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Living Planet Report 2020: Humans are overusing Earth's biocapacity by at least 56%
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
September 15, 2020
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) recently released the ‘Living Planet Report 2020’. The report paints a grim picture of the loss of biodiversity across the world. It reports an average 68% fall in the monitored vertebrate species populations between 1970 and 2016. The report states that humans are overusing Earth’s biocapacity by at least 56%.
World Wildlife Fund (WWF)’s flagship biennial publication, ‘Living Planet Report’, brings together different research work to provide a comprehensive understanding of the Earth’s health. The latest report for 2020 was released recently. It clearly states how humans’ unsustainable activities are stressing the Earth’s natural systems which essentially support life on the planet.
The Industrial revolution in a way resulted in the modern environmental problems that humans are currently faced with. Human activities have resulted in degradation and damage of forests, wetlands, grasslands, and other key ecosystems, which in turn jeopardize human wellbeing. The Living Planet Index (LPI), provided by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), is an indicator of the biological diversity. It is calculated on the basis of the trends in population of vertebrate species including mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians around the world, considering 1970 to be the base year.
Global vertebrae population down by 2/3rd & freshwater species population down by 84%
As per the 2020 report, data from 20,811 populations of 4,392 species, shows an average 68% decline in monitored populations between 1970 and 2016. That is, the global vertebrate species population witnessed almost a 2/3rd decline in 46 years.
The index calculated for 3,741 populations of freshwater species revealed an average decline by 84%, equivalent to 4% per year since 1970. This was in the case of freshwater animal species including mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and fishes. Most of the decline in this case was evident in freshwater reptiles, fishes, and amphibians, mainly in Latin America and Caribbean regions.
Furthermore, it was also observed that megafauna, or species with a larger body size, were more vulnerable to anthropogenic threat as they require a larger habitat, have lower adaptability, and have only fewer offspring. For instance, in the case of freshwater systems, hippos, river dolphins, otters, and hippos are some of the megafauna species. Human activities such as dam construction obstruct their migratory routes to feeding and breeding grounds.
Status of Flora has been studied in the report for the first time
For the first time, the Living Planet Report also investigates the status of plants, which provide fundamental support for life on earth. The number of terrestrial plants that have been documented to be extinct is double the number of extinct mammals, birds, and amphibians combined. In a sample of thousands of plant species, 22% of the plant species, majority in the tropics, were threatened with extinction. Documenting the extinction of plants is a difficult task, unlike in the case of animals. Similar assessment, to ascertain the risk of extinction of trees are also being carried out.
Insect and butterfly populations are significantly affected
In terms of number of species, insects dominate the animal kingdom. There may be over 5.5 million insect species, with tropics housing the most. In terrestrial ecosystems, insects play a vital role in pollination, pest regulation, processing of nutrients in soil, and are a major source of food for other animals.
In a recent analysis of wild bee and hoverfly carried out in UK, a net loss of 11 species (4 bees and 7 hoverflies) per square kilometre between 1980 and 2013 was recorded. The population of large moths in UK also dropped by 31% between 1969 and 2016. Population of ground beetle species in UK declined by 75% between 1994 and 2008, with population of nearly half of them down by more than 30%. In Germany, insect abundance declined by an alarming 78% between 2008 and 2017 in grassland sites.
Meanwhile, the population of butterflies has declined in Northwest Europe as a result of intensification of agriculture. In the Netherlands, it is estimated that an average of 84% decline occurred between 1890 and 2017 for 71 butterfly species.
While the degradation in environment was rapid in the last few decades, the total GDP has increased four times and extraction of living materials from nature has tripled, and human population has doubled simultaneously.
Five main threats to biodiversity caused by human activities
The 2020 report highlighted the five main threats to biodiversity caused by human activities. They are the following.
Per human consumption is among the highest in developed nations
The Earth’s biocapacity is the ability of the planet’s ecosystem to regenerate- that is provide natural resources as well as absorb the waste produced by humans. As per the report, however, humans demand as if they are living off 1.56 Earths. The COVID-19 induced lockdowns across the world reduced human demands by almost 10%. The consumption of natural resources per person across countries (ecological footprint) shows that the consumption is high in the developed countries such as USA, Australia, and Russia. India’s per person consumption is among the lowest, less than 1.6 global hectares per person. However, multiple factors such as accessibility, affordability, and availability, come at play when it comes to resource consumption.
Food wastage should be limited
As per the report, wastage in food is not only a major contributor to climate change, but also is a wastage in terms of land, water, energy, labour, capital, and other resources that go into its production. Food lost in supply chains or wasted by consumers account for 6% of global greenhouse gas emissions (which is three times the emissions due to aviation) and nearly a quarter of all emissions from food production. Weaknesses in global food system were exposed by the pandemic.
Thus, introduction of national food wastage targets and policies will prove to be an effective step forward. Overconsumption, specifically that of meat, should also be avoided. Foods that are rich in vitamins and minerals that provide immunity should be made available for all, irrespective of wealth. The current economic policies of governments (e.g.: direct or indirect subsidies to use fossil fuels) that incentivize environment damage cannot be eliminated because of political complexities. What can be done is to incentivize individual behaviours, as per the report.
India’s ecologically intact land is among the most damaged
Since the year 2000, ecologically intact land, free from human pressure in the size of Mexico has been lost, mainly in tropical and sub-tropical grasslands, savannah, and shrubland ecosystems and the Southeast Asian rainforests. Only 25% of land on earth distributed in Russia, Canada, Brazil, and Australia can be considered ‘wilderness’ without human presence. India is among the countries that have highly modified the ecologically pristine land. Similarly, hardly 13% of the Oceans can be considered ‘wilderness’. Warming up of oceans, plastic pollution, overfishing, coral bleaching, and coastal ‘development’ have altered the marine ecosystem. Ocean heatwaves have already destroyed half the corals on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. Scientists have projected that a 2°C  global temperature rise will result in the almost complete eradication of coral reefs across the planet.
Future pandemics may be avoided by safeguarding environment
In 2019 and 2020, there have been unprecedented natural events such as locust attacks, bushfires, droughts and extreme heatwaves, heavy cyclones, and the coronavirus pandemic that have resulted in irreparable damage and heavy losses, all because of climate change and environmental degradation. Even though the origin of COVID-19 has not yet been established, 60% of emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic- emerging from animals. The Nipah outbreak in Malaysia, SARS in China, Ebola in West Africa are some of the diseases caused by anthropogenic alterations to the ecological systems which naturally regulate pathogenic risk. This calls for environmental interventions to safeguard human health by protecting environmental health. The effects can be catastrophic if these are not taken care of.
Transformational change is an urgent requirement
Many countries were already lagging in achieving global targets and goals such as SDGs that governments had signed up for. This gets further exacerbated if biodiversity loss, which is intertwined with other SDGs such as poverty alleviation and health, is not addressed. A transformational change is what is needed now with changes in production and consumption patterns of food and energy, increased conservation efforts, and a global collective effort. Citizens, governments, and business leaders should all come together and create a movement before it is too late to ‘bend the curve’.

created: September 15, 2020


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LK Advani did not tweet about RSS, Modi, and Amit Shah; he has no official Twitter account - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 25, 2022
A post is being widely shared on social media claiming that LK Advani had tweeted criticising RSS, Modi, and Amit Shah. Let us fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: LK Advani tweeted criticising RSS, Modi, and Amit Shah.
Fact: LK Advani, the former Deputy Prime Minister of India has no official twitter account, therefore, he could not have made any tweets by himself. In June 2013, LK Advani resigned from all decision-making panels of the BJP because of the alleged RSS’ micromanaging of affairs in BJP and his displeasure with people like Narendra Modi. However, a couple of days later, he withdrew his resignation. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
LK Advani, the former President of BJP, has no official twitter account, hence he could not have made any tweets by himself. When we searched for @LK_Adwani twitter account mentioned in the post, we found that the account doesn’t exist anymore. The purported tweet that was shared in the post could also not be found as the account doesn’t exist anymore. The full name of LK Advani is Lal Krishna Advani. There is a spelling mistake in the name of the twitter handle. It is ‘Advani’, not ‘Adwani’.
We searched for any news articles regarding such statements made by Lal Krishna Advani on RSS, Modi, and Amit Shah but found none. In June 2013, LK Advani resigned from all decision-making panels of the BJP. The reasons being RSS’ micromanaging of affairs in BJP and his displeasure with people like Narendra Modi. However, a couple of days later, he withdrew his resignation.
To sum it up, LK Advani did not tweet about RSS, Modi, and Amit Shah; he has no official twitter account.

