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2016 Tamil Nadu elections
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 17, 2016
Tamil Nadu is witnessing a very closely fought election this time around. In 2011, the AIADMK alliance won a landslide winning more than 50% of the vote. But with the major allies of the AIADMK contesting separately this time around, the 69 seats that were won with a slender margin by this alliance in 2011 might hold the key.
The 2016 Tamil Nadu assembly elections were fought more closely than was thought earlier. While exit polls are divided on who is going to win, one thing is clear that it is a very closely fought election and a few percentage points of vote change will seal the deal. Analysis of the 2011 election data reveals that there are 69 such constituencies where the fortunes can swing either way because of change in alliances and a lower victory margin in 2011. These 69 constituencies may become crucial in a closely fought election.
Change in Alliances
There is a significant change in the composition of the alliances in 2016 compared to the 2011 elections. While the composition of the DMK alliance is more or less the same, the AIADMK has lost all its major allies compared to 2011. All the major constituents of the AIADMK alliance in 2011, the DMDK, CPI, CPI(M) are now part of a third front called the People’s Welfare Front (PWF). This is significant since these parties had polled about 13% of the votes in 2011.
69 seats were won by the AIADMK alliance with a margin of less than 10% votes
Out of the 234 constituencies in Tamil Nadu, there were 69 such constituencies where the AIADMK alliance won with a margin of less than 10% of the valid vote in 2011. 4 of these were won with a victory margin of less than 1%, while 23 of them were won with a victory margin between 1% and 5%. 42 of them were won with a victory margin between 5% and 10%. With the major allies of AIADMK contesting as a third front this time around, even a minor shift of votes might alter the results, provided the DMK alliance holds onto  its 2011 vote share.
Apart from these 69 seats, there are 20 other seats won by the DMDK and the left parties in 2011 with a comfortable victory margin. But these 20 seats were won in alliance with the AIADMK in 2011. Now that they are contesting separately, the split in votes might help the DMK alliance provided it holds onto its 2011 vote share.
These districts might hold the key
The 69 seats that the AIADMK alliance won in 2011 with a victory margin of less than 10% are spread across the state. But some districts may hold the key because of a larger concentration of such seats. Chennai district has 5 such seats, Cuddalore also has 6 such seats, Kancheepuram has 5, Nagapattinam has 5 and Vellore has 5 such seats. There are a few other districts like Villupuram, Tiruvannamalai and Tirunelveli with 4 such low margin seats. The following is the list of these 69 constituencies.
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Only 7.84% of the overcharged amount is recovered from Drug manufacturers in the last 19 years
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
July 25, 2016
As per the data available with the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), only 7.84% of the overcharged amount was recovered  from drug manufacturers in the last 19 years. More than 80% of the outstanding amount is under litigation.
As per the existing law, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) is entrusted with the task of recovering amounts overcharged by manufacturers for the controlled drugs. As per the latest available data with the NPPA, only 7.84% of the overcharged amount was realized in the last 19 years between August 1997 and April 2016.
What is NPPA?
The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) was established by the Government of India to fix/revise the prices of controlled bulk drugs and formulations and to enforce prices and availability of the medicines in the country, under the Drugs (Prices Control) Order (DPCO), 1995 and 2013. The organization is also entrusted with the task of recovering amounts overcharged by manufacturers for the controlled drugs. It also monitors the prices of decontrolled drugs in order to keep them at reasonable levels.
Controlled Drugs & Prices
The NPPA fixes and revises the prices of various scheduled drugs based on the DPCO 2013. It publishes a compendium of prices every year. Consumers can also search for the price fixed by the NPPA for various scheduled drugs on the NPPA website. Drug manufacturers are not supposed to overcharge beyond the prescribed maximum prices. In such a case, the NPAA has the power to recover the overcharged amount from such manufacturers.
What can Consumers do?
The NPPA has launched the Pharma Jan Samadhan (PJS), on online system to lodge complaints in case of overcharging or shortage etc. Consumers can search for the MRP of scheduled drugs and then make a relevant complaint on the PJS. Consumers can lodge complaints in case of
Only 7.84% of the overcharged amount recovered in the last 19 years
As per data available with NPPA, a total of Rs 4929.3 crore was the overcharged amount between August 1997 and April 2016 (as per both DPCO 1995 & 2013) in 1427 cases. Out of this amount, only Rs 386.63 (7.84%) is recovered till date and the rest is outstanding.
Out of the total pending amount, more than 80% is under litigation in courts while for 17% amount, the cases are under process. The worrying aspect is that there are cases as far back as the late 90s that are still under litigation. Such delay does not prove as an effective deterrent for wrong doers.
Many top companies have not submitted information on the IPDMS
To obtain market-based data related to drugs, the NPPA has developed the Integrated Pharmaceutical Data Base Management System (IPDMS), aimed at facilitating on-line submission of mandatory returns/ reports by drug manufacturers. Despite repeated reminders, many top companies are yet to submit information on the IPDMS.
Featured image: By Ragesoss (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 or GFDL], via Wikimedia Commons

