BRS మళ్ళీ పదవిలోకి వస్తే హిందువులను కాపాడుకోలేము అంటూ సోషల్ మీడియాలో షేర్ చేస్తున్నారు. దీని వెనుక ఉన్న వాస్తవం ఏంటో ఈ కధనం ద్వారా చూద్దాం.
క్లెయిమ్: ట్యాంక్‌బండ్‌పై పాకిస్తానీ జెండాలతో ఊరేగింపు జరిగింది.
ఫాక్ట్(నిజం): ఈ ర్యాలీ మిలాద్-ఉన్-నబి సందర్బంగా ట్యాంక్‌బండ్ పైన చోటు చేసుకుంది. కానీ, ఇందులో యువకులు పట్టుకున్నవి పాకిస్థానీ జెండాలు కాదు, ఇవి మతపరమైన జండాలు. కావున, పోస్టులో చేసిన క్లెయిమ్ తప్పుదోవ పట్టించే విదంగా ఉంది.
ఈ వీడియోలోని కీ ఫ్రేంలను ఉపయోగించి, రివర్స్ ఇమేజ్ సెర్చ్ చేసి వెతకగా, హైదరాబాద్ డెక్కన్ న్యూస్ యూట్యూబ్ ఛానల్‌లో ఇదే వీడియోను పోస్టు చేయటం గమనించాం. ఇది మిలాద్-ఉన్-నబి సందర్బంగా కొందరు ట్యాంక్‌బండ్ వద్ద బైక్‌పై ర్యాలీ చేపట్టిన సందర్బంలో తీసిన వీడియో.
దీని గురించి మరింత వెతకగా, ఈ పండగ రోజున హైదరాబాద్ నగరంలో పలు చోట్ల ఇటువంటి జెండాలను పట్టుకొని పోలీసుల ఆధ్వర్యంలో ఊరేగింపు చేసారు అని తెలిసింది (ఇక్కడ మరియు ఇక్కడ). ఈ జెండాల గురించి పరిశీలించగా, ఈ ర్యాలీ ట్యాంక్‌బండ్‌పైన చోటు చేసుకున్నప్పటికీ, ఇందులో యువకులు పట్టుకున్నవి పాకిస్థానీ జెండాలు కాదు, అని ఇవి మతపరమైన జండాలని తెలుసుకున్నాం.
పాకిస్థాన్ జెండాకు, మిలాద్-ఉన్-నబి ఊరేగింపులో వాడిన మతపరమైన జండాకు తేడా కింద చూడవచ్చు. గతంలో కూడా ఇటువంటి క్లెయిమ్ లపై ఫాక్ట్‌లీ కథనాలను ప్రచురించింది.  వాటిని ఇక్కడ, ఇక్కడ, ఇక్కడ, ఇక్కడ, ఇక్కడ చూడొచ్చు.
చివరిగా, ట్యాంక్‌బండ్‌పై మిలాద్ ఉన్ నబి ర్యాలీలో పట్టుకున్న మతపరమైన జెండాలను, పాకిస్థాన్ జెండాలు అంటూ షేర్ చేస్తున్నారు.

created: October 3, 2023


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The reports of ‘Vaishali Yadav getting arrested for propaganda by falsely posing as a student from Ukraine’ are false - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
March 3, 2022
A post is being shared widely on social media with a claim that Vaishali Yadav, who recently posted a video as a Ukraine student seeking help, was in India but faked as if she was in Ukraine & is a student from there. It is being claimed that the Uttar Pradesh Police arrested her for false propaganda. Let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Vaishali Yadav posted a video faking as if she was in Ukraine studying there. The Uttar Pradesh Police arrested her for false propaganda.
Fact: Vaishali Yadav came to India last year during the Panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh, in which she contested and won as a Gram Pradhan. She went back to Ukraine for studies after the elections. As her video went viral with false claims, the Hardoi SP has clarified that the claims of her location (as India) and arrest are fake. He said that she is in Romania currently. The same has been said by Vaishali Yadav in another video. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
When we searched about Vaishali Yadav on the internet, we found that she recently posted a video about the situation in Ukraine. The video can be seen in a tweet by the ‘Hindustan’.
हरदोई जिले के साण्डी ब्लाक के पूर्व ब्लाक प्रमुख महेंद्र सिंह यादव की बेटी एवं अरवल थाना क्षेत्र के तेरा पुरसौली गांव की प्रधान वैशाली यादव इन दिनों यूक्रेन में फंस गई हैं। रूस-यूक्रेन के बीच जंग छिड़ते ही उसके परिवार के माथे पर चिंता की लकीरें उभर आई हैं। pic.twitter.com/6y86aAx9bG
In an article published by ‘Amar Ujala’ in December 2021, it can be read that Vaishali came to India last year during the Panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh, in which she contested and won as a Gram Pradhan. It was also reported that she went back to Ukraine for studies after the elections and has been coordinating the Panchayat activities from there. However, as the officials got to know of this arrangement after her video went viral, they said that an enquiry is being conducted on how she went back to Ukraine after getting elected as Gram Pradhan and if there are any irregularities. The related news articles can be read here and here.
As the posts went viral that she has been arrested for making a fake video, the ‘Dainik Bhaskar’ has reported that the Hardoi SP has clarified saying the claims of her location (as India) and arrest are fake. He said that she is in Romania currently. Various journalists have also posted the clarification of Hardoi SP, which can be seen here and here. Also, another video of Vaishali Yadav can be seen on the website of ‘Dainik Bhaskar’, in which she refutes the fake claims that she is in India. She says that she was in Ukraine, but she is currently in Romania. Mahendra Yadav (Vaishali’s father) is reportedly a Samajwadi Party leader.
Update (MARCH 4, 2022):
Some social media users are posting other photos of a girl and are making a similar claim.
However, when we searched for information regarding the girl in those photos, we found that the girl in the photo is not Vaishali Yadav. She is Kamala Choudhary, who was arrested for making videos with weapons and challenging the police. She was arrested by the Rajasthan Police, not Uttar Pradesh Police (as claimed in the posts). The tweet made by the ‘Nagaur Police’ regarding her arrest can be seen here. More details about her can be read here and here.
Update (MARCH 7, 2022):
One more photo of a girl is being shared on social media with a similar claim.
The girl in the posted photo is not Vaishali Yadav. If you compare the facial features of Vaishali Yadav and the girl in the photo, it can be seen that both persons are different. While some websites mentioned that the girl in the photo is Neha Sangwan (the girl who stayed back in Ukraine to take care of her landlord’s kids), we could not independently get any details about her.
To sum it up, the reports of Vaishali Yadav getting arrested are false. She is not in India currently.