source: news-factly

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

author: Sai Krishna Muthyanolla


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Fraud cases of Loan steadily rise in Public Sector Banks
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 21, 2015
The 26 Public Sector Banks (PSBs) have reported a steady rise in the amount involved fraud cases of loan disbursed (1 lakh rupees & above). For three years from 2011-12 to 2013-14, the PSBs have reported more than 10000 crore rupees involved in such cases of fraud. There is also a 86% rise in such amount in these 3 years. State Bank of India leads the pack with 1230 crore rupees.
Ask any middle class Indian or a farmer and they would tell you how difficult it is to avail a bank loan. While the norms for availing loans from Public Sector Banks (PSBs) look stringent, data with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) shows that the fraud in loan cases is steadily rising in public sector banks and such amount run into thousands of crores.
86% rise in the forgery & cheating amounts in 3 years
The 26 PSBs reported an average of 1200 fraud cases of loan per year during each of years from 2011-12 to 2013-14. These are cases related to fraud in loan of Rs 1 lakh and above. Between 2011-12 and 2013-14, there is a 86% rise in the amount involved in such cases. The amount involved for 2011-12 was 2246 crore rupees, for 2012-13 was 3773 crore rupees and for 2013-14 was 4184 crore rupees. The steady rise in the ‘amount involved’ while the number of cases is more or less the same is also indicative of increasing size of such loans. This trend is definitely alarming.
Bank Wise trends
In terms of individual banks, State Bank of India leads the pack in terms of amount involved. In the 3 years from 2011-12 to 2013-14, an amount of 1230 crore rupees was involved in such cases of fraud in SBI (those of 1 lakh & above). Indian Overseas Bank comes is next with 1143 crore rupees & Canara Bank is third with 1062 crore rupees. Central Bank of India, Allahabad Bank & Bank of Baroda are next in the list. These 6 banks account for 59.4% of the total amount involved in such cases of fraud. Eight of the 26 banks have amounts less than 100 crore in such cases.  These include State Bank of Mysore (6 crore), Bank of India (11 crore), United Bank of India (13 crore), Bank of Maharashtra (16 crore).
In terms of average amount involved in such cases, Canara Bank comes first with 7.37 crore rupees followed by Dena Bank (6.57 crore), Indian Overseas Bank (5.58 crore), State Bank of Patiala (4.23 crore) and Central Bank of India (4.22 crore). Though State Bank of India has the highest amount involved in such cases of fraud, the average amount per case for SBI is only 2.69 crore rupees. United Bank of India has the lowest average amount with 0.11 crore rupees followed by Bank of India with 0.12 crore.
Number of Employees Probed
A total of 6203 employees of the 26 banks were probed in these three years in relation to such cases of fraud. The highest number of employees were probed in SBI (789) followed by Allahabad Bank (479), Punjab National Bank (426) and Central Bank of India (392).
What is the RBI doing?
The RBI has issued detailed instructions through a circular in 2012 containing all the details relating to frauds. On receipt of fraud related reports from banks, various aspects related to the frauds are examined and concerned banks are advised to report the case to Central Bureau of Investigation / Police / Serious Fraud Investigation Office. They are also asked to examine staff accountability, complete proceedings against the erring staff expeditiously and take steps to recover the amount involved in the fraud. The circular also directs banks to claim insurance wherever applicable and streamline the system and procedures so that frauds do not recur.
Banks initiate & probe staff accountability and staff involvement in all the fraud cases and on completion of investigation, commensurate punishment is awarded to the delinquent employees based on the seriousness of the wrongdoings as per Bank’s disciplinary rules which includes censuring, administrative warning, suspension of the employees, reduction in scales of pay, monetary penalty and recovery of losses, Compulsory retirement, termination from service, dismissal with disqualification from future employment etc.
RBI as a part of its supervisory process also takes the following measures to prevent/reduce the incidence of frauds:
The Government has set up the Central Registry, as the nodal agency for maintaining records of registrations relating to securitization, reconstruction of financial assets and security interest created over properties to minimize the frauds relating to multiple mortgaging of a property with different lenders.
But despite all these measures, the amount in such fraud cases is steadily rising and this is a definite cause for concern.
Source: Answer to Unstarred Question Number 2095, Ministry of Finance, on 05 December, 2014 in Lok Sabha.


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More than 90% of Domestic flight routes connect to Lockdown Red zones
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 13, 2020
It is anticipated that domestic flight services will resume soon though in a limited way. However, the challenge for resumption of services is that more than 90% of the domestic flight routes connect a place in the red zone. Moreover, 21 of the top-25 busy routes in India connect places, both of which are in the red zone.
All modes of public transport in the country were closed because of the lockdown. Even the railway services for passengers were stopped around 50 days ago, when the nation-wide lockdown was imposed to contain the spread of COVID-19. However, since 12 May 2020, passenger train services have been resumed partially, on some designated routes. A few special trains connecting major cities from Delhi are now operational. The railways will gradually increase the number of trains. However, only asymptomatic ticket holders will be permitted to travel. The Ministry of Home Affairs has also issued a Standard Operating Procedure (SoP) for the passengers. Since the railways resumed operations, it is anticipated that air travel may also resume soon.
Air Travel may also resume soon
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has hinted that domestic flights will also resume operation soon. There is demand  from people stranded in different cities for resuming airline services. If airline services are to resume, the aviation industry is also expected to come up with precautionary measures such as mandatory social distancing within the flight, masks, screening, among others, and a SoP as in the case of railways.  Operations may start from a few cities initially, and gradually expand to other major cities. Unfortunately, majority of the cities with substantial contribution to the domestic air traffic are in the red zone.
We analyse the domestic air traffic data, available on the DGCA website to identify the 25 busiest routes in India and how many of them fall in the red zone.
Monthly data on city wise air traffic is released by DGCA
DGCA provides monthly data on air traffic in domestic routes across the country. The latest city-wise data available is that of January 2020. February 2020 data is yet to be published. The city wise data shows the number of passengers who travelled to and from a pair of given cities.
More than 90% of the domestic flight routes connect a place in the Red zone
The data from January 2020 shows that there are 538 routes in total across India. A summary of the COVID-19 zones, as classified by the Central Government, in which each of the two cities that the route connects, is located is as follows. It has to be noted that the classification was last done on 30 April.
It is evident from the above table that 40% of the domestic flight routes connect cities both of which are in the red zone. Around 34% of the routes are those which connect a place in the red zone with that in an orange zone. A further 16% of the routes connect a place in red zone with the one in a green zone. More than 400 routes accounting to more than 90% of the routes in the country connect a place in the red zone.  There are only 16 routes connecting places in orange zones while there are 18 routes that connect a place in the green zone and another in orange zone. Only 18 routes connect places both are which in the green zone.
Almost all the major metropolitan cities in India fall in the red zone. This includes Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad. It should be noted that these are the cities that account for a substantial share of domestic air passenger traffic.
At least one of the cities in top 25 flight routes in India lies in Red zone
If domestic air passenger data from January 2019 is considered,  it is observed that at least one of the cities- source or destination, or both, in the top 25 routes lie in the red zone. Of these 25 routes, there are four routes that connect a city in red zone to another in green zone (Dabolim in Goa and Guwahati in Assam are the only two cities in green zone).
The list of 25 routes in the descending order of domestic passenger traffic (from January 2019 to January 2020) is shown in the table below.
Top 25 routes account for 40% of the Domestic Air Traffic
Between January 2019 and January 2020, the top ten routes with maximum passenger traffic  accounted for 23.3% of total domestic passenger traffic. These frequently travelled 25 routes have accounted for an average of 41.7% of the total domestic passenger traffic in India. The remaining 513 routes account for only 58.3% of the total domestic passenger traffic. That is, an average of 50 Lakh people travelled in these 25 routes out of the total 1.2 crore passengers that travelled every month. The trend in percentage contribution of top ten and top 25 routes to total passenger traffic in the last one year is represented in the chart below.
Resumption of flights may be tricky because of the Red zones
Resuming domestic flight services across only green zones, as is being reported in certain quarters will serve little or no purpose since the traffic in these routes is negligible. As explained previously, more than 90% of the domestic routes connect a place in the red zone. Furthermore, 21 of the top-25 routes connect places both of which are in the red zone.
Resuming flights on these busy routes may pose a challenge of the virus spreading if adequate measures are not taken. The number of passengers per flight might also reduce by a third if social distancing norms are to be followed. Movement of people to the airports, especially in red zones poses another challenze. All this means that the resumption of air traffic has to be carefully thought through.
Resumption of International flight services will take longer
The government, under the Vande Bharat mission is currently evacuating Indians stranded in various countries abroad on special flights. However, resumption of regular international flight services may take longer because of the restrictions and the spread of the virus in various countries.