source: news-factly

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

author: Sai Krishna Muthyanolla


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7 Things you didn't know about India - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
July 15, 2016
The Baseline Survey 2014 of the Sample Registration system (SRS) was released recently. SRS is a large scale demographic survey done in 8854 sample units across the country. This video explains 7 of the interesting statistics from the SRS Survey.
This video is made in partnership with Inshorts, India’s highest rated news app. You can download the Inshorts app on the Play Store or the App Store


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Guidelines for Indian Government Websites
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
July 18, 2016
Government websites are the first point of contact for many common citizens to find information about various initiatives and schemes. Government of India came up with standard guidelines for all government websites in 2009 and as on date, only 3.3% websites fully comply with those guidelines.
Government websites are often the first resort to find information about various government initiatives. Hence there has been a lot of emphasis to ensure that all the Government of India websites comply with certain uniform guidelines. Such guidelines for government websites were first issued in 2009. These guidelines prepared by the National Informatics Center (NIC) were made an integral part of the ‘Central Secretariat Manual of Office Procedure’ and were called the ‘Guidelines of Indian Government Websites (GIGW)’. Seven years since these guidelines were adopted, a mere 31 of the 957 websites audited were found to be fully complaint according to a latest audit by the Standardization Testing and Quality Certification (STQC) Directorate.
Guidelines prescribe a matrix of 115 compliance items
The GIGW issued in 2009 specify 115 metrics to bring in standardization and uniformity in government websites. These 115 metrics are categorized into the following nine major heads
The guidelines have also been categorized into Mandatory, Advisory & Voluntary based on the requirement and importance of each of these metrics.
What do the guidelines say?
The guidelines talk about various things including the following
Only 3.3% of the websites fully comply with the guidelines
As per the latest monthly report of the government, only 31 of the 957 audited government websites fully comply with the guidelines adopted in 2009. The government has now asked each department to send a monthly report about the compliance with respect to these 115 metrics.
Weird Colours of the Labour Bureau website
The Labour Bureau’s website is one of the prime examples of what is wrong with some of the government websites. From weird colours to weird fonts, this website is an example of what all could be wrong. The website is cluttered; content is not well organized and uses archaic designs.
Domains other than ‘gov.in’ or ‘nic.in’
There are government websites which do not use the mandatory government domains of ‘gov.in’ or ‘nic.in’. For instance, the Pradhan Mantri Ujjawala Yojana website has a ‘.com’ domain. Same is the case with the ‘Make in India’ website.


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More than 70% of India's Gold medals at CWG from Shooting, Weightlifting & Wrestling
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 18, 2018
In the last four editions of the Commonwealth Games (CWG), India bagged a total of 101 gold medals. Shooters, Wrestlers & Weightlifters bagged 74 of these gold medals or more than 70%. Further, these three sports accounted for more than 60% of India’s medals at the CWG.
As reported previously by Factly, India improved its medal count in the 2018 CWG by bagging 66 medals and securing the 3rd position in the medal tally. A detailed analysis of the medals won by Indians across various sports provides some interesting insights. Three sports (Shooting, Wrestling & Weightlifting) were the major contributors to India’s medal tally across the last four editions.
73% of the Gold medals from Shooting, Wrestling & Weightlifting
Of all the gold medals won by Indian sportspersons at the last four editions of the CWG, more than 73% were bagged by Shooters, Wrestlers & Weightlifters. In 2006, 19 of the 22 gold medals that India bagged were from these three sports. In 2010, it was 26 out of the 38 gold medals and in 2018, it is 17 out of the 26 gold medals. Out of the 101 gold medals that India won at the last four editions of the CWG, 74 are from these three sports.
The contribution of these three sports to India’s medal tally is more than 60% when all the medals are considered. In 2006, 35 of the 50 medals that India won were from these three sports. In fact in 2006, Wrestling was not even part of the CWG. In other words, only Shooting & Weightlifting accounted for 70% of India’s medals in 2006. Across the last four editions of the CWG, India won a total of 281 medals out of which Shooting, Wrestling & Weightlifting together accounted for 171 or more than 60% of the medals.
Gold Medals make up for 40% of all the medals in 2018
The greatest proportion of gold medals were bagged in India in the 2006 games when 44% of her medals were Gold. It went to a lowest of 23.4% in 2014 when only 15 of the 64 medals were gold. In the 2018 games which just concluded, the proportion of gold medals reached 40%. Overall, out of the 281 medals India won in the previous four editions of the CWG, 101 are Gold (36%), 94 Silver (33%) and the remaining 86 Bronze (31%).
About 40% of the medals won by Women
The proportion of medals won by Indian Women at the CWG has increased over the years. In the 2006 games, women won 16 of the 50 medals (32%). In the 2010 edition, women bagged 36 of the 101 medals that India won. Women won more than 45% of the medals for India in the 2014 edition (29 out of 64) and in the 2018 games, women won 28 of the 66 medals for India. Over the last four editions, the proportion of medals won by women is about 39%. Women have been most dominant in Shooting, Wrestling & Weightlifting as is the case with men.
This is Part 2 of our special series on the Commonwealth Games. Read Part 1 here.


