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Incident related to a family dispute in Rajasthan is given a false communal colour - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
August 12, 2020
Video of a man tied to a tree, beaten up and forced to drink urine is being shared on social media claiming that a dominant caste mob in Rajasthan tied a Dalit man to the tree and forced him to drink urine in the public. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Video of a Dalit man tortured and forced to drink urine by dominant caste mob in Rajasthan.
Fact: The incident shown in the video is related to a family dispute in Konra village of Barmer district, Rajasthan. Man in the video was tied to a tree, beaten up and forced to drink urine in the public over an alleged illicit relationship. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
On reverse image search of screenshots in the video, similar photo of the tortured man shown in the video found in an article published by ‘Hindustan Times’ news website on ‘31 July 2020’. In the article, it is mentioned that a man in Rajasthan’s Barmer district was tied to a tree, beaten up and forced to drink urine in the public over an alleged illicit relationship. Police told the media that the victim and the accused belong to the same community and due to this, the victim did not approach the police to lodge a complaint.
When a twitter user shared this video with a claim ‘dalit man tortured by a dominant caste mob in Rajasthan’, Barmer police responded to the tweet and clarified that incident shown in the video is of a family dispute. They clarified that this incident was falsely given a communal colour. In the tweet, they also informed that 6 accused were arrested.
इस वीडियो के माध्यम से तथ्यों को तोड़-मरोड़ कर बताया है कि एक दलित व्यक्ति को वर्चस्वी जाति द्वारा प्रताड़ित किया गया। जबकि वास्तविकता यह है कि यह घटना 5 दिन पहले  पारिवारिक विवाद को लेकर घटित हुई थी। पुलिस ने प्रसंज्ञान लेते हुए अपनी तरफ से FIR दर्ज कर 6 लोगों को गिर. किया है।
FACTLY was able to access the FIR copy filed with the Chohtan Police Station and found that the incident took plae on 25 July 2020. The FIR also doesn’t mention any Dalit angle to the incident.
To sum it up, an incident related to a family dispute in Rajasthan was shared as a Dalit man tortured and forced to drink urine by dominant caste people.
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What is the income of National Parties in India from Unknown Sources?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
November 22, 2016
Political parties in India receive contributions from various sources. As per the existing law, they need not disclose/report the identity of the contributor if the contribution is less than Rs 20000. Here is a look at the Income of National Parties in India from Unknown Sources for the years 2013-14 and 2014-15

source: news-factly

created: November 22, 2016

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

author: Sai Krishna Muthyanolla


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Income of National Parties soars in 2018-19, thanks to Electoral Bonds
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
January 11, 2020
Access here Comprehensive Data on Electoral Bonds (as of February 2024)
The income of a national party crossed ₹ 2000 crores for the first time in 2018-19. BJP declared an income of ₹ 2410 crores in 2018-19, more than twice its income in 2017-18. Even Congress’s income in 2018-19 was ₹ 918 crores,  thanks mostly to Electoral Bonds.
Section 29C of  ‘Representation of the People Act 1951’,states that every political party which is registered under Section 29 A isrequired to submit the following to the Election Commission of India (ECI)every year.
In an earlier
story on Factly, the delay in submitting the AARs by various politicalparties, especially the National parties was highlighted. At the time of theearlier story in November 2019, only 3 out of the 7 National parties  i.e. Trinamool Congress, Bahujan Samaj Partyand CPI(M) had submitted their AARs with only Trinamool Congress submittingbefore the cut-off date.
The twolargest National parties of BJP & INC along with CPI have submitted thereports recently and they were uploaded on the ECI on 09 January 2020. Theother national party, which is NCP, is yet to submit if one goes by ECI’sdisclosure.
On theother hand, CRs have already been submitted by all the National parties.
BJP’s
Income in 2018-19 more than doubled, most coming from Electoral Bonds
As per the Annual Audit report submitted by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the party’s income in 2018-19 was to the tune of ₹ 2,410 crores while its income during the previous year i.e. 2017-18 was ₹1,027 crores. In other words, income has more than doubled. This is most likely because of 2019 being an election year.
Contributionsform the major share of BJP’s income in both 2017-18 & 2018-19. Thesubstantial increase in 2018-19 can also be attributed to the increase incontributions through various means, especially via electoral bonds. In2018-19, BJP received ₹ 2,352 crores throughvoluntary contributions while it was ₹ 989.7crores in 2017-18.
Substantialshare of BJP’s income also came through interest from Banks, which has alsoincreased over the previous year. Earlier it was ₹ 31.2 crores in 2017-18, which increased to 53.92 crores for 2018-19.
Voluntarycontributions accounted for 97.7% of BJP’s total income in 2018-19. Similarly,in 2017-18, they made up 96.3% the party’s income.
Thevariance in the two years has been with the share of Electoral bonds. In theprevious year i.e. 2017-18, the amount received via Electoral bonds was around ₹ 210 crores which constituted 21% of the voluntary contributions. In thatyear, the ‘Other contributions’ made up for a major chunk of 72%.
However, in 2018-19,  the total amount of voluntary contributions received via Electoral bonds has not only increased but also constituted the major share. A total of ₹ 1450.89 crores were received through Electoral bonds which is nearly 7 times the amount of the previous year. Electoral bonds formed 61% of the total voluntary contributions i.e. nearly 3 times increase in the share compared to 2017-18.
In termsof the BJP’s total income in 2018-19, electoral bonds alone constituted 60.2%of the total income, whereas in the previous year, it was only 20.4%.
More than
four-fold increase in Income earned by INC in 2018-19 but significantly less
than BJP
IndianNational Congress’s income touched ₹ 918.03crores in 2018-19 as per the Audit
Report submitted by them. This is more than a four-fold increase in the incomecompared to 2017-18 when INC’s declared income was ₹199.15 crores.
Like inthe case of BJP, the increase could be due to Lok Sabha general elections in 2019.However, compared to BJP’s income, the income as declared by INC  in 2018-19 is significantly less, in fact lessthan 40% of the BJP’s income in 2018-19.
A major reasonfor the increase in Congress’s income during 2018-19 is due to the increase inthe Donations and Contributions. In 2017-18, the contributions were only ₹ 32.45 crores which increased significantly to ₹551.55 crores in 2018-19.
Collectionby ‘Issuing Coupons’ was the highest source of revenue in 2017-18 with ₹ 110.37 crores, which increased to ₹ 322.59 crores  in 2018-19. This stillforms a significant part of the total income declared by Congress.
As highlighted earlier, the  increase in the income of INC in 2018-19 is due to the increase in ‘Donations and Contributions’. Of these donations and contributions, significant portion belongs to electoral bonds. Electoral bonds received by INC in 2018-19 amounted to ₹ 383.26 crores whereas it was only ₹ 5 crores in 2017-18.  Electoral bonds accounted for 41.7% of the total income earned by INC in 2018-19, while it was only 2.5% of the income in 2017-18.
INC has also received a higher contribution in 2018-19 through Electoral Trust & Foundation, with ₹ 94.59 crores, while it was only ₹ 4 crores in 2017-18.
Major
share of CPI’s Income in 2018-19 is through Donations and Contributions
Communist
Party of India declared an income of ₹ 7.15 crores in 2018-19 ofwhich ₹ 4.08 crores were throughDonations and Contributions.
In 2017-18,the major portion of the income was through Fees and Subscriptions. Even though the amount received throughFees & Subscription increased in 2018-19 , it is lesser than the fundsreceived through Donations & Contributions.
As perthe Audit report submitted by CPI, there was no mention of any income receivedthrough electoral bonds.
Nearly
57% of the Electoral Bonds issued in 2018-19 were received by BJP
Earlier, Factlydid a detailed story aboutElectoral Bonds issued till October 2019. Out of more than ₹ 6,000 crores worth of Electoral Bonds sold so far, nearly ₹ 2,551 crores were sold in 2018-19.
Of theones sold in 2018-19, BJP received the highest amount of electoral bonds amountingto ₹1450.89 crores i.e. 56.9% of the total.  The Congress received nearly ₹ 383.3 crores which is 15% of the total.
Among theregional parties BJD and TRS received the highest amount of Electoral Bondswith ₹ 213.5 crores and ₹141.5 crores respectively. Nearly ₹128.76 crores are still not accounted for, the details of which will beknown only after NCP ( the remaining national party) and the remaining state-recognised parties such as TDP submit the Audit reports.
Most of
the Political parties gained from Electoral Bonds in 2018-19, with BJP being
the biggest beneficiary.
The Auditreports submitted by BJP and INC show that both the national parties havereceived higher amount of funding in 2018-19 than the previous year, mostlythrough the electoral Bonds. However, BJP has received more than 3 times theamount of the second highest beneficiary of Electoral bonds i.e. INC. Even interms of proportion, share of electoral bonds in BJP’s income is higher than inthe case of Congress.