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Lockdown Effect: Digital transactions decrease in April 2020
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 4, 2020
The Demonetization exercise in 2016 gave a fillip to digital transactions. Since then, the volume of digital transactions has been steadily increasing. However, because of the lockdown, the volume of digital transactions decreased in April 2020 compared to the previous months.
Digital India is the flagship program of the BJP led NDA government. The campaign was launched in July 2015 with the motive, ‘Faceless, Paperless, Cashless’. That is, through this program, the government aims to incorporate the perks of digitization into governance. Government services are supposed to be made available to citizens online. Promotion of cashless transactions and conversion of India into a less-cash society is also an important goal of the program.
There are two major events since the launch of the Digital India campaign, which may have impacted the volume of digital transactions in the country.  First is the demonetization of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes in November 2016, which was announced in an attempt to unearth black money, plug financing to terrorists and make India a tax compliant and less-cash society. Second is the lockdown which has been imposed currently, as a measure to contain the spread of COVID-19. The current lockdown started on 25 March 2020, and as per the latest Ministry of Home Affairs’ notification, it has been extended up to 17 May 2020, a total of 54 days.
MEITY developed the Digidhan
dashboard which helps monitor volume of digital transactions in India
Post demonetization, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology(MEITY) has been entrusted the task of promoting digital payment transactions. ‘Digidhan mission’ was set up under the ministry, with a target of 2,500crore digital payment transactions in the financial year 2017-18 and alsoenable digital payment infrastructure throughout the country. ‘Digidhan dashboard’ was also developed by the ministry to keep track ongrowth of digital payments and related infrastructure. The data used in thisstory from 2017-18 is from the dashboard. Data for 2016-17 is from a Lok Sabha response given in 2018 during the previous NDA term.
Digital transactions increased
substantially from 2016
If the annual volume of digital transactions from the financial year2016-17 is considered, a clear surge in digital payments transactions isevident, as depicted in the following chart. A total of 16 digital paymentstransaction modes are recorded in the dashboard. These include AEPS, BHIM, BHIMAadhar, Closed Loop Wallet, Credit and Debit Cards, IMPS, Internet Banking,Mobile Banking, NACH, NEFT, NETC, PPI, RTGS, and Others. For the financial year2020-21, that is for April 2020, data on all modes of transactions isunavailable. Data for only 8 modes of transactions is recorded for April 2020.
While, in 2016-17, the volume of digital transactions stood at 1,087crore transactions, it rose to 2,071 crore transactions in the followingfinancial year of 2017-18. It was during financial year 2016-17, that the governmentannounced the unprecedented demonetization exercise which is the prime reasonfor the 91% increase in digital transactions volume between 2016-17 and2017-18.
In the subsequent financial years of 2018-19 and 2019-20, the increase of digital transactions stood at 51% and 34% respectively. In the current financial year i.e. 2020-21, between 01 April 2020 and 01 May 2020, the Digidhan dashboard shows that total digital payments transactions stand at 151 Crores. However, it should be noted that the data for April 2020 is incomplete as mentioned above.
Huge increase in 2017 followed
by steady increase in the following years
A month on month comparison of the volume of transactions reveals the changein volume in a particular month, in different years. Here, month on monthcomparison for the months of March and April is made since the nation-widelockdown was implemented in the end of March and April.
The total volume of digital transactions in April has been on a rise since 2016. The volume of transactions increased by a whopping 145% in April 2017 compared to April 2016, on account of demonetization. The increase has been steady in the following years with 31.4% in April 2018 and 47.6% in April 2019. Similar trend is observed for the month of March. However, a clear dip is observed in the volume of digital transactions in April 2020 (in the financial year 2020-21) on account of the lockdown.
March and April 2020 data is provisional in the case of debit card, credit card, PPI, RTGS and NEFT. Further, data for April 2020 is available only for eight modes of transactions.
Since data for 2020 is available only for eight modes of transactions-Credit and Debit Card, Internet Banking, Mobile Banking, NEFT, PPI, RTGS, andothers, a month on month comparison of transaction volumes for these modes forMarch and April is discussed below.
Increase in Internet and Mobile
banking transactions in March 2020
In the month of March 2020, which marks the end of 2019-20, the volume of transactions through internet banking, mobile banking, and NEFT increased considerably compared to March 2019. Transactions through mobile banking have almost doubled compared to 2018. Internet banking transactions increased by almost 11% in March 2020 compared to March 2019. Same is the case in NEFT transactions which increased by around 8%. More than a three-fold increase in the transactions falling in the ‘others’ category was observed in March 2020. The transactions falling in this category include Mobile Wallets such as Paytm, Freecharge, and Mobikwik, Micro ATMs, etc.
April 2020 witnesses a fall in transactions across all
modes
Provisional data from the Digidhan website indicates that the volume of digital transactions in April 2020 (in the year 2020-21) decreased across all modes compared to April 2019 (in the year 2019-20). There has been a considerable decline in the volume of credit card, debit card, internet banking and other transactions. This could be the direct result of lockdown where almost all economic activity barring essential services has come to a stand-still. However, between 2017 and 2019, the volume of transactions across all modes witnessed a gradual increase.
Reports show digital
transactions initially increased and then plummeted during Lockdown
Initially, when people started to work from home, there was an increase in the volume of digital transactions as most people used online platforms for various payments, grocery shopping and other activities. However, after the lockdown was announced resulting in the closure of most businesses, a clear decline in digital transactions is observed as even e-commence is limited to essential goods.  The slump in economic activity is reflected in the decline of digital transactions. Even newspaper reports initially claimed that there has been an increase in grocery shopping online. After that, digital payments have been reported to have plummeted after the initial surge in volumes as consumption has reduced.
Featured Image: Lockdown Effect on Digital transactions


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Lockdown Effect: Here is a list of all major Exams affected by COVID-19
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 19, 2020
Education is one of the few sectors badly affected by COVID-19. In India, many examinations are affected by the COVID-19 induced lockdown. Here is a list of these major exams.
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly disrupted the education sector globally. According to UNESCO, which has been monitoring school closures due to COVID-19 across the globe since 16 February 2020, the number of enrolled learners affected by COVID-19 gradually increased and touched the peak on 02 April 2020 with over 159.8 crore learners across 194 countries. All of these were affected by lockdowns announced by various national governments. This number amounts to 91.3% of the total number of learners enrolled in various levels of education, ranging from pre-primary, primary, secondary, and tertiary. Tertiary educational level refers to degree, diploma, and certificate courses. Since then, the numbers have witnessed a slow decline. As on 18 May 2020, more than 121 crore students across 156 countries, amounting to 69.1% of the total number of students enrolled, stand affected due to country wide closures. In addition, there are lakhs of students affected by localized closures.
Of 32 crore students affected in India, more than 40% are those studying in classes 9 to 12
Even before lockdown was across the country, educational institutions were among the first few places to be shut when cases of COVID-19 began to surface in India. The UNESCO dashboard shows that more than 32 crore students in India have been affected so far, with over 13.3 crore students in the secondary educational level alone, those from class 9 to class 12. These are the students who face board examinations, and entrance examinations for higher studies.
In India, the lockdown was imposed at that time of the year when schools and colleges prepare for the end of academic year and with final/annual exams around the corner. Entrance exams for higher education are usually held during this time. But all these exams have been postponed owing to the lockdown.
Ministry of Human Resources and Development has announced that students of classes 1 to 8 will be promoted to the higher classes. For students of class 9 and 11, students would be promoted based on internal assessments. If the students have failed in the school exams, they have been given a chance to appear for re-exams which can be online, offline, or any innovative test.
Below is a list of various examinations affected by the lockdown and their current status.
What about Board Examinations?
For students of class 10 and 12, the pending board examinations have been scheduled between 1 to 15 July 2020. Exams will be conducted only in the major 29 subjects as recommended by MHRD. Students, parents, and schools have been strictly instructed to take the necessary precautionary measures while appearing for exams.
The schedule for class 10 students in North East and Delhi can be accessed here. The same for class 12 students is available here.
The dates for class 10 and 12 board exams under ICSE are yet to be announced. The pending exams will be held over a period of 6 to 8 days including weekends.
Different dates have been announced by respective state boards for conducting the board examinations, depending on the COVID-19 situation.
Entrance Examinations
Engineering
Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) Main, examination for getting into top engineering institutes in India like IITs and NITs, was proposed to be held in the last week of May after assessing the situation. The National Testing Authority (NTA) had clarified that a circular stating that JEE Main has been rescheduled to July first week is fake. This circular was widely circulated on social media.
Later, on 05 May 2020, MHRD announced that JEE Main Examinations will be held on 18, 20, 21, 22, and 23 July 2020.
JEE (Advanced), held for the top rank holders in JEE Main, which was scheduled to be held on 17 May stands postponed to 23 August 2020.
Medicine
National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for medical and dental undergraduate courses, both in government and private colleges, which was postponed to last week of May 2020, has been re-scheduled to be held on 26 July 2020 as per MHRD’s announcement. Time for corrections in online application form has been extended 31 May.
All India AYUSH Post Graduation Entrance Test (AIAPGET) is the annual online examination held for admission to the post graduate courses such as MS, MD, or PG Diploma in Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha, and Homoeopathy. The exam was initially scheduled to be held in April. However, the exam stands postponed and new dates are yet to be announced.
Law
The Consortium of National Law Universities holds centralized admission test, Common Law Admission Test (CLAT), to the 22 NLUs across India. The exam, which was supposed to be held in May, was earlier postponed to 21 June 2020. It has now been postponed to a new date. The new date of the examination will be announced on 01 July. The application deadline has also been extended to 01 July. The new date will be announced by 01 July giving students at least 21 days prior notice.
CA
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India has notified that foundation course, intermediate course, and final course examinations under the old and new schemes, which are usually held in the month of May and June, have been scheduled to be held between 30 July and 16 August 2020.
CS
The Institute of Company Secretaries of India announced that Company Secretary Executive Entrance Test (CSEET) scheduled to be held on 28 May has been postponed to 17 July 2020.
Architecture
The National Aptitude Test in Architecture (NATA), held by the Council of Architecture for admission to undergraduate architecture courses has been postponed. The new date will be announced once the lockdown is over.
Central Universities
Central Universities Common Entrance Test (CUCET) is the nationally held common entrance exam to various undergraduate and post graduate programs across 18 central universities set up under the Central Universities Act, 2009.  The exam has now been postponed until further notice. The exam was originally scheduled to be held between 30 May and 06 June 2020. The last date for online application has been extended till 23 May.
Hotel Management
National Council for Hotel Management & Catering Technology, Joint Entrance Examination (NCHM JEE) is a computer-based entrance examination for admission to B.Sc. course in Hospitality and Hotel Administration in India. The exam is conducted by NTA and was supposed to be held in April. However, it has been postponed until further notice. The online application forms are open for correction up to 22 May.
Other Important Examinations
Civil Services
Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) announced through a press release earlier this month that Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination, 2020, scheduled to be held on 31 May 2020 stands deferred. The Commission has further stated that fresh dates will be announced after reviewing the situation on 20 May. Personality test for remaining candidates for the Civil Services Examination, 2019 has also been postponed until further notice.
The fresh dates for the exams will be announced with a notice of at least 30 days so that the candidates get adequate time.
Staff Selection Commission (SSC)
The Staff Selection Commission has notified that the new dates for SSC CHSL Tier 1 2019, SSC JE Paper 1 2019, SSC Stenographer Grade C & D 2019, and other exams will be announced after reviewing the situation on 18 May 2020. The dates will be announced at least one month in advance.
Further, NTA has announced extension in dates for submitting online applications for Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) entrance examination, UGC National Eligibility Test, and Joint CSIR- National Eligibility Test.
Though this story focuses on only some of the major examinations held at the national level, there are numerous other examinations, both entrance and recruitment related, that have been affected due to the pandemic at the national and state levels. Many exams such as PSC, Bank Exams, engineering entrance etc. have been affected. Exams conducted by private educational institutions will form another long list.
Schools and colleges are now pushing for online assessments such as examinations and assignments. Even classes are being conducted online. In colleges, even placements have been significantly affected.
Featured Image: Education impact of COVID-19