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‘The Roentgen’s Berlin Secretary Cabinet’ is portrayed as the 150 years Almirah in Kerala - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
September 23, 2020
A video of unlocking a cabinet with marvellous inbuilt mechanism is being shared on social media claiming it as the 150 years old Almirah in Kerala. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Video of unlocking a 150-year-old Almirah in Kerala.
Fact: Video shows ‘The Roentgen’s Berlin Secretary Cabinet’ in Europe built by Abraham and his son David Roentgen in the Eighteenth-century. This cabinet was owned by King Frederick William II. It is now placed as the collection in ‘The Metropolitan Museum of Art’ in Newyork. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
On reverse image search, similar visuals were found in a video published on the official YouTube channel of  ‘The Metropolitan Museum of Art’ (The Met) on ‘25 October 2012’. ‘The Metropolitan Museum of Art’ in Newyork uploaded this video with the title ‘The Roentgen’s Berlin Secretary Cabinet’ on YouTube. In the description of the video, it is mentioned as one of the most important products from Abraham and his son David Roentgen’s workshop. It is described as one of the finest achievements of European furniture making in the eighteenth century. Sharing the same video on the website, ‘The Metropolitan Museum of Art’  mentioned that this cabinet was owned by King Frederick William II. It is also mentioned that this Berlin cabinet is uniquely remarkable for its ornate decoration, mechanical complexity and sheer size. This Roentgen furniture from the Kunstgewerbe Museum in Berlin is showcased at ‘The Metropolitan Museum of Art’ during the Exhibitions.
The same video was also shared by a user on ‘Reddit’ with the title ‘Elaborate Mechanical Furniture- The Roentgen’s Berlin Secretary Cabinet’. Victoria and Albert Museum also uploaded a video describing this cabinet build by David Roentgen.
To sum it up, ‘The Roentgen’s Berlin Secretary Cabinet’ in ‘The Metropolitan Museum of Art’ in Newyork is falsely shared as the 150-year-old Almirah in Kerala.

created: September 23, 2020


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The RSS headed by Mohan Bhagwat has not extended their support for the I.N.D.I Alliance - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
March 27, 2024
A video claiming that the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh(RSS), led by Mohan Bhagwat, has pledged support to the I.N.D.I. Alliance (I.N.D.I.A) is trending on social media (here, here, here). The claim has caught the attention of many, leading to its wide circulation. We will fact-check this claim through this article.
Claim: The RSS, headed by Mohan Bhagwat, has extended its support for the I.N.D.I. Alliance.
Fact: While the video does depict a press conference held by an organisation named RSS, it is not the same as the RSS founded by Keshav Baliram Hedgewar in 1925 and currently headed by Mohan Bhagwat. The video features a different organisation named RSS, led by Janardhan Moon. This organisation, established in 2017, has no affiliation with the RSS led by Mohan Bhagwat. Hence, the claim made in the post is Misleading.
To debunk this claim, we first took note of the logo in the video, which reads ‘Awaz India.’ A relevant keyword search led us to the original press conference posted on a YouTube channel named Awaaz India TV. According to the video’s title, the press conference was held in Nagpur by an organisation named RSS, led by Janardhan Moon.
The description of this video revealed that this RSS is entirely separate from the other well-known RSS founded by Keshav Baliram Hedgewar in 1925.
Janardhan Moon, a social activist, reportedly established this RSS in 2017. He initially applied for its registration at the Nagpur Charity  Commissioner’s office, but the application was declined.
He later filed a petition at the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court, where his appeal was also denied. Notably, this RSS has no affiliation with Mohan Bhagwat’s RSS.
Additional checks were carried out on the official RSS website and social media handles to verify any announcement supporting the I.N.D.I. Alliance. No such statements were found.
To sum up, the claim that the RSS led by Mohan Bhagwat has backed the I.N.D.I. Alliance is misleading, as the video features a separate entity using the same acronym, RSS, not affiliated with the RSS headed by Mohan Bhagwat.


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The Russian Government did not issue an arrest warrant against the U.S. billionaire George Soros - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 8, 2022
A post is being shared on social media claiming that the Russian government has recently issued an arrest warrant against the U.S. billionaire George Soros. Also, this post claims that the Chinese Government had declared George Soros a global terrorist. Let’s verify the claims made in the post.
The archived version of the post can be seen here.
Claim: Russian government issued an international arrest warrant against George Soros and the Chinese government declared Soros a global terrorist.
Fact: The Russian Government did not issue any such arrest warrant against the U.S. billionaire George Soros. George Soros’s name was not listed in the ‘Red Notices’ section on the ‘Interpol’ website. Also, the Chinese government did not issue any press release declaring George Soros a global terrorist. A spokesperson for the Open Society Foundation has confirmed both these two claims as baseless.  Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When we searched to check whether the Russian government had issued any such arrest warrant against the Chairman of the Soros Fund Managemment LLC and the founder of the Open Society Foundation George Soros, we could not find any press release or statement confirming this news on the Russian government website or in any of their official social media handles. Also, we could not find any press release confirming this news on the U.S. Embassy & Consulates in  Russia website. If the Russian government had made any such announcement, several international news websites would have reported that information. But we could not find any news article reporting this information on the internet.
Amid the escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine, on 26  February 2022, George Soros through a blogpost condemned the Russian aggression against Ukraine. George Soros called Russian President Vladimir Putin’s actions a direct attack on the sovereignty of all states that were once in the Soviet nations and called out all world nations to stand in support of Ukraine. But, it is nowhere reported that George Soros was issued an international arrest warrant for these remarks on the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. Also, his name was not listed in the ‘Red Notices’ section on the ‘Interpol’ website.
The Russian Government banned the Open Society Foundation in 2015, saying that the organization poses a threat to both state security and the Russian constitution. In 2018, when the same news got circulated on social media, the Kremlin had clarified that Russian President Vladimir Putin did not seek an international arrest warrant for U.S. Billionaire George Soros.
A few fact-check organizations like the ‘Check Your Post” and ‘USA Today’ have contacted Jonathan Birchall, a spokesperson for the Open Society Foundation, for more clarification regarding this viral news circulating on social media. Jonathan Birchall said, “We can confirm that we have no indication that the Russian government has ever issued an arrest warrant for George Soros’. Likewise, there are no reliable sources to confirm that the Chinese government has declared George Soros a global terrorist. The Chinese government did not issue any such press release on its website. Jonathan Birchall has also confirmed that the Chinese Government had not declared George Soros a terrorist.
To sum it up, neither George Soros was issued an arrest warrant by the Russian government, nor he was declared a global terrorist by the Chinese government.