created: January 11, 2020


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Income Tax department writes off 21.5 lakh cases with average arrear amount of Rs 30
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
March 21, 2017
The government  informed the Lok Sabha that it has decided to write off 21.5 lakh cases of IT arrears with average arrear amount of Rs 30. These cases account for 16% of all the pending cases with the IT department.
When the country is fiercely debating high profile bank loan defaulters and tax defaulters, it turns out that 16% of the tax-arrear cases pending with the Income Tax department are those with an outstanding demand of Rs 100 or less. The government informed the Lok Sabha recently that a decision has been taken to write off 21.54 lakh cases involving a total amount of about Rs.6.4 crore.
Cost of recovery more than the arrear amount
In 2012, a section of the media had reported that the Central Processing Centre (CPC) in Bangalore is sending notices for Income Tax arrears as small as Rs. 1/- , 4/- , 6/-. Following these reports, the finance ministry issued a clarification saying that the IT department had created a central repository of all demands and that in the interest of greater transparency, a communication has been sent to taxpayers about the existing arrears. The clarification made it clear that the communication was not a demand notice and any demand of less than Rs 100 is not enforced but is liable for adjustment against future refunds.
Now, the government has decided to write off these arrears. The government’s latest decision to write off all arrears of Rs 100 or less was apparently made to manage arrears and processing of refunds more efficiently. Such small arrears put a huge administrative burden of maintaining and servicing. The government also informed the Lok Sabha that the administrative cost of recovery of these low-value arrears would be more than the amount of arrear itself.
As of 31 December 2016, a total of 21.54 lakh cases involving a total amount of about Rs.6.4 crore were found to be of such low-demand arrears. These 21.54 lakh cases account for 16% of all the cases with the Income Tax Department as per the data shared by the government. The government hopes that this would have a significant positive impact on the process of arrear collection and management since 1/6 of the pending cases are now resolved.
More than 6.71 lakh crore locked up in Income Tax appeals
On the other hand, data shared by the government in the Lok Sabha indicates that as of 31 January 2017, a total of Rs 6.71 lakh crore is locked up in ‘high demand appeals’ pending before the Commissioners of Income Tax (Appeals) i.e., CIT (Appeals). As per CBDT, if the demand locked up in the appeal pending before the CIT (Appeals) is Rs. 10 Lakhs and above, it is categorized as high demand. In other words, less than 1% of all the pending appeals account for more than Rs 6.71 lakh crore in locked up amount. The locked up amount and the number of pending appeals has been increasing continuously. Between 2013-14 and 2016-17, the number of such pending appeals has more than doubled from 42322 to 93696. The amount locked up has also more than doubled from Rs 2.75 lakh crore to Rs 6.71 lakh crore.
On the other hand, appeals pending before CESTAT in case of Central Board of Customs & Excise, account for Rs 1.45 lakh crore in locked up amount as of 31st January 2017.
Featured Image: IT Write-offs


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An incomplete clip of Rahul Gandhi's speech alleges a promise of ₹1 Lakh monthly to Poor Women - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 17, 2024
A video of Rahul Gandhi is being circulated, claiming he promised ₹1 lakh per month to poor women if Congress comes to power (here & here). His Hindi statements in the video can be loosely translated as, “This is called development. One lakh rupee every month in the bank account of India’s poorest woman.” In this article, we fact-check the claim associated with the shared video.
Claim: Video of Rahul Gandhi promising ₹1 lakh per month to poor women if Congress comes to power.
Fact: Rahul Gandhi pledged ₹8,500 per month for economically weaker women. He mentioned a total of one lakh, summing up each month’s installment. The viral clip is incomplete, leading to misinterpretation. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
Rahul Gandhi’s statements in the viral video are indeed his own. However, this excerpt is incomplete, leading to a misinterpretation. A YouTube search with relevant keywords provided the full footage of Rahul Gandhi’s speech, from which the viral excerpt was taken.
The viral clip is from Rahul Gandhi’s election campaign in Balangir, Odisha, on 15 May 2024. The Indian National Congress’s official YouTube channel livestreamed this public meeting. In his speech, Rahul Gandhi assured women from poor families that if Congress is voted into power, it will create crores of lakhpatis. He explained that a list of the poor, Dalits, tribals, and farmers would be made, and one woman from each household would receive ₹8,500 per month, totalling ₹1 lakh annually.
At the 28:30 timestamp of this video, citing an example of a woman present at the rally, Gandhi stated, “On 04 July, millions of women like Sushmita Sahu in Odisha, UP, Tamil Nadu, and every state in India will wake up and check their bank accounts. On 04 July, they will discover that one month’s instalment of ₹8,500 has been deposited into their bank accounts.”
Additionally, he stated that the same amount would be transferred every month, resulting in a total of one lakh being provided to women like Sahu over the course of a year. “One lakh rupees will be deposited into the bank accounts of India’s economically weaker women every month,” he affirmed.
This shows that Rahul Gandhi mentioned ‘One lakh’ while explaining the total sum of each month’s instalment. News reports also covered Gandhi’s electoral pledge to provide ₹8,500 per month for women. He consistently reiterated this promise throughout his campaign (here, here & here). Furthermore, this confirms that Gandhi’s speech has been truncated and removed from its context.
To sum up, Rahul Gandhi did not pledge ₹1 lakh every month to women. The viral video depicts an incomplete portion of his speech.


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Incorrect specifications of Tata Evision electric car are being spread. - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
July 14, 2020
Of late, a post claiming that Tata Motors had launched an electric vehicle called Evision which once charged can run up to 1000 km is doing rounds on social media.  Also claiming that the battery warranty is for 10 years, the post is viral on social media. The single charge 1000 km is a world record.  Let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Tata motors has launched a new electric car named Evision, which on one charge can run up to 1000kms which is a world record. Also, the warranty for the battery is for 10 yrs.
Fact: Tata Group showcased the Evision car whose design is based on omega architecture back in 2018 in Geneva Motor show. There is no information about the battery and warranty for the battery on the company’s website. Also, the commercial production of the vehicle has not started yet. Speaking to Times of India, company CEO said the concept is technically feasible but commercially not viable. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When we ran a search on the internet using the keywords tata motors evision, we found that the car was showcased in 2018 Geneva Motor Show and the design is based on OMEGA (Optimal Modular Efficient Global Advanced) architecture.  The same information is available here and here. Hence it is clear that the image which is going viral is an old one.
As far as the battery and warranty for the battery are concerned, Tata Motors has not mentioned anywhere about these aspects of the vehicle.  There is also no mention about these aspects of the vehicle in the product note and specification sheet of evision which can be found on their website.
When the same claim went viral in 2018, many have debunked these false claims which can be read here and here. Suresh Rangarajan, the then Head of Corporate Communications at Tata Motors, has also clarified that “fake news that has been travelling far and wide – no such announcements made by the company. Someone’s imagination running wild.”
Also, this is a concept car. Regular production of the car has not yet started and the information regarding future production is not known. Recently in January 2020, speaking to Times of India about the company’s electric plans, Guenter Butschek CEO & MD, said that they had launched an electric vehicle based on omega architecture in Geneva 2018 and suggested that the concept is technically feasible but not commercially viable.
To conclude, incorrect specifications of a concept electric vehicle are being spread attributing the success to the vision of Ratan Tata.
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More Young people commit Suicide than people from any other age group - Factly
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
January 21, 2016
Data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) and the Census confirm that more young people commit suicide than people from any other age group, particularly vulnerable are those in the 15 to 30 age group. 41% of all the suicides in 2014 were by people in this age group. The top most cause of death for people in this age group also happens to be suicide.
The tragic suicide by a student of the University of Hyderabad (UoH) has once again put the spotlight on suicides of young people.  The data released by both the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) and the Census office  confirm the trend that young people between the age group of 14 and 30 commit suicide more than the people from any other age group.
41% of all the suicides in 2014 are by Young People between 14 and 30 years
As per the NCRB report for 2014, 41% of those who committed suicide were from the 14 to 30 year age group. In fact, 74% of all those are between the 14 and 45 age group. 18% of those who committed suicide were from the 45 to 60 year age group and only 7.4% from the above 60 year age group.
A greater percentage of Young Women commit suicide than Young Men
The NCRB statistics on suicide for the year 2014 indicate that a greater percentage of young women commit suicide than young men. Close to 52% of women who committed suicide in 2014 were in the 14 to 30 year age group while the corresponding percentage for men was only 36%. It is also evident that a greater percentage of older men commit suicide than older women. 21% of the men who committed suicide were from the 45 to 60 year age group.
Suicide is the top most cause of death in young people according to the Census
The Census data on cause of death also corroborates the fact that more young people commit suicide than people from any other group. Suicide is the topmost cause of death in young people in the age group of 15 and 30 according to the cause of death statistics from 2010-2013. 18% of the deaths in this age group were because of suicide while 13.7% were because of motor vehicle accidents. The other causes in the top five include other injuries, cardiovascular diseases & digestive diseases.
Young Women more prone to Suicides than Young Men
The census data on cause of deaths confirms the trend observed in the NCRB statistics. The cause of death for 22% young women between 15 and 30 years was suicide while the corresponding percentage for men was 15%. Motor vehicle accidents were not in the top five causes of death for women in this age group. 9% of the women in this age group died because of maternal conditions.
(This is Part 2 of a two part series. Part 1 looked at causes of death in Men & Women)

created: January 21, 2016


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Understanding 'The index of Industrial Production (IIP)' & Eight Core Industries - Factly
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
February 18, 2015
The index of Industrial Production (IIP) conveys the status of production in the industrial sector of an economy in a given period of time, in comparison with a fixed reference point in the past. The IIP numbers, in India use 2004-05 as the base year for comparison.
The current Index of Industrial Production (IIP) with base 2004-05 has a broader coverage of 682 items comprising 61 from Mining & Quarrying, 620 from Manufacturing and 1 from Electricity Sector having the weightage of 14.16%, 75.53% and 10.32% respectively in the all-India IIP.
IIP is compiled using data received from 16 source agencies viz. Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP); Indian Bureau of Mines; Central Electricity Authority; Joint Plant Committee; Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas; Office of Textile Commissioner; Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals; Directorate of Sugar; Department of Fertilizers; Directorate of Vanaspati, Vegetable Oils & Fats; Tea Board; Office of Jute Commissioner; Office of Coal Controller; Railway Board; Office of Salt Commissioner and Coffee Board.
The Eight Core Industries comprise nearly 38 % of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP). They are Coal, Crude Oil, Natural Gas, Petroleum Refinery Products,Fertilizers,Steel, Cement & Electricity.
The combined Index of Eight Core Industries stands at 172.7 in December,2014, which is 2.4 % higher compared to the index of December, 2013. Its cumulative growth during April to December, 2014-15 was 4.4 %.
Coal production (weight: 4.38 %) increased by 7.5 % in December, 2014 over December, 2013. Its cumulative index during April to December, 2014-15 increased by 9.1 % over corresponding period of previous year.
Crude Oil production (weight: 5.22 %) declined by 1.4 % in December, 2014 over December, 2013. The cumulative index of Crude Oil during April to December, 2014-15 declined by 0.9 % over the corresponding period of previous year.
Natural Gas production (weight: 1.71 %) declined by 3.5 % in December, 2014. Its cumulative index during April to December, 2014-15 declined by 5.1 % over the corresponding period of previous year.
Refinery Products (0.93% of Crude Throughput)
Petroleum Refinery production (weight: 5.94%) increased by 6.1 % in December, 2014. Its cumulative index during April to December, 2014-15 increased by 0.2 % over the corresponding period of previous year.
Fertilizer production (weight: 1.25%) declined by 1.6 % in December, 2014. Its cumulative index during April to December, 2014-15 declined by 1.4 % over the corresponding period of previous year.
Steel (Alloy + Non-Alloy)
Steel production (weight: 6.68%) declined by 2.4 % in December, 2014. Its cumulative index during April to December, 2014-15 increased by 1.6 % over the corresponding period of previous year.
Cement production (weight: 2.41%) increased by 3.8 % in December, 2014. Its cumulative growth during April to December, 2014-15 was 7.9 % over the corresponding period of previous year.
Electricity generation (weight: 10.32%) increased by 3.7 % in December, 2014 and it registered a cumulative growth of 9.7 % during April to December, 2014-15 over the corresponding period of previous year.
Source: Release of the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, 02-February-2015 , Press Information Bureau, Government of India & MOSPI (Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation)