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Lockdown Effect: How have MNREGA wages increased over the years?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 11, 2020
With thousands of migrant workers returning to their villages, the work under the MNREGA is expected to provide an important lifeline to crores of households. Here is a look at the wage increase under the scheme over the last 9 years.
Following PM Narendra Modi’s announcement of nationwide lockdown on 24 March 2020, the finance minister within two days, announced a ₹ 1.7 Lakh crores relief package under the Pradhan Mantri Gharib Kalyan Yojana. The increase in daily wage for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGA) workers was also notified and that the increase of ₹20 per day would be applicable from 01 April 2020, providing an additional benefit of ₹ 2000 to each household, assuming they are provided full 100 days of work.
Around 13.62 crore families were expected to be benefitted with this announcement. However, there are many claims surrounding this announcement stating that BJP led government conveniently made the annual practice of wage revision into a relief measure announced in the light of COVID-19.
Wages under MNREGA are increased annually
MNREGA is a centrally sponsored scheme implemented on cost sharing basis between Central and State governments with the centre funding a large portion of the budget. Every year, the daily wage for MNREGA workers is revised by the Central Government on the basis of Consumer Price Index– Agricultural Labourers, in order to neutralize the effect of inflation. The new wage is applicable from 01 April, with the onset of new financial year, as has been the practice since 2012-13. This year, the revision was published in the official Gazette on 24 March 2020. The announcement regarding revised wages for unskilled labourers was announced as a part of the Gharib Kalyan Yojana as a part of relief measure on 26 March 2020, two days after the revision was notified.
The payment to the workers is made on piece rate basis, that is, determined by the amount of work done. The Schedule of Rates for each state is different, because of which the work output and wage calculation also vary from state to state.
The latest wage hike is the highest since 2015-16
The Finance Ministry announced that the daily wage under MNREGA was increased from ₹ 182 to ₹ 202, an increase of 11%. The increase is a result of higher CPI – AL in 2020 as compared with the previous years, which indicates an increase in inflation in rural India.
In 2020-21, the wage has been hiked by almost 10% on average across states, compared to 2019-20. This hike has been the highest since 2015-16. In 2013-14 and 2014-15, the wage hike was around 11%. Between 2015-16 and 2019-20, the wage hike was only in single digit percentage points between 2% and 6%. The average amount increased (₹ 20) in 2020-21 is the highest since 2012-13.
In a first, wages in all the states increased by more than ₹ 10
In the states, wages have been increased 6% to 15.5%.  In Maharashtra, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, wages increased by more than 15%. A total of 17 states and union territories have recorded an increase in wages by more than 10%. Seven states, five of which are from north eastern region, have recorded a less than 7% increase. On the other hand, the increase in wage amount varies from ₹ 13 to ₹ 34 across states. The number of states and UTs under each category of wage increase by amount are listed in the table below. It has to be noted that in 2018-19 and 2019-20, 10 and 7 States/UTs did not see a wage increase respectively.
In the last 9 years, wage in Kerala increased by ₹127 while in Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh saw an increase of only ₹58
In the 9-year period from 2012-13 to 2020-21, wages have increased by ₹ 90 at the national level, an increase of 63%. During this period,  Kerala recorded the greatest increase in terms of wage amount, by ₹ 127 (77%). Tamil Nadu and Puducherry witnessed an increase of ₹ 124, up by almost 94%. A total of 9 States/UTs have reported an increase of at least ₹ 100 during this period. West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh are the states with the least increase in wages since 2012-13 i.e. by 50% and below. The three states have also reported low increase even in terms of amount- by less than ₹ 70 in 9 years.
The wage hike in 19 states and UTs is less than ₹ 20
While announcing the wage hike, Finance Minister stated that the increase in wages would provide an additional benefit of ₹ 2000 to each wage seeker household. Not only does the additional benefit each household gets depend on the state, but also depends on the number of days they are provided employment. In the previous financial year of 2019-20, only a total of 28.16 Lakh households had an attendance of 100 days and 11.57 Lakh households had an attendance between 100-150 days, out of 14.26 crore households that had registered themselves under the scheme.  In other words, less than 3% of all the registered households got gainful employment of 100 or more days in 2019-20.
Wage Seekers who do not get employment are paid unemployment allowance
When a person who has registered under MGNREGA applies for work and does not get it within 15 days of raising the demand, he/she is entitled to a daily unemployment allowance. For the first 30 days of unemployment in a financial year, they will be paid 25% of the wage rate. For the rest of the financial year, they will be paid 50% of the wage rate. The fixing of rates for unemployment allowance and making necessary budgetary provision are within the purview of the state government.
Daily wage for unskilled agricultural labourers is almost 30% higher than wage for MNREGA workers
MNREGA wages are considerably lower compared to that of agricultural labourers. As far as MNREGA is concerned, Haryana offers the highest wage rate of ₹ 309 among all states, followed by Kerala with ₹ 291. The wage is less than ₹ 200 in five states- Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, and in some areas of Himachal Pradesh.
In contrast, as per the Labour Ministry’s latest order dated 8 May 2020, the Variable Dearness Allowances  (VDA) for unskilled agriculture labourers has been increased in the range of ₹62 to ₹67, which has raised their minimum wage rate to between ₹ 362 to ₹ 400 per day depending on region of employment.
Committee recommended use of CPI- Rural index to calculate wage revision
The NDA government had constituted a committee headed by a former Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Rural Development to study the appropriate index for revising MNREGA wages. The committee recommended the use of ‘CPI – Rural’ in place of ‘CPI- AL’, which is currently being used. However, the recommendation of the committee was under consideration of Finance Ministry as of January last year.
Demand for work under MNREGA expected to increase with migrants returning to their villages
Thousands of migrant workers are returning to their native villages because of the crisis caused by COVID-19. The lockdown restricted movement and economic activity, resulting in loss of work for the migrant workers. As more and more migrant workers return to their villages, it is expected that the demand for work in rural areas will substantially increase in the coming months. Thus, across India, it is expected that the number of persons dependent on the MNREGA, will increase manifold. As on 09 May 2020, there are over 27.3 crore persons who have registered themselves for employment under the scheme.
It has been reported that the Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh has written to the Rural Development Ministry asking the Centre to permit the government to pay MNREGA workers in the form of food-grains instead of cash. Meanwhile, the Jharkhand Chief Minister has reportedly said that they would be tweaking the guidelines of MNREGA in order to provide jobs to the migrant workers returning to the state.
Governments must take adequate measures to support the poor in rural areas
The law provides for additional employment, up to 50 days for those in areas affected by natural calamities and drought. This is one provision which the Central Government can invoke to help those who have been adversely affected by the lockdown. Labour intensive projects can be chalked out by governments to provide employment opportunities for more people.
As is evident from the data, the lockdown has had a significant effect on employment generation under the scheme in the month of April due to suspension of activities. This has been analysed by Factly in an earlier story. The Central Government, later, on 20 April 2020 allowed MNREGA activities to resume under the condition that necessary precautions such as social distancing and hygiene are strictly adhered to.
In the current financial year, MNREGS is expected to be an important lifeline for crores of households adversely affected by the COVID-19 crisis. The government has to substantially increase the budgetary support for the program, well over the current allocation if it has to meet the work demand of all these households.
Featured Image: Increase in MNREGA wages