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The saint at the monastery in Vrindavan was neither attacked by Muslims nor Bangladeshis - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 12, 2020
Some photos of a saint are being shared widely on social media with a claim that he was beaten mercilessly by Muslims at Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh. The post also claims that two of the assailants are Bangladeshis and all the attackers are absconding. Let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
A saint attacked by Bangladeshi Muslims in Vrindavan (Uttar Pradesh).
Fact: While it is true that Tamal Krishna Das (ex-President of a monastery in Imlitala) has been attacked, the attackers are neither Muslims nor Bangladeshis. The accused are the followers of B.P.Sadhu (current President of the monastery). Also, the Mathura Police have denied the claims made in the post. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When searched on the internet about the incident, it was found that the ‘Mathura Police’ have already given a clarification regarding the incident through their official Twitter account. In reply to a tweet, they have posted a video in which the officer mentions that it was an internal fight. He mentions that the followers of B.P.Sadhu (current President of a monastery in Imlitala) have beaten up Tamal Krishna Das (ex-President of the monastery). The main accused, Sacchidanand, has been arrested and the other accused (Govind, Jagannath and security guard- Govind Singh) are absconding.
थाना वृन्दावन क्षेत्र इमलीतला स्थित गौड़ीय मठ के साधुओँ में आपस में हुयी मारपीट करने वाले मुख्य अभियुक्त की गिरफ्तारी व पुलिस द्वारा की जा रही कार्यवाही के सम्बन्ध में क्षेत्राधिकारी सदर द्वारा दी गयी बाइट। pic.twitter.com/w0eJaqZgvM
As the photos went viral with the false claim that the accused are Bangladeshis, the Mathura Police have tweeted denying the claim made in the post. Also, the police clarified that the fight was over opening a room with books.
कृपया बिना सत्यता की जाँच किये बगैर अफवाह न फैलाये । https://t.co/Ish1Z8E2Xi pic.twitter.com/qrW7wrBPQ9
To sum it up, the saint at the monastery in Vrindavan was neither attacked by Muslims nor Bangladeshis.
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The sand sculpture is not the creation of the young boy, but of a Sand Artist from Odisha - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
August 12, 2020
A post with the image of a boy sitting beside his self-portrait sculpture is doing rounds on social media with the claim that the sculpture is the creation of the young boy himself. Through this article let’s verify the claim made in the post.
A young boy made his self-portrait sculpture.
Fact: The sand sculpture is the creation of a sand artist from Odisha. The same image was posted by the artist on his Facebook profile. In correspondence with AFP, he acknowledged that the particular work is his own creation. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Reverse image search of the photo in the claim led us to a Facebook post by Sn Art Sadananda in which he shared the same image alongside the caption ‘SAND ART Today live portrait try’. His timeline is full of artworks like sand sculptures, watercolour painting, wall paintings etc. which he claimed to be of his own creation.
When the same image went viral in Sri Lanka attributing the work to a young boy elsewhere in Sri Lanka, AFP debunked the news. In its fact-check article, AFP confirmed that in their correspondence with Sn Art Sadananda through Facebook messenger, he acknowledged that the particular work is his own creation.
To sum it up, the sand sculpture of the boy in the claim is the creation of a sand artist from Odisha, not by the young boy himself.
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The SC Judgment on Electoral Bonds Highlights Several Important Issues Related to Electoral Financing in India
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
February 23, 2024
Access Comprehensive Data on Electoral Bonds (as of February 2024)
The SC in its landmark judgment on 15 February 2024 struck down the Scheme of Electoral Bonds (EBs) finding it ‘Unconstitutional.’ It also struck down amendments made to three principal legislations in this regard. The court highlighted several important issues related to electoral financing in India in this judgement.
The Supreme Court (SC) of India in its landmark judgment on 15 February 2024 struck down the Scheme of Electoral Bonds (EBs) finding it ‘Unconstitutional.’ In order to allow and give effect to the same scheme, the Parliament in 2017 made amendments to the three principal legislations that regulate the electoral process and finance in India; Sections 29 (C) of the Representation of People’s Act (RPA), 13 (A) of Companies Act (CA) and 182 (1) & (3) of Income Tax Act (ITA) were amended through the Finance Bill, 2017. The SC while holding the Scheme of EBs as unconstitutional has also declared the amendments made to these legislations as unconstitutional. Only the addition of section 31 (3) of the Reserve Bank of India Act (RBIA), which was also done through the Finance Bill, 2017, was allowed to operate by the SC.
The judgment was passed unanimously by a 5-member bench led by Chief Justice D. Y. Chandrachud. While 4 of the judges have written a single judgment, one judge wrote a separate judgment but concurred with the majority opinion albeit with different reasoning. Prashant Bhushan, one of the arguing lawyers on behalf of the petitioners, called the judgment universally welcomed and lauded the judgment.
Since the inception of the EBs Scheme, Factly has time to time published explainers and analysis stories on the EBs Scheme, its nuances, beneficiaries, and other details, along with details of volume and value of bonds sold/purchased (sold), redeemed/encashed (redeemed), etc.
Factly’s previous explainer stories on the issue of Electoral Bonds can be accessed here, here, here & here, and the analysis can be accessed here.
In this story, we look at the timeline of EBs from the beginning to their latest declaration as unconstitutional, the volume and value of EBs that have been issued since their inception till date, the parties that benefitted most and the issues of the electoral process and finance that persist in India yet, besides the landmark judgment of the SC on EBs.
Methodology
The story uses excerpts from the SC’s judgment on EBs, the issues and reasons which have been considered by the SC in declaring the EBs scheme and the amendments made to the pertinent laws as ‘Unconstitutional’.
The story also uses the comprehensive data of EBs sourced from Dataful, which has compiled the EBs data obtained through Right To Information (RTI) Applications and through Annual Audit Reports of Political Parties (PPs) submitted to the Election Commission of India (ECI), that consist details of contribution to political parties through EBs. The same data is used for analysis in the story.
EBs Scheme and Amendments made to Laws
An EB is a bond issued in the nature of a promissory note which shall be a bearer banking instrument. It neither carries the name of the buyer nor the payee. The one (eligible political party in this case) in possession of the electoral bond is entitled to redeem the same.
Until the introduction of the EBs Scheme, the financial donations made to the PPs were reasonably regulated in terms of donor transparency for high-value donations. As mentioned, the pertinent sections of RPA, ITA and CA have made it mandatory for PPs to disclose donor information and the total amount of money received from each donor if the donation exceeds Rs. 20,000 in a particular year. They have also fixed the financial ceiling on the total amount of donations made by the companies to the PPs. However, in the year 2017, these legislations were amended as follows to bring and operate EBs, to provide immunity from disclosure of donor’s information and to allow unlimited funding to PPs.
In addition to these changes, section 31 (3) had been added to RBIA to give power to the central government to authorize any bank to issue EBs. Earlier, it was only the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) that had the authority to do so.
In other words, in contrast to the original requirement of law, any person, group of persons, companies, etc., who are making donations or contributions through EBs to any of the PPs are not required to disclose the details of their name and address, amount of money donated and party to which it has been donated. Along with this, companies are given free will to donate any amount of money to any PP without the disclosure of any of the basic details mentioned before.
Therefore, in a nutshell, the amendments made to these legislations have facilitated anonymity and unlimited political funding to be made through EBs to the PPs.
Timelines of EBs Scheme, Operation and Legal Proceedings in SC
Here is a timeline of EBs since their inception to the SC judgment on 15 February 2024.
The table above shows that since its inception, the EBs Scheme and amendments made to legislations have received opposition from several sections, including the opposition parties, independent regulatory bodies like RBI and the Election Commission of India (ECI).
SC overrules the question of its jurisdiction over economic matters involving constitutional validity and electoral process
A batch of petitions were filed in SC under Article 32 of the Constitution of India against the EBs and the amendments made to the legislations earlier mentioned. One of the primary defences that the Union of India (UoI) had taken before the SC was that the EB scheme and the amendments carried to the legislations were a matter of economic policy. Therefore, the judicial restraint to adjudicate the same matter applies in the case before it. In support of this claim, the UoI relied on several decisions as Rustom Cavasjee Cooper v. Union of India, (1970) 1 SCC 248, etc.