created: February 18, 2015


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As India becomes Power surplus, T&D losses still a huge concern
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 10, 2017
Uninterrupted power supply is one of the most important election issues in the country. Data shows that while the overall energy deficit in the country has come down to less than 1% in 2016-17, the aggregate losses are still a huge concern.
Uninterrupted power supply is one of most the important election issues in the country. Even in the recent UP election, the issue of power supply was raised in various election rallies. States also make it a point to highlight uninterrupted power supply in their bid to promote Industry & Investment. While the aggregate power deficit in the country has decreased from 8.5% in 2011-12 to 0.7% in 2016-17, Transmission and Distribution (T&D) losses also referred to as Aggregate Technical & Commercial (AT&C) losses are still above 20% in 2015-16.
Power Deficit in the country
At an all India level, the power deficit has significantly decreased from 8.5% in 2011-12 to 0.7% in 2016-17. Both the power generation and demand has gone up significantly during this six-year period. While the supply has increased by about 32%, the demand has gone up by around 22% during this period. In fact, India also supplied 2991 million units of energy to Bangladesh between April and November of 2016.
Among the various regions of the country, the western region’s deficit has become zero in 2016-17 from 11.4% in 2011-12. The deficit in the south is also close to zero in 2016-17 from a high of 15.5% in 2012-13. The North-East still has a deficit of 2.8% in 2016-17, the highest in the country.
Power Deficit in States
It is interesting to note that the states that had the most power deficit were different in 2011-12 and 2012-13. Meghalaya had a 25% deficit followed by Jammu & Kashmir. In 2012-13, Jammu & Kashmir had a 25% power deficit, the highest for any state. Starting 2013-14, Jammu & Kashmir had the highest power deficit of all the states till 2016-17.
There has been a remarkable improvement in the power supply for many states during these years. In 2011-12, there were 6 States/UTs with a power deficit of more than 15%. In 2012-13, this number reduced to 5 and it further reduced to 2 in 2013-14. This again increased to 5 States/UTs in 2014-15. In 2015-16, Jammu & Kashmir and Andaman & Nicobar Islands are the only ones with a power deficit of more than 15%. In 2016-17, these two were the only places with a deficit of more than 5%.
Losses are still a huge concern
In India, power distribution to the last mile is done by the Distribution Companies, popularly known as Discoms. Every state has one or more Discoms in charge of power distribution. Some states like Uttar Pradesh have six Discoms while some other states like Maharashtra has a single Discom.
Traditionally, losses in the power sector are accounted as Transmission & Distribution losses (T&D). These losses are accounted as a percentage of output. T&D losses, as a measure of grid losses, have been replaced by Aggregate Technical and Commercial (AT&C) Losses for better clarity. T&D losses together with loss in revenue collection give AT&C losses.
As per information available with the government, the following are the major factors responsible for AT&C losses.
At an All-India level, the total losses have come down from 26.63% in 2011-12 to 21.81% in 2015-16. It is clear that the fruits of increased power generation cannot be reaped unless there is serious effort towards reducing losses. Even in 2015-16, there are 17 States/UTs with aggregate losses exceeding 25%. In other words, out of the 100 units of energy supplied, the government is able to account for less than 75 units in these places. South of India is the only region in the country where every State/UT has an aggregate loss of less than 20%. In all other regions, there are places with losses exceeding 30% as well. In Jammu & Kashmir, Bihar & Arunachal Pradesh, the aggregate losses are close to 50%.


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India-China Galwan clash: Old photos and videos shared by Pakistani and Bangladeshi users - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
June 23, 2020
A lot of photos and videos are being shared by multiple users from Pakistan and Bangladesh in the context of recent India-China border clash at the Galwan valley in Ladakh on the night of 15 June 2020. Let’s fact-check the posted photos and videos.
Photos and videos related to the recent India-China border fight at the Galwan valley in Ladakh.
Fact: The posted photos and videos are old and not related to the recent India-China border clash at the Galwan valley in Ladakh. Some photos are not even related to India. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Post 1: (archived)
All the photos in the post are old. Some photos are almost a decade old. They are not related to the recent India-China border clash. The old news articles with the same photos can be seen here, here, here, and here.
Post 2: (archived)
One of the photos in the post has already been debunked in Post 1. The other three photos were also found to be old. While two photos are related to two separate incidents in 2015 and the other one is related to the Pulwama attack in 2019. All the articles related to the photos can be found here, here, and here.
Post 3: (archived)
The same video was found to exist on the internet at least since December 2019. A user has posted the video on YouTube with the title – ‘Heavy Shelling Along Line of Control between Pakistan and India’. While FACTLY could not independently verify the context of the video, it can be concluded that the video is not related to the recent situation along the Line of Actual Control.
There are many other posts [Post 4 (archived), Post 5 (archived)] with videos already debunked by FACTLY. The fact-check articles can be read here and here.
To sum it up, old and unrelated photos and videos are being shared by Pakistani and Bangladeshi users in the context of recent India-China border clash.
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India at CWG - Medals won by Men & Women
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 21, 2018


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India at CWG - Overview
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 21, 2018


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India at the Commonwealth Games
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 21, 2018


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India at CWG - Sportwise Medals(Men vs Women)
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 21, 2018


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India at the CWG - Sportwise Performance
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 21, 2018