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40% households worked under NREGS in April 2020 compared to last year
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 8, 2020
The ongoing lockdown in the country has affected many sectors. Though activities in the rural areas began in 2nd half of April, the impact of the lockdown was visible. Compared to April 2019, less than 40% the households worked under the NREGS in April 2020.
The nationwide lockdown was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 24 March 2020, initially for a period of 21 days, to check the spread of COVID-19. However, now the lockdown has been extended to 54 days, up to 17 May 2020 with certain relaxations. The unprecedented crisis has brought the whole country to a standstill. Except for essential services, most of the economic activities have been halted temporarily for an indefinite period of time. The impact of this move on the Indian economy is a widely discussed topic these days.
The World Bank’s South Asia Economic Focus, Spring 2020 report projects India’s GDP growth in 2020-21 to be between 1.5 to 2.8% as a result of the collapse in economic activities because of COVID-19.
More than half of the global workforce are at risk of job-loss as per ILO
There is widespread apprehension of lay-offs, job loss, and hiring freeze across sectors. The International Labour Organization has been constantly monitoring the situation world-wide. ILO’s study has revealed that job loss has escalated globally. Furthermore, the study says that as an impact of the lockdown and loss of employment in hardest-hit sectors, more than 50% of the global workforce, around 1.6 billion workers, engaged in the informal economy are highly vulnerable to job loss. Therefore, ILO has urged governments across the globe to take necessary actions to deal with the ongoing and future situations of job crisis due to the pandemic.
CMIE data indicates unemployment in India was highest at 27.1% as of 03 May 2020
According to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, a think-tank based in Mumbai, as of 03 May 2020, unemployment rate in India surged to a peak and stood at 27.1%. The figure is expected to worsen as the lockdown is extended. Labour participation rate, which represents a country’s active workforce, has also risen to 36.2%, according to the report. Through the consumer pyramids households survey conducted by CMIE, the company has estimated that employment fell by 114 million in April 2020 in India. The employment figures, as per CMIE are the lowest in the last four years from when it started collating such data.
Small traders and daily wage labourers are among the worst affected because of the lockdown. Their employment has fallen significantly, from an average of 128 million in 2019-20, to 116 million in March  2020 and mere 37 million in April 2020, as per CMIE. However, the count of farmers during this period has increased by 6 million.
More and more people return to Rural India
Loss of livelihoods and return of migrant workers to their villages has now created the need for more work in rural India. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005, also popularly known as MNREGA, is a social security scheme implemented by the Ministry of Rural Development together with state governments. The legislation guarantees 100 days of wage employment in a financial year, to adult members in a rural household who are willing to do unskilled manual work at a fixed minimum wage. Activities under MNREGA were also suspended among other activities, during the initial phase of the lockdown. However, works under the scheme were allowed from 20 April 2020.
In the ongoing financial year 2020-21, 66.2 lakh households have been provided work till date.
Number of households registered under the scheme increased by 10% in 7 years
The number of households that have registered for employment under MNREGA has increased from 12.97 crore households in 2013-14 to 14.29 crore households in 2020-21, an increase of about 10% in seven years.  However, not all those households that have registered get work. On an average, around 37% of the households are provided work under the scheme. The financial year 2016-17 saw the largest percentage of households given work i.e. 39% of the total registered households. In the current financial year of 2020-21 which is only a month old, work was provided to only 66.2 Lakh households, approximately 4% of the total registered households.
April 2020 had reported the least activity under MNREGA in the last eight financial years due to lockdown
In the second half of March 2020, when few states such as Telangana and Kerala imposed lockdown at the state level, MNREGA activities were disrupted. The works were also not allowed in the last week of March when a nation-wide lockdown was imposed. Despite these  disruptions, more than 1.5 crore households were provided work in the month of March 2020. However, in the following month of April 2020, the number of households provided work decreased by a whopping 61% because of the lockdown.
Over the past eight financial years for which data is available, lowest number of households were provided work in April 2020. This is primarily due to the lockdown when the works were not allowed in the first half of April. Since April 2019 reported the highest number of households getting work in 8 years, the decrease in April 2020 is about 61%. The works under the scheme were allowed from 20 April 2020.
Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh together accounted for half the number in April 2020
It is interesting to observe that in April 2020, almost 46.4% of the households who were provided work were from the states of Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Of the 65.6 lakh households, 18.3 lakh households were from Andhra Pradesh and 12.2 lakh households were from Chhattisgarh.
Even in April 2019, Andhra Pradesh accounted for the largest number of households provided work with 15% of national total. Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh together contributed to 21% of national total in April 2019. Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Telangana had reported work to most households in that order in April 2019. However, Telangana did not report providing work to any household while 17 states and union territories reported providing work to less than one lakh households each.  Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu reported providing work to 2.63 lakh and 1.62 lakh households respectively in April 2020.
North East States account for almost half the households reported in May, till date
Data for May 2020, as on date, shows that 88,985 households were provided work. Around 25,800 households were in Assam, followed by 15,995 households in Tripura. North eastern states of Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, and Sikkim, alone account for 48.8% of the households given work in May. Mizoram and Nagaland have not reported providing work to any household. One has to wait for the full data of May to understand the impact of the lockdown.
MNREGA activities to continue prioritizing water conservation related work, outside containment zones
During the second phase of lockdown, the Central Government notified guidelines to re-start some economic activities in areas outside containment zones. It was announced that MGNREGS works could also be resumed from 20 April 2020 provided that the social distancing is strictly followed, and all workers wear masks. The government has asked states/UT governments to prioritize irrigation and water conservation works such as construction of check dams, canals, gully plugs, farm ponds, recharge pits, and other similar water harvesting techniques. The Centre might have highlighted this in the light the upcoming monsoon season. Additionally, works listed in ‘Permissible Works List’ under Schedule 1 of MNREGA Act are also permitted like agriculture and allied sector related works, and rural drinking water and sanitation related works.
An increase in daily wage by Rs.20 was announced under COVID relief package
The daily minimum wage for MNREGA workers was raised from Rs.182 to Rs. 202. The announcement was made by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman while announcing a Rs.1.7 Lakh Crore relief package under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana.
Rural Development Minister Narendra Singh Tomar announced on 30 April 2020 that the ministry has sanctioned Rs. 33,000 crores under MNREGA, out of which Rs. 20,624 crores have been released to liquidate all outstanding dues of previous years.
Plea in the Supreme Court to pay minimum wages to workers during lockdown
There has been a demand by activists to compensate daily wage labourers during this period of national distress, so that they can make their ends meet. A PIL was filed in the Supreme Court asking the government to pay the migrant workers at least the minimum wage. Furthermore, some state governments have reportedly announced aids for MNREGA workers while activities have resumed in some parts of the country amidst the lockdown.
Despite the government asking employers to refrain from salary cuts or lay- offs, the situation on the ground is different with cashflow difficulties of SME employers. Considering the dominance of unorganized sector in India, the government will have to come up with a comprehensive economic package to mitigate the issues faced by MSMEs.
Featured Image: Lockdown Effect on NREGS


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Lockdown again from 15 June? No, it’s a photoshopped ‘Zee News’ template - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
June 10, 2020
An image with ‘Breaking News’ template of ‘Zee News’ channel is doing rounds on social media which says that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has signalled a possibility of complete lockdown in the country again after 15 June 2020, and the services of trains and flights will be halted. But, ‘Zee News’ has clarified that it has not run that news on their channel and the image with such news on its ‘Breaking News’ template is photoshopped. The Press Information Bureau (PIB) has also debunked the claim and said that the news is ‘fake’.
Sources:
Claim –
1. Facebook post (Archived)
Fact –
1. Zee News clarification – https://zeenews.india.com/hindi/india/fake-news-of-lockdown-again-going-viral-on-the-name-of-zee-news/693373
2. PIB tweet  – https://twitter.com/PIBFactCheck/status/1270641032909123585
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Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla’s daughter's name did appear in the Reserve List of selection for the Civil Services Examination, 2019 - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
February 9, 2022
A post is being shared on social media claiming that Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla’s daughter Anjali Birla had become Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer without appearing for the Civil Services Examination (CSE). This post claims that Anjali Birla was selected as an IAS officer through back-door entry using her father’s position. This post claims it as a display of complete misuse of power which will affect the reliability of the country’s most trusted examination. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla’s daughter Anjali Birla was selected for IAS without giving the Civil Services Examination (CSE).
Fact: Om Birla’s daughter Anjali Birla did appear for the main and preliminary examinations of the Civil Services Examination (CSE), 2019.  She was selected in the consolidated reserve list released about five months after the first list of CSE main examination results. Anjali Birla shared her CSE admit card and the Detailed Application Form (DAF) to several news websites. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
On searching the internet with relevant keywords, it is found out that Om Birla’s daughter Anjali Birla has cleared the 2019 Civil Services Examination (CSE) conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). According to the media reports, Anjali Birla’s name was listed in the consolidated reserve list released on 04 January 2021, about five months after the Civil Services Examination final result was declared on 04 August 2020.
On 04 January 2021, The Union Public Service Commission recommended 89 reserve list candidates to fill up the remaining vacancies based on the Civil Services Examination, 2019. We found Anjali Birla’s name and her Roll Number (0851876) in the selected 89 reserve candidates list released by the UPSC. Also, we found the Anjali Birla Roll number in the preliminary examination result list of CSE 2019.  So, the official records confirm that Anjali Birla took both the preliminary and mains examinations of the CSE, 2019.
In January 2021, Anjali Birla through an Instagram post dismissed these rumours being spread on social media. She termed them baseless and mindless criticism. Anjali Birla in her Instagram post said, “UPSC Civil Services Exam is conducted in three stages stretched over a year & you can only become a civil servant if you pass all three of them. UPSC CSE is an extremely fair & transparent process, there is no backhand entry. Please respect the institution at least. It’s sad that I had to produce documents to show that I cleared all the three stages!!!”.  Anjali Birla said that she had missed the first list by only 8 marks in the General category. Further, Anjali Birla tagged ‘The Quint’ fact-check article in which she gave a detailed clarification regarding the false news being spread on social media. Anjali Birla shared a copy of her Admit card and the Detailed Application Form (DAF) to ‘The Quint’ fact-check team.
‘NDTV’ did a live interview with Anjali Birla regarding these rumours on her clearing Civil Services Examination without even appearing for the examination.  Speaking to the NDTV, Anjali Birla said, “I was taken aback that I have to explain after giving an exam that I did study for it. But I feel it made me stronger because later on, I would face such unfounded criticism even more in life. It made me mature as a person”. NDTV had also telecast the 2019 CSE admit card of Anjali Birla and confirmed that she had appeared for the Civil Services Examination 2019.
The Civil Services Examination is conducted annually by the UPSC in three stages ie; Preliminary, Mains, and Interview. After the interview, the commission decides on a general qualifying standard and releases the first list of candidates who have successfully cleared the cut-off marks without any relaxations. Apart from these, the Commission, in accordance with Rule 16 (4) & (5)  of the  Civil  Services Examination Rules, maintains a Consolidated Reserve List in order of merit below the last recommended candidate under the respective categories. The commission releases the reserve candidates list about six months after the main result of the respective CSE. In the 2019 Civil Services Examination, the number of vacancies declared by the government was 927, but the number of successful candidates declared by the UPSC in the first list was 829. Later, the commission recommended 89 reserve list candidates for different Civil Services as sought by the Department of Personnel & Training (DOP&T). When these rumours on backdoor entry in CSE went viral on social media, the UPSC issued a press release clarifying the selection procedure of the reserve candidates list.
To sum it up, Om Birla’s daughter Anjali Birla did appear for all three examination stages in the CSE, 2019.