The SC rejected and overruled this claim of UoI by holding that their jurisdiction extends even to the matter of the economic policies when the questions of their constitutionality and electoral process are raised.  Accordingly, the SC dismissed this claim of the UoI and adjudicated the matter.
This is one of the first cases where the SC has considered and adjudicated a matter which involves issues and questions of economic policies.
SC rules anonymity of funding to PPs through EBs is Unconstitutional
Factly’s previous stories such as the explainer story of 22 April 2019 and others have consistently pointed out several issues with the EBs, including the grievous issue of anonymity. It was also highlighted that the practice of anonymity in electoral funding is banned and not permitted in more than 80% of countries across the Americas, Europe & Asia. The disclosure of details of donations has been set as a norm in most of the matured democracies.
The SC in several parts of its verdict had held that maintaining the anonymity of funders to PPs was the chief feature of EBs. Such a practice was held as violative of Article 19 (1) (a) of the Constitution of India – the fundamental right to freedom of expression and speech.
As mentioned, the EBs Scheme permitted non-disclosure of details such as donor, donee and the amount donated to PPs, along with permission for unlimited funding by the companies.
The EBs data compiled by Dataful shows that the anonymity funding or the funding through EBs since the inception year 2017-18 has increased steeply over the years.
The data shows that while the total income of all recognized PPs in the year 2017-18 was Rs. 1226 crores, the income obtained through EBs was Rs. 215 crores, which is about 18% of the total income. However, in the subsequent years, the proportion of this income obtained through EBs increased steeply to 57%, 64% 62% and 62% in the years 2018-19, 2019-20, 2021-22 and 2022-23, respectively, to the total income obtained by recognized PPs. It is only in the COVID-19-affected year of 2020-21 that the proportion of income obtained through EBs was 21% of total income obtained by PPs.
In other words, ever since the EBs started to operate, the proportion of funding received from EBs has drastically increased.
Data shows 90% of EBs Donations were Affluent Donations; SC Rules it as a potential possibility of leading to Quid Pro Quo
As per the EBs scheme, the bonds worth Rs. 1000, Rs. Ten Thousand, Rs. One Lakh, Rs. Ten Lakhs, and Rs. One Crore can be purchased by a buyer and donated to a PP. Though the scheme envisaged the sale of bonds with different monetary values, the data, however, shows that 90% of the income obtained by PPs across all the years was through EBs sold and redeemed worth Rs. 1 crore, the highest value of EBs allowed for sale and redemption.
The data shows that in the first year 2017-18, EBs worth Rs. 222 crores and 221 crores were sold and redeemed, respectively. 86% of these sold and redeemed EBs were those worth Rs. 1 Crore, signifying that the anonymous funding with higher monetary value had started from the introduction year itself. In the subsequent years, the same trend has only increased and consistently stood over 90% each year, including the COVID-19-affected year of 2020-21. This was also noted by SC in its verdict – “ninety-four percent of the contributions through electoral bonds have been made in the denomination of one crore. Electoral bonds provide economically resourced contributors who already have a seat at the table selective anonymity vis-à-vis the public and not the political party.”
Such a trend implies that anonymous contributions could have been made by those who are from the economically affluent class. However, as mentioned, details such as the names of donors, the total amount of money donated each year and the party to whom money was donated, etc., remain unknown.
This phenomenon was held by SC in its verdict as a legitimate and higher possibility of having quid pro quo arrangements between donors and PPs.
Ruling Parties benefitted most from EBs with BJP getting 55% of all till 2022-23
Since the introduction of the EBs Scheme, not many PPs have spoken against it. The CPI (M) (Community Party of India (Marxist) is one of the parties which spoke against it and is believed to have not received any money through EBs. The same party is also one of the petitioners in the case against EBs in SC.
The party-wise analysis of donations received through EBs shows that the ruling party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) received the maximum amount of donations every year, except for the COVID-19 year of 2020-21.
The data shows that since the introduction of EBs, a total of 21 PPs have received money through EBs, including 4 national parties namely BJP, INC, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and All India Trinamool Congress (AITC). In the year 2017-18, only the two national parties BJP and INC have received donations through EBs. While the BJP received Rs. 210 crores, the INC received Rs. 5 crores, which is about 2.3% of the total donations received during the same year.
Though the number of parties receiving donations through EBs has increased in the subsequent years, the ruling party at the centre, the BJP has consistently stood on top in the total amount of donations received each year. For example, in the year 2018-19, the BJP received Rs. 1451 crores of donations, whereas all the other parties together received Rs. 1089 crores. Therefore, 58% of total donations received through EBs by all PPs were received by BJP. During the same year, the INC stood next with Rs. 383 crores in donations at 15% of total donations. Further, in the subsequent 2019-20, 2021-22 and 2022-23 years, BJP received 74%, 39% and 46% of total donations, respectively. During all these years, the BJP continued to be the top party with a higher amount of donations received each year. It is only in the COVID-19 hit year of 2020-21 that the total amount of contributions received through EBs by the BJP was lower than the other parties with Rs. 22 cores. In the same year, the ruling party of Andhra Pradesh Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRTP) stood on top with Rs. 96 crores.
Between 2017-18 and 2022-23, the total amount of money received through EBs is about Rs. 11,948 crores. Out of this, BJP received about Rs. 6,566 crores or 55% of the total which is way above the percentage share of donations received by other parties through EBs. The INC and AITC secure the next position with Rs. 1,123 crores and Rs. 1,093 crores respectively (9.4% and 9.1% in terms of share). All these 3 parties are the national parties. The state party and former ruling party of Telangana, Bharatiya Rastra Samiti (BRS) stands in the next position with Rs. 912 crores donations or 7.6% of the total EBs income.
Further, out of the total value of EBs sold across all the years, about Rs. 25 crores or 0.2% of the total unredeemed EBs went to the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF)
SC Judgment is a leap forward in electoral finance transparency, but India grapples with several other issues
Soon after the EBs Scheme was proposed, independent bodies like the ECI and RBI have said that it is a retrograde step in electoral finance in India, since it leads to various forms of corruption such as black money, quid pro quo, creation of shell companies, etc., thereby affecting the transparency in the elections. The perusal of the SC’s historic judgment reveals it had also weighed heavily on these issues and held that the blanket allowing of unlimited and anonymous donations through EBs is a violation of the fundamental right to equality and information of the voter, as envisaged by Articles 14 and 19 (1) (a) of the Constitution.
While the verdict of SC is a leap forward in the broader context of electoral finance transparency, India however grapples with several other critical issues in the same respect. The SC itself has noted some of these issues in its judgment. For example, the SC noted that “However, the law does not prescribe any limits for the expenditure by a political party…. Thus, there is an underlying dicohotomy in the legal regime. The law does not regulate contributions to candidates. It only regulates contributions to political parties. However, expenditure by the candidates and not the political party is regulated.”
Similarly, Justice Sanjeev Khanna in his separate concurrent judgment had also noted that “suggestions were made that corporate funds should be accumulated and the corpus equitably distributed amongst national and regional parties. I have not in-depth examined these aspects to make a pronouncement. However, the issues raised do require examination and study”
Both these observations of the SC highlight several issues relating to the electoral process and finance prevailing in India.
Similarly, the Central Information Commission in its historic 2013 order held that PPs who have received funding from the Central Government are Public Authorities under section 2 (h) of the Right To Information Act  (RTIA). Accordingly, a direction was issued to the PPs to suo-motu disclose information as envisaged under section 4 (1) (b) of RTIA. However, the CIC order is still pending for implementation. An appeal was filed against it in SC, and the matter is still sub-judiced before it.
The importance of information is also noted by the SC itself in several parts of its verdict on EBs.
Along with these, the increasing number of contesting candidates with pending criminal cases against them, the increasing number of ultra-rich among the elected candidates in the elections, etc. are well-known in India. Cumulatively, these issues highlight the lack of adequate legislative framework, as noted by the SC itself, comprehensive and effective policies, etc. that create an atmosphere and system of accountability and transparency in the regulation of Elections and Political Parties of India, the world’s largest democracy.