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India Data: Here is what third-wave numbers look like so far
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
January 24, 2022
In the last 3-4 weeks, the number of new daily cases of COVID-19 increased by over 15 times in the country, driven largely by the Omicron variant. While the surge has been rapid and faster than during the second wave, the number of deaths is significantly lower. Here is a low down of the numbers so far.
Ever since the emergence of the Omicron variant at the end of November 2021, there is a sudden surge in the number of COVID-19 cases reported across the world.  At the beginning of December 2021, around 6.87 lakhs COVID-19 cases were being reported in a day, which has now increased to more than 35 lakh daily cases across the world.
Though the number of cases in India began to increase slightly later (starting last week of December 2021) than most other countries, the number of new daily cases has already crossed 3 lakhs.  India’s first Omicron case was detected on 01 December 2021, as per the update by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW). Around 9.6 thousand Omicron cases were detected as of 20 January 2022. This is only among the cases where genome sequencing was done. Hence, it does not mean Omicron has only caused so many cases in India.  In fact, all evidence suggests that the third wave is now being driven by the Omicron variant. On 20 January 2022, India reported 3.47 new daily cases. This increase in cases starting from the last week of December 2021 is considered the 3 wave of COVID-19 spread in India.
In this story, we look at the trends so far in the third wave and how the various parameters compare with the devastating second wave. The data released by MoHFW daily on its website, till 20 January 2022 is considered for the story.
Daily new cases increased by more than 10 times since 01 January 2022
During most of December 2021, the number of reported daily new cases remained lower with an average of 7000 to 10000 cases per day in continuation of the declining trend post the second wave of COVID-19.  The early signs of an increasing trend in the daily new cases were visible by the end of December 2021.
On 01 January 2022, the number of reported daily new cases in the country was 27.5 thousand. By 06 January 2022, this number crossed 1 lakh. On 19 January 2022, the number of reported daily new cases crossed 3 lakhs and 3.47 lakh cases were reported on 20 January 2022.
During the second wave (mid-February to May 2021), it took around 75-80 days to cross the 3 lakh cases mark. The second wave peaked at around 4.1 lakh cases by the second week of May 2021 whereas, in the current wave, more than 3 lakh cases in a day were reached in just about 20 days. The anticipated peak for the third wave in terms of the numbers and the duration is still unclear.
Our earlier comparison between the first and second waves showed that it took a shorter time for the second wave to reach its peak (around 3 months compared to around 5 months in the first wave). But the number of reported daily new cases was exponentially higher during the second wave.
Trends in the other countries also show that the later waves took a shorter time to reach their peak, but the numbers at the peak were much higher than the earlier waves. Based on these trends, it is possible that India would also hit the peak very soon before the reduction in cases begins.
Case Positivity Rate increased almost 16 times in the last 20 days
While increased testing could also be one of the reasons for the increase in cases, the numbers show that is not the primary reason. Case Positivity Rate (CPR), defined as the number of positive cases for every 100 tests is a more accurate indicator of the spread of the virus than the actual number of tests
We took the 7-day moving average of the total number of tests & the total number of positive cases to calculate the daily CPR. The 7-day moving average is a better indicator than absolute daily numbers since tests do not usually yield results on the same day, particularly during a wave when the load on the system is high.
At the beginning of December 2021, the number of daily tests was around 11 lakhs and ranged between 8-11 lakhs on average during the rest of the month. The number of daily tests increased post 05 January 2022 and on 20 January 2022, 19.35 lakh tests were conducted.  In other words, the number of tests has at best doubled compared to the numbers in December 2021.
During most of December 2021, the daily CPR continued to be less than 1% i.e., all through December, only around one COVID-19 positive case was being detected out of more than 100 samples tested.
The trend began to shift by the end of December 2021 with CPR reaching 1.1%. The CPR continued to increase at a rapid rate in the ensuing days. By 10 January 2022, the average CPR was around 8.85% which reached 13.69% by 15 January 2022. By 20 January 2022, the CPR is 16.56% i.e., the CPR has increased around 16 times within a span of 20 days.
For comparison, the daily CPR was around 2% for the first 20 days of the second wave. It eventually was around 22% during the peak. As with the rapid increase in the number of cases, the CPR also indicates that the third wave is spreading faster than the second wave.
Significantly lower number of deaths compared to the second wave
One of the defining trends across the world of the recent COVID-19 wave driven by the Omicron variant is the significantly lower number of deaths compared to the earlier waves.
Despite an increase in the number of COVID-19 positive cases over the past 10 days, the number of deaths has not increased unlike in the second wave. During the second wave, when the number of daily cases reached around 3 lakhs, the number of deaths was around 2 thousand per day. At its peak, the number of daily deaths during the second wave was more than 4 thousand per day.
In the current wave, although the number of daily cases has crossed 3 lakhs, the number of daily deaths is averaging around 400. While it can be argued that deaths get reported only after about two weeks of infection, the numbers even with that calculation are significantly lower.  During the second wave, the number of daily deaths crossed 1600 fourteen days after the daily cases crossed a lakh. During the current wave, even though it’s been more than fourteen days since the number of cases crossed one lakh, the number of deaths has remained largely the same with a minor increase in some states. Based on the information provided by MoHFW, the 7-day average death figure was 435 on 20 January 2022.
Even this number of 400 a day is misleading since Kerala has been reconciling old deaths as a part of the appeal for compensation and including quite a few old deaths in its daily number.
For instance, on 20January 2021, out of the 703 total deaths reported, 309 were older deaths which were included on that day based on the reconciliation process. All this means that the actual number of deaths could be still lower during the current wave.
An exponentially higher number of actual deaths in earlier waves based on Compensation claims
The Supreme Court has earlier approved Central Government’s decision to provide Rs. 50,000 ex-gratia compensation for COVID-19 deaths and directed the states to process the claims. The SC also directed states not to deny the claims based on mere technicalities. The process for providing compensation is ongoing in most states. If the numbers related to compensation claims being reported to the SC is any indicator, the number of actual deaths due to COVID-19 in the country could be exponentially higher during the previous waves.
As per the bulletin for 20 January 2022, the total number of deaths in Kerala was more than 51,000 out of which more than 20,000 were reconciled after appeals. In other words, about 40% of the deaths in Kerala were included after appeals. We earlier did a story on this highlighting the prospects of a higher number of deaths than those reported.
Recently, the Supreme Court took cognizance of the issues with appeals for compensation wherein the number of claims for compensation due to death by COVID-19 is higher than the numbers earlier reported by the states.
In the case of Andhra Pradesh, 36.2 thousand claims were received against 14.47 thousand deaths reported by the state. In Maharashtra, 2.17 lakh claims were received, while only 1.4 lakh deaths were officially reported. In Gujarat, 91.8 thousand claims were received but the state has reported only about 10 thousand deaths.
This huge mismatch between the number of claims & actual reported deaths is seen across most states and implies that the actual number of deaths could be significantly higher during the earlier waves than what has been reported by states so far.
While it is still early days to definitively comment on the trend due to the Omicron variant, all evidence so far indicates that this wave could be significantly less fatal while it might result in higher number of infections.
Featured Image: Numbers in India due to the Omicron Variant

created: January 24, 2022


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India did not see a steep increase in debt borrowings during '2014 - 2018' - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
July 9, 2020
A post claiming that India’s debt by the end of 2014 was US$ 296 billion, whereas in a span of four years i.e. during 2014-2018 it increased to US$ 486 billion, attributing the steep increase to the performance of PM Modi is doing rounds on social media platforms. Through this article lets fact-check the claim made in the post.
India’s debt is increased steeply from US$ 296 billion in 2014 to US$ 486 billion in 2018.
Fact: According to the Ministry of Finance data, the total outstanding debt of India by 31 March 2014 is US$ 929.6 billion, whereas by 31 March 2018, it stood at US$ 1265.7 billion. It saw a gradual increase during these years like in the UPA years. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When we searched for the information regarding India’s debt on the Ministry of Finance website, in the budget report of the respective years, we found that India’s total outstanding debt by the end of 31 March 2014 stood at US$ 929.6 billion (RE as per the conversion rate of 28 March 2014), whereas by the end March 2018 India’s total outstanding debt stood at US$ 1265.7 billion (RE as per the conversion rate of 28 March 2018). The archives of the conversion rate of various currencies can be found on the RBI website. One US$ is valued at 60.0998 rupees on 28 March 2014, which is increased to 65.0441 rupees on 28 March 2018.
Total debt comprises internal debt and other liabilities plus external debts. Generally, debt borrowings won’t be the same every year. They are dependent on many factors such as loan repayment, changing economic climate etc. Internal debt is not the same as having an external debt, that is why most of the time government raises its debt from internal sources like through Reserve Bank of India, other commercial banks etc. The information regarding the total debt including internal and external debts of India over the years can be found here.
To conclude, wrong data regarding the debt of India during the time period 2014 – 2018 is being spread attributing the steep increase in debt to Prime Minister Modi’s term.
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India's disasters and its disaster management - Factly
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 18, 2015
India has seen many disasters, some of which were natural, some were man-made and some were a combination of both. No matter what the nature of the disasters are, the damages caused by these disasters are devastating – from loss of human lives to loss of livestock to destruction of property to health crises. This list gives the disasters since 1972 along with the devastation they have caused. A total of 19 major disasters occurred from 1972 to 2012. The number of major disasters decade wise and also the type of disasters is explained in the charts below.
Note: At the time of compiling this report, the latest data on disaster was available only as of 2013.
Climate change is indeed showing its impact with majority disasters because of floods & cyclones. With every passing decade, the number of major disasters is increasing.
Economic loss
The economic loss due to these major disasters is only available from the 1990s and the loss has been ever increasing. In terms of annual financial losses, it is about 2% of the GDP.
Vulnerability to Disasters
India is vulnerable in varying degrees to a large number of natural as well as man-made disasters.
Impact of Climate Change
Climate change is also one of the reasons for the disasters such as untimely floods, the devastating cyclones and this phenomenon is now very much evident in India.
Disaster Management
After 1998, there has been a paradigm shift in how disasters were perceived. A high level committee was set up to come up with a framework to introduce the disaster management. The Disaster Management act was passed in 2005 as part of which an institutional framework was set up.
Apart from this structure, there are certain ministries who are responsible for certain disasters that fall under their purview.
National Disaster Response Force comprises of 10 Battalions whose tasks are
Preparedness
The NDMA has also taken up some mitigation projects to deal with certain disasters. While the government has taken the basic steps towards disaster management, the ultimate disaster management lies with the community since they are the first responders and have first hand information of the disaster and know the ground situation better than anyone else. The community must therefore leverage the government’s policies and schemes and empower itself so that they can prevent the disaster whenever possible or at least better prepare to mitigate the dangers posed by the disasters.
Those who want to get self trained and want to engage in educating the community may consider these online courses by the National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM)
Source: National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM)