created: February 9, 2022


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Lord Macaulay did not deliver this speech in the British Parliament in 1835 - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
January 25, 2021
A social media post claiming that in his British Parliamentary address dated 02 February 1835 which glorifies India, Lord Macaulay advocated for the breakup of the spiritual and cultural heritage of India by replacing its old and ancient education system in order to conquer India. Back in 2014, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan through a tweet also shared the same image which he said was Macaulay’s British Parliament address in 1835. Through this article let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Lord Macaulay’s 1835 British Parliamentary address glorifying India and advocating a plan to conquer India.
Fact: Lord Macaulay’s ‘Minute on Education’ address dated 02 February 1835 establishes the fact that he did not address British Parliament on that date. There are no British parliamentary records of the purported speech available on Hansards. Even in ‘Minute on Education’, Macaulay has rooted for Western education. There are multiple news articles available which state that Macaulay had not made such comments glorifying India. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
A simple Google search with relevant keywords led us to TB Macaulay’s ‘Minute on Education’ address dated 02 February 1835 shared by Columbia University which ascertains the fact that Macaulay had not addressed the British Parliament on that day as claimed in the post.
Further in this minute, Macaulay has not made any statement lauding India’s ancient education system as claimed in the post. In fact, in this minute promoting western education Macaulay has stated that ‘shelf of a good European library was worth the whole native literature of India and Arabia’.
Lord Macaulay’s remarks on India in British Parliament in 1933 can be read in the book Speeches by Lord Macaulay: With His Minute on Indian Education Code. His comments in the speech appear to contradict the comments in the post.
Also, multiple keyword searches on Hansard archives, which documents British parliamentary records from the early 19th century did not yield us any records of the purported speech.
News articles by The Hindu have ascertained that Lord Macaulay did not make any such comments as claimed in the post. Earlier, posts with a similar speech with the word ‘India’ replaced with ‘Africa’ were widely circulated which can be seen here. All these establish that Lord Macaulay did not deliver any speech glorifying India and advocating a plan to conquer India in British Parliament on 02 February 1835.
What Lord Macaulay said about Africa and Africans to British parliament in 1835. pic.twitter.com/jgGKIOqKEU
To sum it up, Lord Macaulay did not deliver a speech glorifying India in British Parliament in 1835.

created: January 25, 2021


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South India has more than twice the number of Domestic LPG Connections as East India
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 2, 2015
According to the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, there are a total of 17.78 crore domestic LPG connections in the country making it 715 connections for every 1000 households. South India has the most number of connections which is more than twice the number of connections than East India though the population of South is lower than that of East. The OMCs have an under recovery of more than 2% of the annual Union budget every year while only 0.22% of the total consumers have voluntarily given up their subsidy.
Subsidized Domestic LPG is one of the largest chunks of subsidy extended by the Government to the citizens. From 2011-12 to 2013-14, the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) had an average under recovery of more than 38,500 crore rupees per annum. This is more than 2% of the annual Union Budget. The under recovery of OMCs on Domestic LPG has been increasing year after year. OMCs had an under recovery of 29997 crore rupees in 2011-12. This increased to 46458 crore rupees in 2013-14. This is a jump of more than 50% in 2 years.
Number of Domestic LPG Connections
As of February 2015, there are a total of 17.78 crore domestic LPG connections in the country. This is about 715 connections for every 1000 households. South India has the highest number of connections with 5.62 crore followed by North India (5.51 crore), West India (3.97 crore) & East India (2.68 crore).
What about individual States?
Only 6 states have more than a crore domestic LPG connections with Maharashtra topping the chart with 2.15 crore connections. It is worth noting that Maharashtra has more connections than Uttar Pradesh though its population is substantially less than that of UP. The other states with more than a crore connections include Andhra Pradesh (1.12 crore), Tamil Nadu (1.69 crore), West Bengal (1.03 crore) and Karnataka (1.05 crore). Three of the six states in this list are from South India. Lakshadweep with just 5000 connections has the least number of connections in the entire country.
Number of Domestic LPG Connections per 1000 Households
Absolute number of connections could sometimes be misleading because of the sheer variation in the population & number of households in various states. Hence it is important to compare normalized figures to understand the extent of LPG connections. The number of domestic LPG connections in each state has been normalized with the number of households in that state. This figure of number of connections per 1000 households could give important insights into the LPG coverage in the country.
As expected, South India leads the pack with 922 connections for every 1000 households while East India stands last with only 416 connections for every 1000 households. In other words, South India has more than twice the number of connections than East India for every 1000 households. The national average stands at 715 and only North & South India are over this average while the East & West are below the average.
What about States?
A total of 22 States/UTs have more domestic LPG connections for every 1000 households when compared to the National Average. 12 of them have more than 1000 connections for every 1000 households. Delhi leads the pack with 1782 connections for every 1000 households followed by Chandigarh (1663), Goa (1626), Mizoram (1323) & Punjab (1321) in the top five. Though Uttar Pradesh has the second highest number of connections in the country, it has only 634 connections for every 1000 households. Odisha is at the bottom with just 296 connections for every 1000 households followed by Jharkhand (324), Bihar (330), Chhattisgarh (339) & Meghalaya (344) in the bottom five.
Give up Subsidy
Ever since the BJP came to power in May 2014, the government has been requesting people who can afford to voluntarily to give up their subsidy. As on 1 May 2015 only 3.84 lakh people have give up their subsidy. This is a paltry 0.22% of the total domestic LPG Connections. For the government to save a substantial amount, a lot more citizens should come forward and give up their subsidy.
Sources:
Featured Image: By Krish Dulal (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 or GFDL], via Wikimedia Commons


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LS Elections Data: Number of Polling Stations Crossed 1 million, and More Than 70% Constituencies Had More Than 10 Contestants in 2019
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 22, 2024
All the datasets related to the Lok Sabha Elections (from the 1st  to the 17th Lok Sabha Elections – 1951 to 2019) are available on Dataful.
Data from the past Lok Sabha elections reveals that almost 85% of the contestants lost their deposits in both 2014 & 2019. Further, the number of polling stations crossed the 1 million mark in 2019.
In the first part of the series of stories on elections, we looked at some of the trends related to Independent candidates such as their growth, vote share, success rate and how a negligible number of independent candidates retain the deposits.
In this second part, the primary focus is on trends related to overall contestants.
Less than 15% of all candidates retained deposits in the last three general elections.
As mentioned in the first part, failing to even secure a deposit in elections is the least desirable outcome for any candidate in the running. It also raises doubts about the commitment of those contesting the elections. The increase in the number of candidates running for elections is closely linked to the proliferation of political parties. From 53 parties in the 1951 elections to 673 parties in the 2019 elections, there has been a significant increase in the number of political parties contesting Lok Sabha elections. This increase became particularly evident after the 2009 elections, with 363 parties participating, which then increased to 673 in 2019, marking an almost 85% increase within the span of two Lok Sabha election cycles. This rapid expansion has led to a decrease in the voting share of individual candidates, resulting in many of them forfeiting their security deposits.
In the 2019 elections, the total number of contestants stood at 8054, out of which 6923 candidates (86%) lost their deposits. This represents the highest percentage since the 1970s, except for the 91% recorded in 1996. Similarly high percentages of candidates losing their deposits were also observed in the 2014 and 2009 general elections, where almost 85% of candidates failed to secure their deposits. In contrast, the three elections preceding 2009 saw around 75% of candidates losing their deposits.
2019 saw 185 Candidates in a single Constituency, Second only to 480 during 1996 elections.
Given the dynamics of India’s electoral system, where the First-Past-the-Post (FPTP) method renders even a single vote influential in determining outcomes, there’s been a notable surge in the number of candidates competing in the elections. While electoral pluralism reflects the vitality of democracy, excessive candidate proliferation risks diluting its benefits. Political parties often deploy “clone candidates” to confuse voters, with many contenders joining the race not with serious intent to win but to sway results.
An analysis of the average number of candidates per constituency in general elections reveals a consistent increase from 1977 to 1996, rising from 5 to 26 candidates. Following the 1996 elections, deposit requirements were raised, resulting in a slight decline in the average number of candidates to 10 until the 2004 elections. Subsequently, despite increases in deposit amounts post-2009, the average number of candidates per constituency has remained relatively steady. Regarding the maximum number of candidates in a single constituency, the 2019 elections witnessed 185 candidates, the second-highest figure recorded after the 480 candidates in the 1996 elections.
70% of the constituencies had more than 10 candidates in 2019, up from 28% in 1998.
The prevalence of numerous candidates has become a common aspect of Indian elections. The average number of candidates in a constituency doesn’t fully capture the severity of the issue as the distribution of candidates across constituencies in India varies significantly. Such large numbers of political contestants create a burden on the Election Commission of India in terms of resources, inevitably resulting in difficulty in managing the elections. Alternatively, proponents of contestant pluralism contend that the impact of contestants should not solely be determined by electoral wins. Instead, attention should be given to the electoral issues they advocate for.
Nevertheless, an analysis of the Indian electoral data reveals a steady increase in the proportion of constituencies with more than ten candidates, from 25.1% in 1980 to 82.5% in 1996. After the increase in the amount of security deposit in 1996, this proportion fell to 26.2% in the 1999 General elections. However, despite the rise in security deposits again in 2009, in recent Lok Sabha elections of 2014 and 2019, the percentage of constituencies with more than ten candidates rose again to 79.2% and 70.7% respectively.
Number of Polling Stations Crossed 1 million for first time in 2019.
The Handbook of Returning Officers provides guidelines for the setting up of polling stations. Polling stations are established to cover specific and stable polling areas. Typically, a polling station caters to a clearly delineated area, accommodating no more than 1500 eligible voters. The arrangement of polling stations is such that voters generally do not have to travel more than two kilometres to cast their votes, considering the terrain and ease of access for voters. Additionally, no polling station should be located within 200 metres of political party offices.
Data on the number of polling stations show that the 2019 elections were the first when the total polling stations crossed the 1 million mark, increasing by 12% from 0.9 million during the 2014 elections. Usually, with the growing population, the number of polling stations is bound to increase. Only in the 2004 and 1991 elections, the number of polling stations saw a minor decline as compared to the 1999 and 1989 elections.
Further, the average number of electors per polling station is usually aimed to be below 1000, now revised to 1500 post the introduction of EVMs. In 2019, the average number of electors per polling station stood at 877, down from 898 in 2014.