created: February 23, 2024


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The SC suggested expert body on freebies will include various stakeholders, not just taxpayers - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
August 9, 2022
Update (25 May 2023): In November 2022, the Supreme Court referred the case to a Bench of Three Judges. The case is currently pending as on 25 May 2023
A post is being shared on social media with the following claim – “The Supreme Court decides to set up a committee yesterday to form an All India Organization of taxpayers should be formed, which will be the biggest organization in the world. No matter which Government is ruling, without the approval of this Organisation, no free electricity, free water, free distribution, or loan waivers can be announced by any government implement them. As the Money belongs to our tax payments, so the taxpayers should have the right to oversee its use….Whatever schemes are announced, the government should first give their blueprints and take consent from this organisation. This should be applicable even to the salaries of MPs & MLAs and the other indiscriminate benefits they get”. Let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: The Supreme Court has decided to set up a committee to form an All-India Organisation of Taxpayers which will be the biggest organisation in the world and oversee the decisions taken by the governments on freebies.
Fact: The SC has not decided to set up a committee to form an All-India Organisation of Taxpayers which will be the biggest organisation in the world. However, the SC suggested an expert body on freebies that will include various stakeholders, not just limited to taxpayers as mentioned in the post. Also, there is no mention of absolute powers to the suggested body. The SC asked the parties to make their suggestions about the composition of such a body within one week’s time. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
When we searched on the internet about the Supreme Court (SC) setting up a committee to form an All-India Organisation of Taxpayers, we could not find any specific information about setting up the world’s biggest organisation to oversee and decide on the plans made by the governments on freebies. However, we found that the SC has recently sought suggestions from different parties about constituting a committee that will look into the freebies issue and makes recommendations.
The recent order of the SC on this matter can be seen here (archive). The court said – “it would be appropriate to constitute an Expert Body with representatives of all the stakeholders: the beneficiaries, those opposing freebies, Central Government, State Governments, opposition parties, Finance Commission, Reserve Bank of India, Niti Ayog etc., to name a few, to take a holistic and comprehensive view of the matter and making their recommendations.” The suggested body will include various stakeholders, not just limited to taxpayers as mentioned in the post. Also, there is no mention of absolute powers to the suggested body.
Also, the SC said – “the parties are directed to make their suggestions about the composition of such a body within one week’s time” and it listed the case on 11 August 2022.
To sum it up, the SC suggested expert body on freebies will include various stakeholders, not just taxpayers.

created: August 9, 2022


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The scattered money shown in this photo was not thrown away by a patient suffering from Cancer - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
July 6, 2022
A photo is being shared on social media claiming it is a recent picture of the money thrown away by a patient suffering from incurable Cancer disease. The post claims that this incident had recently taken place at a hospital in China. The description of the post states, “This picture was taken at the Harbin Hospital in China, where a cancer patient had come with a bag full of money and requested the doctor to save his life by showing his money. But the doctor denied the treatment as his Cancer was in the final stage. The patient was so frustrated with the doctor’s response that he threw away all the money he brought to the hospital and started shouting, “What’s the use of having this money when it cannot save my life?”.” Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Recent photo showing the money thrown away by a Cancer patient at the Harbin Hospital in China.
Fact: The photo shared in the post was taken in 2014 during an altercation between a man and his ex-girlfriend at the Harbin Hospital in China. Outraged with his ex-girlfriend accepting a BMW car from her present boyfriend, a man had thrown away millions worth of money at her in the Harbin Hospital. The man’s ex-girlfriend worked as a nurse at the Harbin Hospital. The man who threw away this money at the Harbin Hospital was not a Cancer patient. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
On reverse image search of the photo shared in the post, a similar photo was found published by a Vietnam-based news website on 12 July 2014. The article reported it is a photo taken during an altercation between a man and his ex-girlfriend at the Harbin Hospital in China. Outraged with his ex-girlfriend accepting a BMW car from her present boyfriend, a man had reportedly thrown away millions worth of money at her in the Harbin Hospital. The ex-girlfriend who was involved in the fight was then working as a nurse at the Harbin Hospital.
Reporting the incident, a few other Chinese news websites also published articles in 2014. They can be seen here, here and here. According to these media reports, the man threw away millions of RMB currency (approximately US$161,100) at his ex-girlfriend following the fight at the Harbin hospital. A doctor from the Department of Cardiology at the Harbin Medical University had reportedly first shared these photos on the internet.
A live witness told the media that the two had been fighting outside the emergency room before the incident. Security guards interfered, and have reportedly resolved the situation at the Harbin hospital. It is nowhere reported that the man who threw away this money in the Harbin hospital was suffering from a Cancer disease.
To sum it up, an old photo related to a fight between a man and his ex-girlfriend at the Harbin hospital in China shared with a false narrative.


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The school inspected by Atishi Marlena in this video is not run by the Delhi Government, but by the MCD - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 17, 2023
A video in which the education minister of Delhi, Atishi Marlena, can be seen inspecting a school and commenting on the bad state of its infrastructure is viral on social media. The post claims that the school is run by the Delhi government and that its new education minister, Atishi, maybe unknowingly exposed the truth that the schools are in poor shape claims the post. Let’s verify this claim through this article.
Claim: The education minister of Delhi, Atishi, exposes the poor state of the schools run by the Government of Delhi.
Fact: The school Atishi Marlena visited is run by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and not the Government of Delhi. AAP won the MCD elections held in December 2022, and Shelly Oberoi became the city’s mayor. Oberoi was also present during this inspection. After visiting this school, Atishi said that the fifteen-year-old legacy of the BJP in the MCD is the reason behind the poor condition of the school. Hence the claim made in the post is Misleading.
We performed a basic keyword search on the internet to check the claim’s veracity, which led us to a YouTube video uploaded by the Aam Aadmi Party’s official channel. This video is a lengtheir version of the viral video in which the Delhi education minister, Atishi Marlena and the Mayor of Delhi, Shelly Oberoi, visit a School in Wazirabad village run by the MCD. In the video, they can be seen confronting the officials regarding the poor infrastructure and maintenance of the school.
According to a report published by the Business Standard ‘Reprimanding the school principal for her negligent attitude, Atishi said, Such a condition of the school is unacceptable and is a result of the BJP’s 15-year-old legacy in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD)…..’ A few more news reports on this can be read here and here.
The municipal corporation of Delhi and the Government of Delhi has a specific set of duties to perform (here); their duties are overlapped in certain sectors. The education sector is one of those; The MCD has to take care of the primary schools, while the Government of Delhi should look after the higher and secondary schools and also colleges.
Before AAP won the Delhi civic body elections in December 2022, BJP was in power for fifteen years. In March this year, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said their party would focus on developing the MCD-run schools. Responding to this, BJP working President Virendra Sachdeva said that the MCD-run schools were in bad shape as the Government of Delhi did not provide them funds for the past eight years (here and here).
To sum up, the school inspected by Delhi education minister Atishi Marlena is not run by the Government of Delhi but by the MCD.


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The scroll in this video was not found during excavations at the Ayodhya Ram mandir site - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
July 19, 2021
A video is being shared on social media with a claim that it shows a scroll that was found during excavations at the Ram mandir construction site in Ayodhya. Let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Video shows a scroll that was found during excavations at the Ayodhya Ram mandir construction site.
Fact: The scroll in the video was not found during excavations at the Ram mandir construction site in Ayodhya. The officials of ‘Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra’ have clarified that no such scroll was found during the excavations. Also, the symbols on the scroll match with the Jewish symbols. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When we searched about the scroll in the video, no credible sources were found in the search results. If really such a scroll was found in Ayodhya, many media agencies would have reported about it. But no such report was found. In 2020, ‘Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra’ made Tweets about the items found during the excavation, which can be seen here and here. None of those tweets mentioned the scroll.
खुदाई के दौरान भारी संख्या में देवी-देवताओं की खंडित मूर्तियों के अतिरिक्त 7 ब्लैक टच स्टोन के स्तम्भ, 6 रेड सैंडस्टोन के स्तम्भ सहित 5 फ़ीट का एक शिवलिंग भी प्राप्त हुआ है।
आगे के कार्य की जानकारी भी आपको समय-समय पर मिलती रहेगी। pic.twitter.com/PdNHHealvj
Also, when ‘Fact Crescendo’ has contacted the officials of ‘Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra’, they have clarified that no such scroll was found during the excavation.
Details regarding the scroll:
When the screenshots of the video were run through Google Reverse Image Search, the same video was found to be on the internet at least since January 2020. No credible information was found regarding the video. The Instagram page – ‘define.avcilari’, which posted the video in January 2020, has posted many similar videos, which can be seen here, here, and here. None of those videos mention that they are related to Ayodhya.
Some social media users have mentioned that the language on the scroll is Hebrew, and the symbols are Jewish. Some of the symbols on the scroll which match with the Jewish symbols can be seen here and here.
To sum it up, the scroll in the video was not found during  excavations at the Ayodhya Ram mandir site.