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India does not have the second fastest doubling rate of COVID-19 cases at the threshold of 1.5 lakh cases - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 30, 2020
On 26 May 2020, former IAS officer, Kannan Gopinathan tweeted an infographic relating to COVID-19 cases across the world including India.
Among countries with more than 1 lakh cases, India has the second fastest doubling rate. Please tell your ministers to not fool people into a false sense of security dear PM @narendramodi. Please. pic.twitter.com/8pgXO7nCJv
In the tweet, he claimed that among the countries with more than 1 Lakh cases, India has the second fastest doubling rate. The infographic shows that the doubling rate of India is 14 days. Only Brazil has a faster doubling rate with 13 days. The average doubling rate shown for the total cases across the world is 32 days.  Here is a fact-check of the claim made.
India has the second fastest doubling rate among the countries with the highest number of COVID-19 cases.
Fact: India’s doubling rate to 1.5 lakh cases is slower than 4 other countries at that number and much slower at the threshold of 1 lakh cases. It is not proper to compare the doubling rate with date as a reference since the doubling rate in a specific country will depend on the number of cases and the stage of COVID-19 spread. Hence the claim is Misleading.
Large variance in the number of cases between countries being compared
The number of positive cases considered for analysis in the infographic was as on 26 May 2020. There is large variance in the number of cases between countries being compared in the infographic. While India has recorded over 1.45 lakh cases, United States reported 16.62 lakh cases followed by Brazil and Russia which each of them having reported an upwards of 3.5 lakh cases. Meanwhile, UK, Spain and Italy have well over 2 lakh cases. Hence it is not proper to compare doubling rates as on a specific date.
It is general logic that it takes longer for a large number to double compared to that of a smaller number. Hence a more rational comparison between the countries would be to check, the time taken for them to double and reach around 1.45-1.5 lakh cases (close to the number of cases reported in India as on 26 May 2020), rather than comparing the number of cases in different countries on a specific date.
Below is the number of days taken for the countries to double up and reach 1.5 lakh cases. The data is sourced from Ourworldindata.org, which has information from various official sources.
As per this data, it took around 13 days for India to double up to 1.5 lakh cases. This is the fifth fastest among the top 11 countries with highest number of COVID-19 cases. At this number, USA has the fastest doubling rate of 4 days to reach 1.5 lakh case. It is followed by Russia and Brazil with 9 and 10 days respectively.  Spain’s doubling rate to reach 1.5 lakh cases was around 11 days.
Peak and the size of population
A look at the number of daily COVID-19 cases in respective countries shows that few of these countries which have the highest number of cases are reporting fewer new cases daily than earlier. These countries include Spain, Italy, Germany, Turkey, and France.  In all these countries, the daily numbers peaked during April and during most of May, the numbers are consistently lower than the peak period. They appear to have crossed the peak stage at least for now, except for a random anomaly on certain days.
Iran and UK have also been reporting fewer new cases daily than earlier, albeit not with as much variance as the above-mentioned countries.
Meanwhile, USA, Brazil and Russia have been consistently reporting higher daily numbers than earlier, similar to that of India, whose daily cases are also on the rise compared to earlier. Whether the current stage is the peak for these countries will only be known in the future.
Few of the countries which have taken longer to double to 1.5 lakh cases, have actually taken lesser time to double to a smaller number.  Here is a look at the number of days taken to double to 1 lakh cases.
As per the above data, 7 countries have taken fewer days to double to 1 lakh cases compared to India. Italy, Germany and UK took longer than India for doubling to 1.5 lakh cases but doubled to 1 lakh cases in fewer days.
If the same doubling rate is considered at a different number i.e. around 50 thousand cases, there could be more countries with shorter time than India to double.
Most of these countries referred to in the infographic have far less population when compared to India and more or less have reached the peak of COVID-19 spread by the time they reached 1.5 lakh cases. Any comparison for a larger number of cases in future would be inappropriate for these smaller countries, as the rate has considerably slowed down. Instead, comparison with USA, Russia and Brazil would be a better benchmark since these countries are on a similar trajectory as India.
It is true that number of cases in India is increasing and this increase might continue for some time in view of its vast population. However, the rate of doubling at specific milestone number of cases is lower than multiple other countries which are badly affected by COVID-19.
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India does not owe $ 1,31,100 million to the world bank; No data to substantiate the claim - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
January 18, 2022
A social media post claiming India owes USD 1,31,100 million to the world bank is being widely shared. The post holds Modi responsible for the debt. Through this article, let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: India owes USD 1,31,100 million to the world bank.
Fact: According to a Lok Sabha reply, dated 20 July 2018, as of March 2018, India’s outstanding loan with the World Bank stood at $ 34285.16 million. Moreover, as per the World Bank, as of 31 December 2021, India’s outstanding debt to IBRD & IDA, in regards to the various development projects stands at $ 18.6 billion and $ 0.72 billion, which adds up to $ 19.32 billion, which is much lower compared to the amount claimed in the viral post.  Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
As per a Lok Sabha reply, dated 20 July 2018, India’s outstanding loan with the World Bank as of March 2018 stood at $ 34,285.16 million. This is much lower compared to the amount claimed in the viral post.
World Bank data regarding the loans and credits sanctioned to India through the International Bank of Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and International Development Association (IDA) for different development projects shows that as of 2019, India’s borrower obligation (due to be paid) for IBRD & IDA stands at $ 9,712.86 million and $ 18,293.97 million, which adds up to $ 28,006.83 million. This means at the beginning of Narendra Modi’s second stint as PM, the total outstanding due to World Bank stood at $ 28,006.83 million.
However, according to another data set the as of 31 December 2021, India outstanding due to IBRD & IDA, in regard to the various development projects approximately stands at $ 18,581.96 million and $ 722.4 million, which adds up to $ 19,304.36 million, which is much lower compared to the amount claimed in the viral post. Moreover, this shows that in two years (i.e. 2019-21) a significant amount of due is cleared.
While there are reports (here & here) of India borrowing from the World Bank during the COVID-19 pandemic, the data on outstanding dues to be paid to the World Bank shows the amount is not as high as claimed in the post.
To sum it up, India does not owe $ 1,31,100 million to the world bank; No data to substantiate the claim.

created: January 18, 2022


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India faces a shortage of 23% IAS & 19% IPS officers
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
September 19, 2016
Both IAS & IPS belong to the elite All India Services (AIS). The IAS officers & IPS officers are allocated to various cadres based on the respective cadre allocation rules. As per the latest data shared by the government in the Lok Sabha, India faces a 23% shortage of IAS officers and 19% shortage of IPS officers as of January, 2016. Some states have been facing an acute shortage of the IAS & IPS officers for a long time now.
The fixation of the strength and composition of a cadre of AIS officers is governed by the Cadre Rules, separately framed for each AIS. The cadre strength is reviewed ordinarily at the interval of every five years. A State Government can also seek mid-term cadre review to increase the cadre strength. There are currently 26 cadres each for IAS & IPS.
As of 1st January 2016, the total authorized strength of IAS officers across the country is 6396.  Of this, only 4926 officers are in position and there is a shortage of 1470 officers or 23% of the authorized strength. Uttar Pradesh has the highest authorized strength of 621 IAS officers followed by Madhya Pradesh (417) and Tamil Nadu (376). Eight (8) different cadres have a total authorized strength of more than 300 each. Three cadres (Sikkim, Nagaland & Tripura) have a total authorized strength of less than 100 each.
Bihar faces the largest shortage of IAS officers (128) followed by Uttar Pradesh (117) and West Bengal (101). Twelve (12) different cadres face a shortage of more than 50 IAS officers each. Only four (4) cadres face a shortage of less than 30 IAS officers each. The average shortage of IAS officers per cadre is 57.
Bihar also faces the highest shortage of IAS officers in terms of percentage (37.4%) followed by Nagaland (34%). Five (5) cadres face a shortage of more than 30% each while eight (8)cadres face a shortage of less than 20% each. On the whole, 12 cadres face a shortage which is more than the All India average while 14 other cadres face a shortage which is less than the All India average.
As of 1st January 2016, the total authorized strength of IPS officers across the country is 4802.  Of this, only 3894 officers are in position and there is a shortage of 908 officers or 18.9% of the authorized strength. Uttar Pradesh has the highest authorized strength of 517 IPS officers followed by West Bengal (347) and Madhya Pradesh (305). Six (6) different cadres have a total authorized strength of more than 250 each. Six cadres (Sikkim, Nagaland, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh & Manipur) have a total authorized strength of less than 100 each.
Uttar Pradesh faces the largest shortage of IPS officers (114) followed by West Bengal (88) and Odisha (79). Eight (8) different cadres face a shortage of more than 50 IPS officers each. Ten (10) cadres face a shortage of less than 30 IPS officers each. The average shortage of IPS officers per cadre is 40. It has to be noted that the cadre allocation of 140 IPS Probationers of the 2015 batch is still pending. The shortage in different cadres might reduce after the allocation.
Odisha faces the highest shortage of IPS officers in terms of percentage (42%) followed by Jammu & Kashmir (38.1%). Five (5) cadres face a shortage of more than 30% each while thirteen (13) cadres face a shortage of less than 20% each.
Featured Image:Image