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Lt.Gen.Taranjit Singh has not been arrested. - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
October 6, 2020
A social media post claiming that the Indian army’s Lt.Gen.Taranjit Singh has been arrested on charges of sedition is being widely shared. Through this article let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Lt.Gen.Taranjit Singh has been arrested on charges of sedition.
Fact: Indian Army through a press statement called out the news as an attempt of state-sponsored malicious disinformation campaign by Pakistan & rejected the claim of the arrest. Even though a tweet, the Indian Army said the same. Also, Lt.Gen.Taranjit Singh was seen addressing a press meet on 01 October 2020.  Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Google search with the keyword ‘Lt.Gen.Taranjit Singh’ led us to a press statement by the Indian Army dated 01 October 2020 through which they cleared the air surrounding the news of the arrest of the Lt.Gen.Taranjit Singh. The press note called the news as an attempt of state-sponsored malicious disinformation campaign by Pakistan and rejected the claim of his arrest.
The Indian army also through a tweet rejected the news and asked people not to fall prey for such misinformation.
Moreover, Lt.Gen.Taranjit Singh addressed a press meet on 01 October 2020  regarding the Secretary of Department of Military Affairs (DMA) and Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) working in close cooperation with the three service headquarters. With all this, we can conclude that Lt.Gen.Taranjit Singh has not been arrested.
To sum it up, Lt.Gen.Taranjit Singh has not been arrested. It is fake news.

created: October 6, 2020


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Luc Montagnier did not claim that vaccinated people will die in 2 years - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 27, 2021
A social media post claiming that Nobel Laureate Luc Montagnier has said that ‘all those got vaccinated will die in 2 years’ is being widely shared across platforms. We have also received the same query on our WhatsApp tip line. Through this article, let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: ‘All vaccinated people will die in 2 years; Vaccines create more variants; Vaccination leads to more deaths – Luc Montagnier’
Fact: Luc Montagnier expressed concerns about mass vaccinations in a recent interview.  However, he did not claim that all vaccinated people will die in 2 years. Also, there is not enough scientific data to show vaccination leads to more deaths. Further, vaccination contains the spread of virus and mutation. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Dr. Luc Montagnier’s interview was published by the US-based RAIR foundation. However, in this interview, Montagnier nowhere claims that ‘all vaccinated people will die in two years’. In fact, RAIR foundation through a tweet clarified the same.
ALERT: Luc Montagnier Did NOT Say Vaccine Would Kill People in Two Years.
"The Nobel Laureate DID say the vaccine is 'creating the variants'."https://t.co/roME7iumOc pic.twitter.com/jLx3oT72CV
However, in this interview, Montagnier opined that vaccines are creating  new variants and he mentioned about a phenomenon called antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE) in support of his argument. He also claimed that vaccination would lead to more deaths.
Does Vaccine create new variants?
ADE (Antibody-Dependent Enhancement) is a phenomenon wherein the antibodies generated during an immune response fail to prevent infection and instead, the pathogen (virus) binds to these antibodies which act as a vehicle allowing the pathogen to get into cells which they could not previously and exacerbate the immune response.
There have been instances of ADE reported earlier in cases related to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), Ebola, influenza, and flaviviruses. However, the relevance of ADE for coronaviruses remains unclear and there is not enough data to substantiate its effect as far as coronavirus is concerned.
As per WHO, ‘viruses constantly evolve over time by replicating themselves or sometimes it changes itself a little bit. These changes are called mutations. A virus with one or more new mutations is referred to as a “variant” of the original virus’, and this a random process.
As per experts, most viral mutations have little to no impact on the virus’s ability to cause infections and disease. But depending on where the changes are located in the virus’s genetic material, they may affect a virus’s properties, such as transmission (for example, it may spread more or less easily) or severity (for example, it may cause more or less severe disease).
Generally, when a virus widely circulates amongst the population causing infections, the likelihood of the virus mutating increases. The more the virus spreads, the more it replicates. In this case, the spread of the virus could be contained either by achieving herd immunity (wherein a large portion of a community (60-70%) becomes immune to a disease making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely) or by vaccinating as many people as possible.
WHO says ‘scaling up vaccine manufacturing and rolling out vaccines as quickly and widely as possible will also be critical ways of protecting people before they are exposed to the virus and the risk of new variants.’
Does Vaccination lead to more deaths?
As far as efficiency of vaccination is concerned, WHO states that the COVID-19 vaccines that are currently in development or have been approved are expected to provide at least some protection against new virus variants because these vaccines elicit a broad immune response involving a range of antibodies and cells. Therefore, changes or mutations in the virus should not make vaccines completely ineffective. In the event that any of these vaccines prove to be less effective against one or more variants, it will be possible to change the structure of the vaccines to protect against these variants. For example, structure of the vaccine for the influenza virus changes regularly based on the circulating strain. Also, administration of a booster dose according to the composition of the variant is also a possible way to contend the spread.
Even studies by the CDC suggest that the current authorized vaccines work on the circulating variants. And a growing body of evidence suggests that fully vaccinated people are less likely to have asymptomatic infection and potentially less likely to transmit SARS-CoV-2 to others. The vaccines also seem to work on most variants that are in circulation in the US like B.1.1.7, B.1.351 & P.1.
Although there have been instances of breakthrough cases of deaths due to adverse events even after taking the vaccine, these numbers are very less compared to the scale of vaccination. For example, over 285 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines were administered in the United States from 14 December 2020, through 24 May 2021. During this time, VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System) received 4,863 reports of death (0.0017%) among people who received a COVID-19 vaccine. This implies odds of dying after taking the vaccine are very low.
From this analysis, we can infer that rolling out vaccines as quickly and widely as possible protects people from the virus and contains the risk of new variants. In fact, well-known Indian virologist and member of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation, Dr. Gagandeep Kang through a tweet shared similar views regarding Montagnier’s claims.
Bear with me.. About Luc Montagnier’s statements-
Well, apparently he did not say all vaccinated people will die in two years (Given human variation why 2? Not 1 or 6??). But he did say
New variants are created through selection imposed by antibodies made through vaccination 1/n
Luc Montagnier controversies:
Luc Montagnier was the joint recipient of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
Earlier in 2012, Montagnier was in news as  he participated in a conference conducted by Autism One, a group that is against vaccination. This group is known to propagate the theory that vaccination causes autism among children.
Hence, Luc Montagnier in this particular interview has indeed expressed concerns over vaccination. However, he did not say that all those who got vaccinated would die in two years. Also, as of now, there is not enough scientific evidence about the seriousness of ‘Antibody-Dependent Enhancement ‘for coronavirus vaccines.
To sum it up, Luc Montagnier did not claim that vaccinated people will die in 2 years and there is no scientific evidence to correlate vaccination with more deaths.


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Lucknow airport was not mortgaged at 46 crores but leased at Rs 171/passenger for 50 years to Adani Group - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
July 8, 2019
A post is being shared on Facebook with a claim that Modi has mortgaged profit-making Lucknow airport to Adani for 50 years at a paltry price. Let’s try to analyze the claim made in the post.
Modi mortgaged Lucknow Airport at 46 crores for 50 years. Lucknow Airport makes a profit of 120 crores per year.
Fact: The Lucknow Airport is not mortgaged but leased for 50 years to Adani group after inviting bids. The lease was granted based on revenue per passenger model. There was no fixed amount for the grant of the bid. Also, based on the data available for years 2014-15 to 2017-18, the profit of Lucknow airport never went beyond 100 crores. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When searched on Google for the information given in the post, news articles regarding the leasing out of airports can be found in the search results. According to an article in the ‘Times of India’, the Government cleared leasing out Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Mangalore airports to Adani Group under PPP model. The press release on the bid figures of five airports (except Guwahati Airport) can be found on the Airports Authority of India (AAI) website. According to the release, the Adani Group won the bid for all the five airports by quoting higher prices among the other bidders. The lease was granted for 50 years based on ‘Revenue per passenger’ payable to AAI by the bidder. There was no fixed price such as 46 crores for 50 years, as quoted in the post. The union Cabinet approved leasing of these airports a few days ago.
The annual passenger traffic at the Lucknow Airport is around 5.5 million (according to AAI data for the year 2018-19). So, if Adani Group pays 171 Rupees per passenger, then AAI will get around 94 crores per year.
According to the information provided by AAI in reply to an RTI filed by FACTLY, the profits of Lucknow Airport between the years 2014-15 to 2017-18 never crossed 100 crore mark.
To sum it up, Lucknow airport was not mortgaged at 46 crores but leased at Rs 171/passenger for 50 years to Adani Group. Even at this price, the AAI will get a greater amount than the profit earned from the operations of the Lucknow airport.
Did you watch our new Episode of DECODE series on Parliament?