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The scuffle between police and hawkers in this video is actually from Mumbai, not Bihar. - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
November 2, 2020
A post with a video of a scuffle between hawkers and police is being shared across social media platforms with the claim that the incident happened in Bihar. Through this article let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Video of a scuffle between police and hawkers in Bihar.
Fact: The video actually shows a scuffle which broke out between hawkers and police in Mankhurd area, Mumbai when the latter tried to topple the cart of a street vendor for selling vegetables in an area contained due to the spread of the coronavirus. The video has nothing to do with Bihar. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Google search with relevant keywords led us to an April 2020 news video which carried visuals as in the post. According to the report, the video shows a scuffle which broke out between hawkers and police in Mankhurd area, Mumbai when the latter tried to topple the cart of a street vendor for selling vegetables in an area contained due to the spread of the coronavirus. With this, it can be concluded that the video has nothing to do with Bihar.
Further search led us to a few more news articles dating back to April 2020 which reported the same incident. Even these reports claim that the incident happened in Mankhurd, Mumbai. These articles can be seen here and here. With all these, we can conclude that the scuffle actually took place during the time of lockdown in Mumbai and the incident has nothing to do with Bihar.
In the light of the ongoing Bihar elections, posts like these are being shared on social media platforms with misleading claims.
To sum it up, the video shows a scuffle between hawkers and police which happened during the time of lockdown in Mumbai. The video has nothing to do with Bihar.

created: November 2, 2020


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The sculpture of a giant human skeleton by an Italian artist is falsely shared as the skeleton of Ghatotkacha - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
August 2, 2021
A photo of a giant skeleton is being widely shared on social media claiming it as an 80-feet skeleton of Ghatotkacha, son of Bhima according to Mahabharata. The post claims that the skeleton was found near Kurukshetra. Let us fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Photo of 80 feet giant skeleton of Ghatotkacha, found near Kurukshetra.
Fact: The photo is the sculpture of a human skeleton created by Italian artist Gino de Dominicis, taken in 2007. This giant skeleton is named Calamita Cosmica (or Cosmic Magnet in English) and is now exhibited at the ancient church of the Holy Trinity which is part of the Museum of Italian Contemporary Art Centre of Foligno (CIAC). Ghatotkacha is a prominent character described in the ancient Indian epic of Mahabharata. There are no news reports of a 80 feet giant Ghatotkacha skeleton being found near Kurukshetra. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When reverse image search is done on the photo, the same image was found in a Flickr account. The image was taken on 08 April 2007, with the title ‘Calamita Cosmica’. A hyperlink to the Wikipedia page of Gino de Dominicis was given in the description of the image.
Taking a cue from the description given in the Flickr account, we searched in Google using relevant keywords. A couple of articles (here and here) were found with similar images of giant skeletons. According to the articles, this giant skeleton is named ‘Calamita Cosmica’ (or Cosmic Magnet in English) and was created by Italian artist Gino de Dominicis. The Cosmic Magnet is made of fiberglass, iron, and polystyrene.
The Cosmic Magnet is exhibited at the ancient church of the Holy Trinity which is part of the Museum of Italian Contemporary Art Centre of Foligno (CIAC).
Ghatotkacha is a prominent character described in the ancient Indian epic of Mahabharata. Ghatotkacha is said to be killed in the battle of Kurukshetra, which took place between Kauravas and Pandavas for the throne of Hastinapura. Ghatotkacha was the son of the Pandava, Bhima. There are no news reports of 80 feet giant Ghatotkacha skeleton being found near Kurukshetra.
FACTLY had earlier debunked a similar post about an 80 feet skeleton but with a different image.
To sum it up, the sculpture of a giant human skeleton by an Italian artist is falsely shared as the skeleton of Ghatotkacha.

created: August 2, 2021


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The seizure of the Ganesh Idol warehouse in Karur by Tamil Nadu officials has no communal aspect - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
September 22, 2023
A video in which a group of people who seem to be artisans crafting Ganesha idols from Rajasthan appealing to Tamil Nadu government officials not to close down their warehouse is being widely circulated on social media, attributing a communal narrative, suggesting that the government is displaying an anti-Hindu stance. Through this article let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Tamil Nadu government displayed an anti-Hindu stance by closing down a warehouse of Ganesh idols.
Fact: The state authorities have provided clarification that the closure of the Karur warehouse was a result of their findings indicating the use of banned chemicals, such as Plaster of Paris (PoP), in the crafting of Ganesh idols. This ban on chemicals in idol production is consistent across the country, indicating that there is no communal dimension attached to this incident Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
The viral footage does show the closure of a Ganesh idol warehouse by Tamil Nadu government authorities, even though the artisans pleaded against it. However, it’s essential to clarify that there is no communal aspect to this incident. The officials shut down the warehouse after discovering that the artisans were using prohibited chemicals, including Plaster of Paris (PoP), in the production of these idols.
Google search with relevant keywords yielded multiple news reports that reported the same video (here, here & here). According to these reports, the incident occurred in the Karur district of Tamil Nadu, where officials from the state’s pollution control board sealed a warehouse of Ganesha idol makers for flouting pollution rules.
Further search led us to a series of tweets from the Karur district collector addressing the viral claims and providing clarification. According to the tweet, the action was initiated in response to a complaint lodged by the Traditional Potters Association. They had raised concerns about a group of individuals producing Vinayak idols using Plaster of Paris (PoP), which was impacting their livelihood. The tweet also indicated that these idols would be returned to the makers after 25 September  2023.
The news is factually incomplete and twisted. The truth is as follows –
It has been repeatedly directed by various Honble High Courts, NGT & CPCB that idols made for Vinayak Chaturthi shall be strictly made of biodegradable items. Materials like POP are strictly forbidden. https://t.co/Da5hXN5YhW pic.twitter.com/H9ESPuxKZq
Furthermore, the tweet conveyed the directives provided by the High Courts, NGT (National Green Tribunal), and CPCB (Central Pollution Control Board), emphasizing the strict requirement that Vinayak Chaturthi idols must be exclusively crafted from biodegradable materials, with Plaster of Paris (PoP) being expressly prohibited.
However, this incident is not isolated, as state government officials had previously seized chemical-laden Ganesh idols in Tiruvallur. It’s important to note that the ban on such practices extends beyond Tamil Nadu, with numerous state governments actively enforcing similar regulations. The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board and the Central Pollution Control Board have released guidelines in conjunction with Ganesha Chaturthi. These guidelines promote the use of biodegradable materials for crafting idols while explicitly prohibiting the use of plaster of Paris (PoP), plastic, and thermocol (polystyrene) in idol production.
For the past few years multiple state high courts, relevant authorities, and even the Supreme Court have consistently upheld the prohibition on using chemicals in the production of Ganesh idols. Therefore, it is evident that the actions of the officials in the viral video are in full compliance with the law, and there is no communal dimension associated with the incident (here, here, here & here).
To sum it up, the Tamil Nadu government officials confiscated the warehouse upon discovering the use of chemicals in the production of Ganesh idols.