created: September 19, 2016


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India Gate does not have the names of ‘Freedom Fighters’ inscribed on it - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
July 16, 2019
On Facebook, a post that alleges that names of Freedom Fighters are inscribed on the India Gate and also the community wise split of them is doing the rounds from many years. The detailed description put in the post is – ‘95,300 names of Freedom Fighters are inscribed at India Gate, New Delhi. From above, a list of religion and caste-based total is given as: Muslims-61,395 ; Sikh-8,050 ; Hindus(Backward) ; Hindus(Dalits) – 10,777 ; Hindus(High Cast)- 598; Hindus(sanghi fro RSS). Indian freedom struggle is written with Muslim blood.’ Let’s try to verify the claims made in the post.
India Gate has the names of the freedom fighters inscribed on it.
Fact: The India Gate commemorates the Indian soldiers who lost their lives fighting for the British Army during World War I. The memorial bears the names of the British and Indian soldiers killed in the Northwestern Frontier in the Afghan war of 1919. There is no mention of the religion or the caste of these dead soldiers. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When we tried to verify the above claim, a search with the keywords “India gate new delhi background” resulted in a number of search results. Among them, the link of ‘Delhi Tourism’ website that describes the details of the India Gate monument can be found. In this webpage, it is mentioned about India Gate as- “It(India Gate) commemorates the 70,000 Indian soldiers who lost their lives fighting for the British Army during World War I. The memorial bears the names of more than 13,516 British and Indian soldiers killed in the Northwestern Frontier in the Afghan war of 1919”. So, India Gate has the names of the British and Indian soldiers killed in the Northwestern Frontier in the Afghan war of 1919 and not the names of freedom fighters as described in the post.
During the search process, it was found that the database of the names of all the soldiers inscribed on the India Gate is held by the ‘Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC)’. When searched on their website, the database which was found can be seen here. In this list, the details such as the soldier’s name, rank, service number, date of death, age, grave service number and regiment country of service can be seen but there is no mention of his/her religion or caste.
In the ‘about’ section of their website, it was found that CWGC does not discriminate the dead soldiers on ground of their military rank, race or creed.
To summarise, India Gate does not have the names of ‘Freedom Fighters’ inscribed on it.
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India generated the 3rd highest volume of E-waste even as its per capita generation is 1/3rd the Global Average
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
November 17, 2020
With the generation of E-waste increasing every year, it is soon becoming an important environmental issue around the world. India generated the 3rd highest volume of E-waste in 2019, behind China & USA as per the Global E-waste Monitor. However, India’s per capita E-waste generation is 1/3rd the global average while it is 3-times the global average in the USA.
The festive season marks the purchase of new household items including electrical and electronic items, among many other things. This season is also the time when heavy discounts are offered on a variety of products, especially the electronic goods. In many a case, the new products replace existing electronic goods. Over the years, there has been a marked increase in the consumption of Electric & Electronic goods, especially mobile phones & computers both due to advancements in technology, improvement in the economic situation & availability of cheaper products in the market.
This trend is observed across the world, where-in an increased share of population are reliant on these gadgets along with the per-capita usage. While the advancements in technology have improved our lives, they have also created new challenges. One of them being the increase in electric & electronic waste. The effectiveness of disposal of such waste not only has a bearing on the environment but also on the economy.
Global E-waste Monitor provides insights into the extent of E-waste generated globally
As per the definition provided by United Nations University/StEP Initiative 2014, an Electrical & Electronic Equipment (EEE) is  – ‘Any household or business item with circuitry or electrical components with power or battery supply’.
The StEP (Solving the E-waste Problem), further defines e-waste as any EEE and its parts that are discarded by the owner without the intention of re-use.
There are 6- categories of e-waste as per WEEE directive adopted by European Member states and as per the internationally recognized framework for E-waste statistics. These generally do not include any kind of batteries, accumulators or electrical components of vehicles.
All the production and consumption of EEE is potential E-waste. So, how much of E-waste is generated around the world?  The Global E-Waste Monitor provides key insights into the E-waste generation and management statistics across the countries. It is a collaborative effort of the Global E-waste Statistics Partnership (GESP). GESP was formed by UN University (UNU), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the International Solid Waste Association, in collaboration with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).
The Global E-waste Monitor -2020 is the third & the latest edition, with the earlier versions being ‘Global E-waste Monitor-2014’ & ‘Global E-waste monitor -2017’.
7.3 kg per capita E-waste generated globally in 2019
As per the Global E-waste Monitor- 2020, there is an increase in the global generation of E -waste. The report highlights factors such as – a higher level of disposable incomes, urbanization, industrialization, higher consumption of EEEs, short life cycles, few repair options etc. to be contributing towards an increase in E-waste.
As per Global E-waste Monitor- 2020 report, a total of 53.6 Million Metric Tonnes (Mt) of e-waste was generated globally in 2019. This accounts to 7.3 kg per capita. Compared 2014, the time when the global statistics of E-waste are formally available, the global E-waste increased by 9.3 Mt. In 2014, the total E-waste was 44.4 Mt with per capita being 6.4 kg. By 2030, the global E-waste is estimated to increase to 74.7 Mt with per capita E-waste also estimated to increase to around 9 kg.
E-waste under ‘Small Equipment’ constituted the major portion of E-waste in 2019 with 17.4 Mt, followed by ‘large equipment’.  The volume of e-waste under ‘Small Equipment’ grew by 4% during the five-year period (2014-19). Meantime, the E-waste under ‘large equipment’ grew by 5%. The highest increase compared to 2014, was under ‘temperature exchange equipment’, which increased by 7% to 10.8 Mt in 2019. The volume of e-waste under ‘screens & monitors’ was 6.7 Mt in 2019, a drop of 1% compared to 2014. This is the only category, where-in there has been a drop in the overall volume of E-waste in 2019, when compared with 2014.
Highest per-capita E-waste generated in Europe
Asian Region generated the highest volume of E-waste in 2019 with 24.9 Mt, followed by the Americas (North & South America) with 13.1 Mt, followed by Europe. Africa & Oceania regions have a very low volume of total E-waste generated compared to the other regions. This can be attributed to lower economic development in most of the countries in the African region and less population in Oceania.
In-spite of its position as the region with the highest E-waste, Asia ranks lower in terms of per capita E-waste compared to USA & Europe. Europe has the highest per capita E-waste generated in 2019 with 16.2 kg, followed by Oceania with 16.1 kg.
The trends in per-capita consumption validate the earlier assertions regarding the factors contributing towards E-waste, that the regions with economically developed countries report a higher per capita E-waste. This is corroborated by the other information provided in the Global E-waste Monitor report, wherein a higher number of EEE equipment are owned by Higher Income level countries compared to countries in other income levels. As discussed earlier, these EEE equipment are potential e-waste in due course of time.
Only 17.4% of the Global E-waste is documented to be collected & properly recycled
E-waste is both hazardous to nature as well as rich in precious metals. Hence proper disposal and recycling of E-waste is important – both for safe disposal of toxic materials as well as for economic benefit.
E-waste contains several toxic & hazardous substances including – mercury, Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), BFRs, HCFCs etc. These possess a significant risk to the environment as well as human health. It is estimated that about 50 tons of mercury and 71 Kt of BFR plastics are found globally in undocumented E-waste annually. Apart from this risk, E-waste is a mine of precious, critical & non-critical metals which can be used as secondary materials if recycled properly.
The value of raw materials in the E-waste generated globally in 2019, is estimated to be around 57 billion USD. Few of the valuable metals include- gold, copper, iron etc. However, the documented collection and recycling rate is only 17.4% i.e. 9.3 Mt in 2019. This comes up to only around 10 billion USD.  Recycling these metals from the E-waste can help in the reduction of usage of virgin metals for further production.
The efficiency of documenting the E-wastage flows for collection & recycling varies across different regions. The lack of proper procedures and infrastructure results in huge proportion of undocumented E-waste in many of the lesser developed countries.
The European region has the most effective mechanism with 42.5% of the E-waste being documented to be properly collected & recycled. Asia is comparably more effective than Americas & Oceania.
Per capita E-waste generation in India is low in spite of it being the third largest generator by volume
As per the data provided in Global E-waste Monitor, India ranks third behind USA & China in terms of the total E-waste generated in 2019. China generated over 10.12 Mt of E-waste in 2019, followed by the USA with 6.91 Mt and India with 3.23 Mt.  However, in terms of per capita E-waste, India is among the countries with low per capita E-waste with only 2.4 kg per capita in 2019, much lower than the global average of  7.3 kg per capita. China is also marginally less than the global average with 7.2 kg per capita. However, the USA nearly generates 3 times the global per capita E-waste with 21 kg.
While, the lower per capita E-waste is a positive sign, India does not fare well when it comes to proper collection and recycling of E-waste.
As per the available information from 2016, provided in the Global E-waste Monitor-2020, only 30 Kt (approx. 1%) is accounted for. On the other hand, China has around 10% of the E- waste documented and the USA has 15% accounted for. The data collected for Global E-waste Monitor is based on the methodology devised & standardized by GESP which includes both the sales of EEE as well as a consumption model.
Responding to a question in Lok Sabha on 23 September 2020, the government stated that the estimate for the generation of E-waste is based on the sales data of 21 types of Notified EEE (as estimated by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB)).
As per this estimate, the is a 32% increase in the estimated generation of E-waste in 2019-20 with 10.14 lakh tones (2019-20) compared to 7.71 lakh tones (2018-19).
Need to ramp up India’s recycling capabilities of managing e-waste
In response to the same question, the government further elucidated the policy and mechanism in place to recycle E-waste. As per CPCB’s information, there are a total of 312 authorized E-waste dismantlers or recyclers across 18 states. The overall capacity is to the tune of 7.82 lakh MTPA (Metric Tonnes per Annum).
The Government has also notified E-waste (Management) Rules, 2016 , to ensure E-waste is managed effectively. Few of the key objectives of these rules include:
In spite of near 7.82 Lakh MTPA capacity, only about 30 Kt was documented as recycled in India (in 2016). This indicates a huge gap in proper tracking of the E-waste and defining ways in which they can be sent for recycling, so that there is a closed loop from the stage of production & sale to the stage of discarding & recycling.  Even though the global standard is less with only 17% of the E-waste being documented (excluding Europe could further bring the number down), India has a lot of catching up to do in terms of tracking & documenting E-waste.
Hence, in view of the potential hazards that E-waste could cause to nature, as well as the opportunity to recycle precious metals (thus reducing exploitation of nature), it is of paramount importance that the countries world over (including India) ramp up their infrastructure and streamlines the process for better tracking & recycling of e-waste.
Featured Image: Vehicle Registrations

created: November 17, 2020


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India has not cleared its debt to the World bank, it just cleared its share of contribution to the United Nations (UN) - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
October 18, 2019
A post with a photo of a tweet shared by Syed Akabaruddin regarding India paying its dues to the United Nations (UN) is being shared widely on Facebook with a claim that for the first time in 70 years, during the regime of Modi, India has cleared it’s outstanding loans to the World bank. Let’s try to find the authenticity of the claim made in the post.
Indian Government under Modi has cleared its debt to world bank.
Fact: Akbaruddin’s tweet talks about India clearing its dues related to its contibution to the UN, not the loans availed from the World bank. On World bank’s website it can be seen that India has to pay a few billion dollars to the World bank. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
From the tweet made by Syed Akbaruddin, India permanent representative to the UN, it can be understood that India has cleared its dues to the United Nations. Every country contributes a certain amount of money for the UN’s budget and India has paid its share to the UN. There is no relation between India’s contribution to the UN and India’s outstanding debt with the World bank. More information about India’s outstanding debt to the world bank can be found on the world bank’s website. For various projects, India has taken a few billion dollars of debt from different groups of world bank—IBRD (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development), IDA (International Development Association), and IFC (International Finance Corporation). Project wise details can be found on world bank’s website. There is no truth in the information that these debts are all cleared by Modi.
To conclude, India cleared its contribution related dues to the UN and this is being shared as India clearing its outstanding debts to the world bank.
Did you watch our new Episode of the DECODE series?