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Luppo Cakes shown in the video do not cause paralysis. Also, they are not sold in India - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
January 20, 2020
A video is being shared on Facebook with a claim that a Chinese company, Luppo, has released cakes in India with tablets hidden inside the cakes which cause paralysis in children. Let’s try to find out the authenticity of the claim made in the post.
Luppo, a Chinese company, hides tablets in their cakes which cause paralysis in children.
Fact: ‘Luppo cakes’ shown in the video are sold only in Iraq. ‘Sölen’, a Turkish company that manufactures Luppo cakes, has clarified that it has not added any tablets to the cake. Also, their manufacturing process prevents the presence of any such tablets. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When the information about Luppo cakes in the post was searched on Google, it was found out that the same message went viral in other countries too. In an article written by Snopes regarding this issue, it can be read that the officials of ‘Sölen’ (a Turkish company that makes Luppo cakes) has mentioned that there is no truth in the post. In the same article, the documents showing the production process, contamination safeguards, safety certifications of the ‘Sölen’ plants were given, which indicates that no foreign object as shown in the video is present in Luppo cakes. Furthermore, a spokesperson for ‘Sölen’ has also clarified that several filtration systems used in the manufacturing of Luppo cakes blocks particles greater than 700 microns in height or width. Also, the product is sold only in Iraq.
From an article written by a Turkish media company, ‘Teyit’, it is understood that the punctured marks on the cake surface indicate that the tablets were inserted by someone into the cake before reopening the pack.
To summarize, the Luppo cakes shown in the video are not sold in India. Children don’t get paralysis after consuming Luppo cakes.
Did you watch our new video in the DECODE series?

created: January 20, 2020


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M.B. Patil’s letter to Sonia Gandhi about the ‘Divide Hindus – Unite Muslims’ strategy in Karnataka is fake - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 23, 2019
A post is being shared on Facebook by some users claiming that a Karnataka Congress leader wrote a letter to Sonia Gandhi about the ‘Divide Hindus – Unite Muslims’ strategy to be adopted in Karnataka to win the elections. The letter is in the name of Dr M.B. Patil, a Congress leader, and is dated 10 July, 2017.  Let’s try to analyze the claim made in the post.
M.B. Patil wrote a letter to Sonia Gandhi about the strategy of dividing Hindus and uniting Muslims to win the elections.
Fact: M.B. Patil  held a press conference and said that the letter in circulation is fake. Also, there are no organizations with the names ‘Global Christian Council’ and ‘World Islamic Organization’. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When searched for the ‘M.B. Patil’s letter to Sonia’ on Google, it is found that Karnataka Congress has tweeted against the BIP Karnataka’s tweet on the letter being circulated in social media. Karnataka Congress has tweeted that this fake letter was first published in 2018 by Post Card news, which later deleted the article, but it was recirculated by the BJP Karnataka just ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in the state. Karnataka Congress leader M.B. Patil, also, held a press conference to rebut the false claims made by the BJP Karnataka. Also, if the names of the religious organizations cited in the letter are searched on Google, it can be found that so such organizations  exist. The letter was also viral last year, just before the Karnataka Assembly Elections, then AltNews wrote an article to debunk the false claim. So, the letter in the post is fake .
Finally, M.B. Patil’s letter to Sonia Gandhi about the ‘Divide Hindus – Unite Muslims’ strategy in Karnataka is fake.


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M.K. Stalin did not issue these statements about Hindus; the viral clip has been digitally altered - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
February 1, 2024
A social media post, which includes a screenshot of a news report, alleges that DMK chief Stalin has made derogatory comments against Hindus. The post attributes the following statement to Stalin: ‘If our victory solely depends on Hindu votes, we don’t mind losing. DMK will not stoop down to the level of begging Hindus for votes.’ In this article, we fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: If our victory solely depends on Hindu votes, we don’t mind losing. DMK will not stoop down to the level of begging Hindus for votes – Stalin.
Fact:  News7 Tamil has not published any news connecting the viral comments to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K.Stalin. The viral clip appears to be digitally manipulated by editing old footage from News7 Tamil. Multiple in the past, M.K. Stalin has asserted that the DMK is not opposed to Hindus or their faith. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
The viral clip carries the logo of News7 Tamil. Following the lead, a search on the YouTube and social media pages of the news channel did not yield any news report linking the viral comments to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K.Stalin.
Nevertheless, we encountered a 2019 news clip with a similar format. The clip covers the former Chief Minister of the state, Palaniswami, offering financial assistance to soldiers who lost their lives in Jammu and Kashmir.
Upon comparing this clip with the viral one, we observe that the date, time, and alignment of the advertisement shown in this clip align with those in the viral clip. This implies that the viral clip was likely digitally fabricated by editing this older news clip featuring the former CM Palaniswami.
Moreover, there are no media reports linking these statements to Stalin. Multiple times in the past, M.K. Stalin has maintained that the DMK is not against Hindus or their beliefs, but attempts are being made to portray them as anti-Hindu (here, here & here). Amidst the controversy surrounding his son Udayanidhi Stalin’s remarks on Sanatana Dharma, M.K. Stalin has urged other DMK leaders to refrain from making comments on Hinduism.
To sum it up, M.K. Stalin did not make these statements about Hindus; the viral clip has been digitally altered.

created: February 1, 2024


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Madagascar’s President did not accuse WHO of offering $20 million to poison local COVID-19 treatment - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
July 5, 2021
A post is being widely shared on social media claiming that Madagascar President alleged that the World Health Organisation (WHO) offered him $20 million to put toxins in their coronavirus remedy. Let us fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: WHO offered $20 million to Madagascar President to put toxins in their COVID-19 remedy.
Fact: There is no evidence that Madagascar President Andry Rajoelina had accused WHO of offering him $20 million to poison their alleged COVID-19 remedy. A spokesman for the Madagascan presidency flatly has also denied the claims. Madagascar President Andry Rajoelina, in April 2020, launched a herbal concoction he claimed could prevent and cure the novel coronavirus, but it failed to halt COVID-19 spike in August 2020. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When we searched for news articles regarding Madagascar’s President accusing WHO of bribing him, a BBC article titled ‘Coronavirus: The misinformation circulating in Africa about COVID-19’ was found. According to the article, the story first appeared in a French-language post on a Facebook account that was operating from Angola and DR Congo on 23 April 2020. The claims were later published by two newspapers in Tanzania on 14 May 2020, one of these reports alleges President Rajoelina had admitted during an interview with France24 that he had been offered money. Mr. Rajoelina was indeed interviewed by France24 on 11 May 2020, but at no point does he say he had been offered any money by the WHO. The WHO has said the BBC the story is fake, and the Madagascar government has dismissed the allegations.
Madagascar President Andry Rajoelina, in April 2020, launched a herbal concoction he claims can prevent and cure the novel coronavirus. The drink which was developed by the Malagasy Institute of Applied Research (IMRA) is derived from artemisia- a plant with proven efficacy in Malaria treatment- and other indigenous herbs. However, the WHO has warned against “adopting a product that has not been taken through tests to see its efficacy” and in its statement, also welcomed innovations based on traditional remedies. Although the Madagascan leader is on record questioning WHO concerns about the herbal drink, there is no evidence he accused the agency of trying to bribe him to poison Covid-Organics, the herbal concoction. Later in August 2020 despite the spike in COVID-19 cases, President Andry Rajoelina stood by Covid-Organics, according to this BBC article. According to this article, Madagascar joined the COVID-19 vaccine COVAX program after initially not joining it.
Several international fact-checkers have also debunked the claim made in social media posts that WHO was accused by Madagascar President Andry Rajoelina of offering $20 million in May 2020. The reports of which can be seen here, here, and here.
To sum it up, Madagascar’s President did not accuse the WHO of offering $20 million to poison an alleged local COVID-19 treatment.


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Madhya Pradesh CM Mohan Yadav did not issue any new orders prohibiting private schools from dressing their students as Santa Claus on Christmas - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 22, 2023
A post shared on social media claims that Mohan Yadav, the newly elected Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, had issued orders to private schools in the state, warning of stringent measures against dressing students in Santa Claus attire on Christmas day. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Madhya Pradesh CM Mohan Yadav issued new directives prohibiting private schools from dressing students in Santa Claus attire on Christmas day.
Fact: Madhya Pradesh CM Mohan Yadav did not issue any such new orders prohibiting private schools from dressing their students in Santa Claus attire on Christmas day. The District Education officer in Madhya Pradesh’s Shajapur had recently issued a notice to private schools, urging them to obtain parental consent before selecting students to pose as Santa Claus or participate in any other cultural programs during Christmas events. The directive did not, however, mandate private schools to entirely prohibit students from dressing as Santa Claus. Hence, the claim made in the post is False.
When we searched to check whether Madhya Pradesh CM Mohan Yadav had issued any such new orders prohibiting private schools from dressing students in Santa Claus attire on Christmas, we could not find any such notice on the official website or the official social media handles of the Madhya Pradesh government. If the Madhya Pradesh government had issued any such orders in the wake of Christmas, media would have prominently reported the same. However, we could not find any news article reporting such information.
On searching for further details, we found that Vivek Dubey, the District Education officer in Madhya Pradesh’s Shajapur district, issued a notice to all private schools, advising them to get written permission from parents before selecting students to pose as Santa Claus or participate in any other cultural programs during Christmas. Speaking to ANI, Vivek Dubey said, “The students selected by the school to take part in the program organised on the occasion of Christmas in the school or to pose as Santa Claus, Christmas tree, and any other characters, should be done only after getting written permission from their parents.”
Further, the Shajapur District Education Officer said, “Cultural programs are held in schools but the programs are a little religious, and children of other faiths are also assigned religious characters to play which is not as per their own religion. Most of the time such events are held harmoniously but sometimes it leads to disputes and complaints coming to us in which a lot of time is invested to resolve the issue.” These directions of Shajapur District Education Officer to the private schools were reported by several media houses. The directions did not, however, mandate private schools to entirely prohibit students from dressing as Santa Claus.
To sum it up, Madhya Pradesh CM Mohan Yadav did not issue any new orders prohibiting private schools from dressing their students in Santa Claus attire on Christmas.

created: December 22, 2023