created: September 22, 2023


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The Shiva lingam in the photo is neither located in Sri Lanka nor is 108-ft tall. - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
July 30, 2019
An image of a Shiva lingam is being shared widely on social media with a claim that it is a 108-feet Shiva lingam located in Sri Lanka. In the post, it is also being claimed that the Shiva lingam is the tallest in the world. Let’s try to analyze the claim in the post.
Photo of 108-feet Shiva lingam, the tallest located in Sri Lanka.
Fact: The Shiva lingam in the photo is neither located in Sri Lanka nor is 108-ft tall. It is a 63-ft Shiva lingam which is located at Nagireddypalle in Bhongir (Telangana). Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When the photo in the post was run through the Yandex Reverse Image Search, a similar Shiva lingam photo from another angle was found in the search results. On the photo, it was written that it belongs to a Facebook/YouTube page called ‘Siddhaguru’.
When searched with keywords ‘Shiva Lingam Siddhaguru’, a link to a website (Siddhaguru Sri Ramanananda Maharshi) with similar Shiva lingam photos can be found in the search results. In the website, it can be read that the Shiva Lingam in the photo is 63-feet tall and is located at Nagireddypalle, Bhongir, Telangana. The details about the location of the site and Siddhaguru can be read here.
Also, when searched for the tallest Shiva lingam, it was found that the tallest Shiva lingam in India is 111.2-feet Shiva lingam of Maheshwaram Sri Shiva Parvathy Temple in Kerala. So, the Shiva lingam in the post is not the tallest in the world.
To sum it up, the Shiva lingam in the photo is neither located in Sri Lanka nor is 108-ft tall. It is 63-ft tall and is located in Telangana.
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The Shivalinga in this image is not from Ayodhya - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 31, 2020
An image of a Shivalinga is being shared on Facebook with a claim that it was unearthed during the excavations for Ram temple construction at Ayodhya. Let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Image of a Shivalinga unearthed during the excavations for Ram temple construction at Ayodhya.
Fact: During the excavation at Ayodhya Ram temple construction site, the remains of ancient temples such as pillars, idols of deities and a Shivalinga were found. But the Shivalinga in the image is not the one found during that excavation. The Shivalinga in the image can be found in an article published in 2016 and is related to a temple in Farrukhabad (Uttar Pradesh). So, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
When the image in the post is subjected to reverse image search technique, it was found in an article of ‘Amar Ujala’ which was published in 2016. As per this article, the Shivalinga in the image is related to a temple in Farrukhabad (Uttar Pradesh).
It is true that during the recent excavations at Ayodhya Ram temple construction site, the remains of ancient temples such as pillars, idols of deities and a Shivalinga were found. The reports published by various newspapers regarding this can be seen here, here and here.
To sum it up, the Shivalinga in the image was not unearthed during the recent excavations for the construction of Ram temple at Ayodhya.
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The Shivalingam seen in this video is located in Malaysia, not Tamil Nadu - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
August 4, 2022
A post accompanied by a video showing a Shivalingam is being shared on social media. The post claims that the Shivalingam is located in Tamil Nadu. It further claims that throughout the year, water from the Sky falls only on the Shivalingam, leaving its surroundings. Let’s fact-check these claims in this article.
Claim: Water from the Sky falls only on this Shivalingam throughout the year, and this is located in Tamil Nadu
Fact: The Shivalingam seen in the video is located in Malaysia. It does not rain throughout the year on the Shivalingam. Hence the claims made in the post are MISLEADING.
A reverse image search with the screenshots of the video led us to a few YouTube videos. One of these videos is the same as the one in the viral post, and its title, written in Tamil, mentions the location as Cork highway, Malaysia. Another video showing the exact Shivalingam titled Shivan Temple (Bentong Karak Old Road) was also found.
We searched on the internet with these clues and relevant keywords and found that this Shivalingam is located in Lord Shiva Meditation Sanctuary, 68100 Batu Caves, Selangor, Malaysia. The images uploaded to Google Maps also match the Shivalingam shown in the viral video.
To confirm if water falls on the Shivalingam throughout the year, leaving the surroundings, we reviewed the videos found during the search process. We can clearly see in this video that no water is falling onto the Shivalingam from the Sky.
Even if we look closely at the video from the original post, we find no trace of rainwater falling on the Shivalingam. There are a few other videos uploaded to YouTube that confirm the same. These videos can be seen here, here and here.
We have not found any official website of the Shivan Meditation Sanctuary. One article published on www.malaysiahanuman.com was found in which they mentioned about this place. There was no mention of water falling on the Shivalingam continuously for 365 days a year.
To sum it up, the Shivalingam seen in this video is located in Malaysia, not Tamil Nadu. It does not rain throughout the year on the Shivalingam.

created: August 4, 2022


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The Silver Jubilee time capsule buried in front of Red Fort by Indira Gandhi was exhumed by the Janata government, back in 1977 - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
July 12, 2022
A social media post requesting the Modi government to unearth the time capsule buried by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in front of the Red Fort back in 1973 is being shared widely. The post which shares an image of the Indira Gandhi holding a metal capsule also claims that she hid some important public documents in the capsule. Through this article let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Request the Modi government to unearth the time capsule buried in front of the Red Fort by former PM Indira Gandhi in 1973.
Fact: Following the silver jubilee of the Independence, former PM Indira Gandhi had buried a time capsule called Kalpaatra in front of the Red Fort on 15 August 1973. However, the move attracted much criticism over the contents of the capsule and subsequently, the Janata government on 08 December 1977 exhumed the time capsule. The contents of the capsule were placed in the Parliament library for MPs inspection and multiple discussions took place over the content. However, the content is not made public and as of now, there are no records of what was in the capsule. A 2012 RTI request with the PMO to furnish the content buried in the time capsule did not yield any result. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
In view of providing the forthcoming generations with information about India’s achievements and important events of Indian history, on the account of the first 25 years of India’s independence, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on 15 August 1973 buried a time capsule in front of the Red Fort. As claimed by the then government, the capsule contains documents which depicts the achievements and important events of Indian history. The Indira Gandhi government named this time capsule Kalpaatra and the task of drawing out significant happenings from the past is assigned to the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR).
However, the move drew much criticism, with opposition parties alleging  that documents merely exalted Indira Gandhi and Jawaharlal  Nehru. Following the criticism, the Janata government under the leadership of Morarji Desai on 08 December 1977 exhumed the time capsule buried by Indira Gandhi.
As per the Parliamentary debates of those times, the contents of the time capsule were made available in the Parliament library for the MPs to have an inspection.
Also, extensive debates over the contents of the capsule were held in the Parliament. Records of Parliamentary debates related to the time capsule, before and after unearthing it can be viewed here, here and here.
According to these debates, there was a demand to make these documents public. However, as of date, these documents are not made public. Moreover, there is not much information regarding the whereabouts of the capsule following its exhumation.
As per news reports back in 2012, academician and writer Madhu Purnima Kishwar sought information about the time capsule from the PMO through an RTI application. The PMO, however, in its reply claimed claimed that it had no record of the time capsule.
Kishwar then approached the Central Information Commission, to which the commissioner ‘directed the PMO to make a renewed search for any available records on the subject and if necessary, they can take up the matter with the National Archives and the ASI to know if they have any such records.’
To sum it up, the Silver Jubilee time capsule buried in front of Red Fort by Indira Gandhi was exhumed by the Janata government, back in 1977.