created: October 18, 2019


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India is still the third largest economy in terms of purchasing power parity - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
June 13, 2022
A social media post claims that from being third largest economy in 2011, India has slipped to 164 fastest growing nation in the world in 2021. Through this article let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: From being third largest economy in 2011, India has slipped to 164 fastest growing nation in the world in 2021.
Fact: It is true that India was ranked as the third largest economy in 2011 by ICP (World Bank) and is also ranked at 164 fastest growing economy in 2021 by IMF. However the comparison of these rankings is not correct, as the 2011 calculation is based in terms of PPP, whereas the 2021 calculation is based on real GDP at market prices. Moreover, contrary to the claim, India is still the third largest economy in terms of PPP after China and US. And also as per the same IMF report, India initially ranked at 8 position in terms of real GDP growth for the year 2021. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
While both rankings with regards to Indian GDP mentioned in the post are true, the comparison is not appropriate. To get clarity, let us look into each of the rankings in detail below.
India is 164th fastest growing nation :
International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its World Economic Outlook released in October 2020, projected India’s GDP growth at constant prices as -10.28% and 8.8% for the years 2020 & 2021 respectively.
Though this report did not provide any rankings with respect to these projections. Statistics Times, a data portal provided relative rankings of the countries based on these projections of IMF. In these rankings, India with -10.28% projected GDP growth for the year 2020 stood at 164th position among all the countries. Most likely, this is the rank referred to in the viral post.
It is noteworthy to mention that Statistic Times had initially ranked India as 8 fastest growing country for the year 2021, as per the same IMF projections.
However, later on as per the provisional estimates released by the National Statistical Office, GDP growth rate of India for the year 2020-21 stood at -7.3%.  Statistics Times later updated the ranking based on the actual figures and India’s rank was adjusted to 143 accordingly.
India 3rd largest economy in 2011:
In 2014, International Comparison Programme along with the World Bank released a survey that ranked the countries GDP in terms of Purchasing Power Parity (PPP). As per this survey, India became the third largest economy after US and China for the year 2011.
Comparison is not appropriate :
Here, it is to be noted that the comparison of GDP metrics (for the years 2011 & 2021) made in the viral post is not rational, as the 2011 GDP is calculated in PPP terms, whereas the 2021 is calculated in real terms. The difference between the real GDP & the GDP calculated in PPP terms can be known below.
Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) is a metric calculated by comparing the value of a standard basket of goods across countries. It indicates the purchasing power of a nation’s currency when compared to others. Simply put, the unit currency value of each nation is converted to dollars and then compares the purchasing power by measuring the number of goods which can be bought across nations from the standard basket of goods. Usually, PPP is used to compare income levels, standard of living and economic activity using different currencies through a basket of goods.
On the other hand,  real GDP is a measure that reflects the total value of all goods and services produced in an economy in a given year  after adjusting to inflation.
Though economists usually calculate GDP of a nation in both real and PPP terms, the appropriate way to measure depends on the issue being considered. For example, calculating real GDP would be better option if we had to calculate the flow of financial resources in a given year, whereas the calculation of GDP in terms of PPP would be a better option if we have to calculate the standard of living in a country when compared to other countries.
Current Indian GDP in terms of PPP & constant prices :
It is noteworthy to mention that India is still the third largest economy in terms of purchasing power parity. According to the latest report released by the International Comparison Programme in 2020, India retained it s position as the third largest economy for the year 2017, after China and US.
In fact, the purchasing power parity of the rupee per dollar at GDP level rose to 20.65 in 2017 from 15.55 in 2011.
And as far as the latest IMF forecast is concerned, World Economic Outlook had projected a growth rate of 8.2% for the year 2022.
To sum it up, India is still the third largest economy in terms of purchasing power parity.


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India has less than 6 Medical college seats for every lakh population
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
September 12, 2017
Thousands of Indian students go abroad every year to pursue medical education. In adequate number of medical seats in India is one of the reasons for students going abroad. For the 2017-18 academic year, there are just over 67000 medical seats and over 27000 dental seats across the country. This translates to less than 6 medical seats per one lakh population and fewer than 3 dental seats per one lakh population.
A large number of Indian students go abroad for medical education every year. This is partly to do with the fewer number of medical seats available in the country. The number of seats has not kept pace with the growing demand.  For the 2017-18 admission season, there were a total of 67218 medical seats on offer across the country, which translates to less than 6 seats for every lakh population.
Most number of seats in Karnataka
It has to be noted that though there is all-India quota in NEET, a large number of seats are still reserved under the state quota. Hence number of seats in a particular state are important.  Of all the states, Karnataka with 8845 has the most medical seats on offer followed by 7270 in Maharashtra. A total of 18 States/UTs have more than 1000 seats each. Eight (8) States/UTs have fewer than 500 seats each. Tamil Nadu has the most number of medical seats in government colleges followed by Maharashtra. Three states of Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram & Nagaland do not have a single medical college.
Fewer than 6 Medical seats for every one lakh population
At an All-India level, there are fewer than 6 seats per one lakh population. Of all the States/UTs, Puducherry has more than 96 seats per one lakh population because of the presence of JIPMER and relatively lower population. Of the States/UTs with more than a crore population, Karnataka has more than 14 medical seats per one lakh population, the highest in the country. Only Kerala & Telangana are two other states with more than 10 seats per one lakh population. Of the bigger states, only Bihar & Jharkhand have less than 2 seats per one lakh population. This is 4 times lower compared to national average.
More than 27000 Dental seats on offer
In addition to the medical seats, there are more than 27000 dental seats across the country. Karnataka with 3520 leads in the number of seats followed by Maharashtra & Tamil Nadu. Eleven (11) States/UTs have more than 1000 dental seats each. Thirteen (13) States/UTs have fewer than 500 dental seats. Six (6) states namely Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, Sikkim, Nagaland do not have a single dental college.
On average, there are fewer than 3 dental seats per one lakh population at an all-India level. Bihar & Assam are at the bottom of the list when it comes to number of seats per one lakh people. Both these states have less than 0.5 seats per one lakh population. Five (5) states have fewer than one seat per one lakh population.
Featured Image: Medical college seats in India

created: September 12, 2017


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Why India Needs Crime Reporting Reform
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
July 19, 2018
After the recent incidents of lynching in some parts of the country, there has been a debate whether such incidents have increased during the BJP rule. As we find out, there is not adequate data to conclude. India needs serious reforms in Crime Reporting as the Supreme Court recommends a separate offence for lynching.
A series of mob lynching incidents have been reported in the media since December 2015. Even as politicians from opposing parties accuse each other of instigating communal violence, media and research organizations are reporting trends of spiked communal violence based on incidents reported in the press. It is concerning that newspaper reports are being considered as a yardstick to measure the increase or decrease of violence because it is common knowledge that media coverage is disproportionate and varies depending on the region of incidence, language of the platform used like print, broadcast and the market dynamics of the media houses.
Even as the government is pushing for a ‘Digital India’, the low priority and significance given to appropriate data and methods to collect it makes the entire exercise less credible and pointless. But the reality is that media reports in India are only form of data available to understand and analyze hate or lynching incidents. The government of India does not have any quantifiable data in this regard even as the Supreme Court recommended the Parliament to create a separate offence for lynching and provide adequate punishment.
Government of India’s Data Collection Model for Crime Incidents
There are two databases that are consolidated by two different agencies in the government that are used to understand crime data with respect to communal incidents in India. One is the Ministry of Home Affairs database (MHA) and the other is the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), a wing within the MHA that maintains its own database about crimes, criminals and law enforcement nationally.
MHA collects its communal incidents data from the states. Every year, the NCRB also collects data from the State Crime Records Bureau of the State Government and compiles it into a Crime in India Report. The data is collected with the help of a standard template. The report has detailed information on various types of crimes. The Bureau follows the ‘Principle Offence Rule’ for counting crime. Hence, among many registered offences in a single case, only the most heinous crime is considered as a counting unit in its data.
In other words, both the data points are coming from the states. Strangely, they report different numbers and the MHA’s reasons for such different numbers don’t add up as reported by Factly earlier.
For example, in the case of Mohammad Akhlaq being lynched by a mob in December, 2015 – the FIR states that all the accused have been booked under the following sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
IPC Section 147 – Rioting
IPC Section 148 – Rioting Armed With Deadly Weapon
IPC Section 149 – Unlawful Assembly
IPC Section 302 – Murder
IPC Section 307 – Attempt To Murder
IPC Section 458 – House Trespassing Or House Breaking
IPC Section 504 – Intentional Assault With Intent To Breach peace
Whether the state government has some system to report the above as a communal incident is not known. Hence the MHA data might or might not have included this crime. In the case of NCRB, only section 302 – Murder would be counted for data collection because it follows a principle offence rule by considering only the most heinous crime. Important details that give context and help define the nature of crime like rioting with deadly weapon and unlawful assembly of people in large numbers to kill will be automatically eliminated and will not be part of the data. Same would be the case of lynching of a Police Officer in Jammu & Kashmir.
Since the premise of both the databases is not uniform and very different, every year, there is a difference in number of crimes that the MHA and the NCRB report. The figures for communal incidents in the past three years are indicated below will help understand it better. It is not just the difference in numbers at a national level, there is no uniform pattern in the number of incidents in different states as well.
Categorization of Crime – Need for a ‘Hate Crime/Lynching’ category
Certain sections of the Indian law and penal code do address the aspect of hate but do so in an isolated manner. The Prevention of Atrocities Act, which protects the members from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) from hate offences, harassments, humiliation and indignities, is one such law. In the same way, sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) 295-298 deal with crime and punishment regarding places of worship, religious belief, religious assembly and intent to hurt religious feelings. IPC Sections 153A & 153B also deal with offences that promote enmity between different groups on the grounds of religion, race etc.
While Mohammad Akhlaq’s lynching was widely reported in the media as a hate incident with religious sentiments – on an unverified claim that he was carrying beef, the FIR has no such mention of sections related to the same. So, in all likelihood it will be counted as just another murder and not a religious hate incident. And this is exactly why we do not have any accurate data to measure particular categories like communal incidents or other hate incidents or incidents of mob violence/lynching.                       Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) -Hate Crime Representation Table
Countries like the  United States of America (USA) and the United Kingdom (UK), have adopted a ‘Hate Crime’ category into their crime reporting.  The US Bureau of Justice defines hate crimes as “crimes that manifest evidence of prejudice based on race, gender or gender identity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity.” This allows collection of data and gives an accurate picture about violence and crime, which is prejudiced on perceived identity like religion, race, gender etc.
The Introduction of a ‘Hate Crime/Lynching’ category in India will help represent the extent and frequency of prejudiced hate incidents accurately. It will also make it easier for the law enforcement agencies like the police to primarily categorize it first as a hate incident and additionally add other sections based on the outcome of the crime. The current system eliminates the context and records only the outcome in many cases.
Need for Centralized & Efficient Crime Reporting
According to current law, information relating to an offence has to be given orally to an officer in charge at the police station, who shall put it in writing as a First Information Report (FIR) and register a case if he deems fit. In some cases, a police officer has right to conduct a preliminary enquiry before registering a case. It has been reported that this system is largely abused and manipulated to avoid registering cases and intimidate and harass victims who want to set the criminal law in motion. Some officers might not be inclined to register the case because they might not see any personal benefit – monetary or otherwise. In certain instances, the police stations might be over burdened with existing investigations and feel that the case might not come to closure. As a result, crimes tend be under reported and not investigated at all.
More reliable and effective tools to make this process of registering cases mandatory, making provisions to immediately report any rejection of registration to authorities online will make the officers in charge more accountable and binding. “A comprehensive central reporting system that prevents officers from back dating an FIR in an attempt to steer the case away from its normal course but allowing the same in unavoidable circumstances, where the onus should rest with the officer registering the case should be put in place. This will streamline the process in some way,” says Sushant Reddy Ramayyagari, an advocate at the High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad.
One of the biggest problems in the ground operations of law enforcement agencies is the widespread corruption and an existing system that limits itself to making the agency less transparent for citizen participation. Even though, law and order is a state subject, there is a need to have uniform crime reporting guidelines across the states and clear categorization to link incidents into crime categories. Currently, the data is recorded by the states and then reported to the Central government – Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA.) The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) collects data from the State Crime Records Bureau, which is again a state government agency. Investigations and analysis by Factly in the past has exposed large discrepancies in data that the state governments possess and data that is shared with the center. Data is being under reported at the central level. Creating centralized online data systems that register and store data at the state level but automatically accessible at the center might be an efficient way to reform the existing system. This will reduce time and eliminate discrepancies. The Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (CCTNS) may be a step in that direction.
Inconclusive Data
Due to the existence of two databases and difference in data collection methods, it is very difficult to conclude on the basis of either of them. The IPC sections in an FIR and the inadequate categorization in the existing databases to represent the actual context of the crime makes the data invalid. The lack of uniform crime reporting guidelines that law enforcement agencies and crime reporting agencies share also makes it very difficult to collate data and draw points of similarity. The existing categorization of crimes is very basic and deficient in representing the context, intent and prejudice in crimes that can be categorized as hate incidents. Unless an overarching reform in crime reporting is undertaken in the country, we will have no data to analyze crime and violence or invest in capacities and strategies to prevent the same in the future. This is precisely what the Supreme Court has recommended the parliament to do, a separate offence for lynching which includes hate crimes.
Featured Image: Why India Needs Crime Reporting Reform