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The Simpsons Did Not Predict a Mexico vs Portugal Final for the 2026 World Cup - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
February 19, 2024
A viral claim across social media suggests that the renowned American animated sitcom ‘The Simpsons’ predicted a World Cup 2026 final between Mexico and Portugal. A screenshot from the show is being widely shared in support of this assertion. In this article, we aim to fact-check the validity of the claim put forth in the post.
Claim: ‘The Simpsons’ predicted a World Cup 2026 final between Mexico and Portugal.
Fact: The Simpsons did not directly predict anything about the 2026 World Cup. The specific episode featuring a reference to the Mexico vs Portugal match did not specify the year of the event, contributing to its ongoing circulation. In fact, identical screenshots were shared during both the 2018 and 2022 World Cups as well. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
From the Trump presidency to Fox’s acquisition by Disney, the acclaimed show “The Simpsons” has been linked to several purported predictions that have seemingly come to fruition. Moreover, the USA is one of the three host nations for the FIFA World Cup 2026, alongside Mexico and Canada. Against this backdrop, the viral image suggests that the show foresaw a Mexico vs. Portugal final in the 2026 FIFA World Cup. However, the show did not explicitly make such predictions regarding the 2026 World Cup.
In the episode ‘The Cartridge Family,’ which aired in November 1997, the Simpson family is depicted lounging around watching TV when a commercial grabs their attention. It’s a promotional spot for a soccer match boldly claiming to determine ‘which nation is the greatest on earth: Mexico or Portugal.’ The match appears to take place in Springfield.
Nevertheless, the episode in question did not provide any clear indication of the year in which the match occurred. This ambiguity has led to the continued circulation of the same screenshot over the years. For instance, identical screenshots were shared during both the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
Nonetheless, the scene ought to be regarded as a coincidence rather than a prophecy or prediction, as the episode lacks any narrative elements that could be interpreted as foreseeing the events that would unfold years later.
As mentioned earlier, over the years, numerous false rumours have circulated about the show predicting the future. The writers of the show have dismissed these rumours regarding the show’s supposed ability to predict the future. Addressing the episode allegedly predicting Trump’s presidency, Al Jean, one of the show’s writers, remarked, ‘One of our writers, the individual whose episode predicted Donald Trump as president, put it best: “If you write 700 episodes, and you don’t predict anything, then you’re pretty bad. If you throw enough darts, you’re going to get some bullseyes.”‘
Moreover, he cited the World Trade Center episode, emphasizing that although the show’s writers frequently make informed conjectures drawn from contemporary events, trends, and their perceptions, the purported “9/11 reference” was purely coincidental. Thus, all these details affirm that the references in the show should be viewed as coincidences or well-informed speculations rather than predictions.
Further, as previously mentioned, the USA is one of the three host countries for the 2026 World Cup. However, the tournament’s fixtures have yet to be determined, and there is no match scheduled to take place in the city of Springfield, mentioned in the viral episode.
To sum it up, the Simpsons show did not forecast a Mexico vs Portugal final for the 2026 World Cup.

created: February 19, 2024


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The skeleton in this picture is not real and does not show an Indian soldier from the 1965 war - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
January 4, 2021
A photo of a skeleton with a gun is being shared on social media with a claim that it shows the remains of an Indian soldier who fought in the 1965 war. It is also being claimed that when the remains were found three months after the war, the soldier’s fingers were on the trigger. Let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Photo showing the remains of an Indian soldier who fought in the 1965 war.
Fact: The skeleton in the picture is not real. It is a model created by ‘Dilip Sarkar MBE’ in 2017. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When the image was run through Yandex Reverse Image Search, similar photos were found in the search results. In the description of the photos, some of them mentioned that it is a model. It can be observed in one of the photos that the model is credited to ‘Dilip Sarkar MBE’.
So, when we searched on the Facebook profile of ‘Dilip Sarkar MBE’, the same photo was found to be posted by him in January 2018. He wrote that the model was made using the vintage Airfix 1/6 scale skeleton and Dragon Action figures bits and was for a magazine article.
The same photo was previously debunked by ‘Teyit’ in 2018 when the photo went viral with the claim that it shows a Turkish soldier. ‘Teyit’ reported that Dilip Sarkar clarified to them that the model was created by him in 2017 and represents an ‘Alman’ (English translation – German/Dutch) soldier. The step-by-step creation of the model can be seen in the ‘Military Modelling’ magazine.
To sum it up, the skeleton is not real and does not show an Indian soldier from the 1965 war.

created: January 4, 2021


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The SMS service of this number is no longer active in relation to blood donation - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
September 24, 2021
A post is being widely shared on social media claiming that one can get blood in an emergency if he/she sends an SMS to the number 9600097000. Factly received a query on its WhatsApp tip-line number (+91 9247052470) to check the authenticity of the claim. Let us fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: To get blood during emergency, send an SMS to 9600097000.
Fact: The SMS service of 9600097000 in relation to blood donation is no longer active. SMS to 9600097000 was a service started by Airtel and Jeevan Blood Bank in Chennai in 2008 to provide instant information about availability of blood. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
The SMS service of 9600097000 in relation to blood donation is no longer active. SMS to 9600097000 was a service started by Airtel and Jeevan Blood Bank in Chennai in 2008 to provide instant information about the availability of blood.
According to the 2008 Press Release in Jeevan Blood Bank’s website, Airtel had started a project named “Airtel Cares for Everyone”. ‘This is a first of its kind initiative, wherein people can source information on blood within minutes and access the real-time stock of tested blood components from Jeevan Blood Bank 24 hours a day.’ SMS service through the number 9600097000 (which is now going viral but not in service with relation to blood donation presently) was given to provide information about the availability of blood.
To sum it up, the SMS service of this purported number is no longer active in relation to blood donation.

created: September 24, 2021


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The soldiers in the image were sent on election duty, not free air travel by the central government. - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 1, 2019
A user has posted an image on Facebook saying that the BJP government has arranged flights for the soldiers in the army. Let’s try to analyze the claim made in the post.
The archived version of the post can be found here.
For the last 60 years, under the Congress government, soldiers have travelled in general bogies by lying down at the empty space near toilets. But when these images were sent to Modi and Suresh Prabhu, they arranged flights for the soldiers in the army.
The images were taken in 2016 when the ITBP (Indo-Tibetan Border Police) jawans were sent by the Election Commission of India for the election duty in Kerala. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
If the images in the post are properly observed, it can be seen that the badge on the soldiers’ uniform reads “ITBP” and they were travelling in an Air India plane. So, when searched for “ITBP Air India” on Google, in the search results it can be found that the ITBP soldiers were being moved to Kerala on election duty. Similar images of a different batch of ITBP soldiers being moved to Kerala by ECI for election duty were tweeted by ITBP on its official Twitter account.The above post which is being shared currently on Facebook has also been shared widely last year. At that time, some of the others fact-checkers like Boom Live and SMHoaxSlayer have already written fact-check articles on this news. But with recent Pulwama attack and General elections coming up, the fake post again resurfaced and being spread on social media.
Recently, after the Pulwama attack, the BJP did announce free air travel to CAPF jawans but only on specific routes. The Home Minister has tweeted regarding this on his Twitter account.Finally, the soldiers in the image were being sent by the ECI on election duty, not free air travel by the central government.