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India needs three times the current Sanctioned Strength of Judges - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
March 4, 2016
The huge pendency of cases in Indian Courts is a known fact. One of the prime reasons for such pendency is large number of vacancies in courts. According to Government figures, there are 44% vacancies in High Courts and 25% vacancies in lower courts compared to the sanctioned strength. Even with the sanctioned strength, India only has one-third of the judges it requires.
As Factly reported earlier, there is huge pendency of cases at all levels of Judiciary. Large number of Vacancies both in the High Courts and lower judiciary is one of the prime reasons for increasing pendency. Government data indicates that there are 44% vacancies in the High Courts and around 25% in the lower judiciary across the country.
44% Vacancies in High Courts
Against an approved strength of 31, the Supreme Court has 25 judges with 6 vacancies as of 29 February, 2016. In the 24 different High Courts of the country, there are 464 vacancies against an approved strength of 1056, which are 44% vacancies.
Within the states, Chhattisgarh High Court has close to 60% vacancies followed by the High Court at Hyderabad with 57.4% vacancies. The High Courts in Allahabad, Madras, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Meghalaya have more than 50% vacancies. Percentage of vacancies in 13 of the 24 High Courts is more than the national average of 44%. Only Tripura High Court is working at full strength of 4 Judges. Of the bigger states, Kerala High Court has only 8% vacancies. Only 5 of the 24 High Courts have less than 30% vacancies.
In absolute numbers, Allahabad High Court has a shortfall of 88 judges followed by Madras High Court with 40 vacancies. 11 of the 24 High Courts have more than 20 vacancies each.
Only 35 Judges were appointed from January to April 2015
A total of 35 Judges were appointed to the Supreme Court & High Courts from January 2015 to 13 April, 2015. These appointments were made through the Collegium process. On 13 April 2015, the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act was brought into force and hence all further appointments through the Collegium process were frozen.
The Supreme Court, in October 2015 declared that the system of appointment of Judges to Supreme Court and the High Courts can be made only through the Collegium system and struck down the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act. The Supreme Court also decided to consider new measures for an improved working of the Collegium System.
The Government then submitted its suggestions and maintained that the Parliament has the power to lay down the criteria and the process for appointment of Judges.
The Supreme Court pronounced its final order in December 2015 and asked the government to finalise the Memorandum of Procedure for appointments to higher judiciary. The Court also directed the government to include parameters like eligibility criteria, transparency in the appointment process, Secretariat and complaints etc in the procedure. In the meantime, with the revival of the Collegium system, the process of appointment of Judges has resumed.
25% Vacancies in the Lower Judiciary
Against a total sanctioned strength of 20358, there are 4998 vacancies in the lower judiciary (District & Subordinate courts) as on 30 June, 2015. In other words, almost a quarter of the posts are vacant. Puducherry has the highest percentage of vacancies with 57.1% followed by Mizoram, Meghalaya, Bihar and Delhi in the top five. 9 of the 33 States/UTs have more than 30% vacancies while in 15 of the 33 States/UTs, percentage of vacancies is more than the national average. Chandigarh & Lakshadweep have no vacancies in the lower judiciary. Of the larger states, Kerala has only 8% vacancies.
India needs three times the current Sanctioned Strength of Judges
In the All India Judges’ Association Case, the Supreme Court directed that there should be 50 judges for a million people in the country. This was based on a comparative assessment of the position in other countries. Even the Law Commission in its 120th Report recommended that the strength of judges per million should be increased to 50.
Based on the 2011 census and the sanctioned strength of various courts in the country, the Judge Population ratio in the country is about 17.72 Judges per million people. This is almost 1/3 of what both the Supreme Court and the Law Commission suggested. The three fold increase in the sanctioned strength looks like a distant dream when one looks at the existing vacancies.
Featured Image:  [Featured Image via Wikimedia, CC BY 3.0]


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India at Olympics archery
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
August 23, 2016
We look at the Indian Archery team’s performance in 2012 & 2016.


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INDIA at the Olympics – 2012 Vs 2016 (Badminton) - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
August 26, 2016
Here is a look at the performance in Badminton (2012 Vs 2016)


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India - Pakistan Dialogue: 28 Meetings since 2012, but little progress on ground
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
August 24, 2015
India Pakistan dialogue process is once again in the news for all the wrong reasons. The National Security Advisor (NSA) level talks were called off at the last minute. Data reveals that 28 meetings took place between India & Pakistan since 2012, while there has been little progress on ground.
The National Security Advisor (NSA) level talks between India & Pakistan were supposed to take forward the discussions held in Ufa (Russia). The proposed NSA level meeting is now called off.  Data available with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) indicates that quite a few meetings (28), at various levels were held between India & Pakistan. But there is little to show in terms of real progress on ground.
The Resumption of Dialogue in 2011
India suspended the dialogue process with Pakistan in 2008 after the terrorist attacks in Mumbai. The composite dialogue process resumed with formal agreement in 2011 between the two nations. Since March 2012, 28 official interactions took place between officials at various levels from both the governments.
Under the Simla Agreement and the Lahore Declaration, India and Pakistan have committed themselves to building peaceful and cooperative ties, and to address outstanding issues through a peaceful bilateral dialogue. According to the MEA, India has consistently conveyed to Pakistan that a meaningful dialogue requires an environment free from terrorism and violence.
Number of meetings since 2012
There have been 28 meetings between India & Pakistan at various levels. Six of these meetings have been at the Prime Ministerial level, three at the Minister level, 5 at the Secretary level, 3 on the sidelines of the SAARC meetings and rest between other dignitaries.
Issues discussed during these meetings
Multiple issues have been discussed during these meetings ranging from Terrorism to trade. Border related issues, Water issues & Fishermen related issues were also discussed during these meetings. While Terrorism is an agenda item in most meetings, border related issues were discussed in three meetings, trade related in four meetings, water issues in four meetings and humanitarian issues like release of the captured fishermen in one meeting.
No Improvement in Trade
While quite a few meetings have taken place between the neighbors, there seems to be very little progress on ground. While hundreds of cease fire violations continue to take place each year, trade between the two countries has hardly improved.
The total value of trade (Exports & Imports) between India & Pakistan was $2.37 billion dollar in 2010-11. This has gone down to $1.94 billion in 2011-12 after the dialogue process resumed. The value of trade increased to $2.61 billion in 2012-13. It further increased to $2.7 billion in 2013-14. It again went down to $2.35 billion in 2014-15.
The share of the trade between India & Pakistan has never crossed 0.5% of India’s overall trade volume. It was 0.4% in 2010-11 and went down to the lowest of 0.2% in 2011-12. In 2014-15, it was a paltry 0.3%. Much smaller countries than Pakistan have better share of trade with India.
The Silver Lining – Release of Fishermen
The silver lining of the dialogue process has been the release of fishermen lodged in jails by both the countries. Just before the visit of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to India, Government of Pakistan released 150 Indian fishermen in May 2014. India on the other hand released 97 Pakistani fishermen in July & August 2015.