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Black Spots on National Highways
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
June 2, 2016
More than 1.4 lakh people lost their lives in road accidents in 2014. In a bid to reduce the number of fatalities and make roads safer, the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) has identified more than 700 black spots across the national highways in the country and has accorded priority to each of the black spots based on the number of fatalities.
More than 1.4 lakh people lost their lives in road accidents in the country in 2014. Making roads safer is on the priority list for the government and towards this end, the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) has identified 726 black spots on various national highways and Rs 11,000 crore have been earmarked to address this problem.
More than 700 black spots across the country
MoRTH has identified more than 700 black spots across the country on various National Highways. These spots have been identified based on the fatalities data from the year 2011 to 2013. All the identified black spots have been accorded a priority based on the three year fatality figure.
Out of the 700 odd black spots identified by the Ministry, 495 are priority 5, 154 are priority 4, 32 are priority 3, 19 are priority 2 and 18 are priority 1. Seven (7) black spots are accorded special priority as these are old black spots.
Most Black Spots on NH 2
NH 2 between Delhi and Kolkata has the most number of black spots (59). NH 8 between Delhi & Mumbai comes second with 45 black spots. NH 44 in the North East between Nongstoin & Sabroom has 3 highest number of black spots (38). NH 4, NH 45, NH 47, NH 7, NH 6, NH 28 and NH 24 are in the top 10 in terms of number of black spots. Eighteen (18) different national highways have 10 or more black spots each.
Most black spots in Tamil Nadu and UP
Of the states, Tamil Nadu has 100 of the identified black spots while Uttar Pradesh has 99 of them. Karnataka is 3 with 86 black spots followed by Telangana with 71 black spots. Rajasthan is the only other state with more than 50 black spots. Fourteen (14) different states have more than 25 black spots each. Of the bigger states, Andhra Pradesh has the least number of black spots (8).
Only these 9 states have priority 1 & priority 2 black spots
The 37 black spots of priority 1 and priority 2 are spread across nine different states. Of the 18 priority 1 black spots, 11 are in Tamil Nadu, 5 are in Uttar Pradesh and 1 each in Nagaland and Meghalaya. Of the 19 priority 2 black spots, 8 are in Tamil Nadu, 3 are in Uttar Pradesh, 2 each in Kerala and Meghalaya and 1 each in Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Orissa and Rajasthan.
These are the MPs with most black spots in their constituencies
If the black spots are mapped to various parliamentary constituencies, there are 17 such MPs with more than 10 black spots in their constituency. A P Jithender Reddy, the MP from Mahbubnagar in Telangana has the highest number of black spots in his constituency (31). Ramcharan Bohra from Jaipur in Rajasthan has 17 black spots in his constituency.
What is being done at these black spots?
The black spots in the order of priority have to be inspected by a committee of the concerned NH division in whose jurisdiction the black spot is falling. The committee should examine the concerned black spot and identify if there are any road related deficiencies which might have been the cause of repeated accidents. While identifying the limits of the black spot stretch, generally a maximum length up to 1km should be considered for assessing the road related contributing factors causing repeated accidents/fatalities at a particular black spot.
The committee should also hold discussions with the local police to identify the causes for repeated accidents. After these discussions, various short term and long term measures are to be taken up to reduce the number of such accidents. Short term measures like signs/markings etc are to be immediately taken up. For any long term remedial measure, it must be ascertained if enough land is available for such a measure and the proposals are to be sent for approval.
Additional inputs & analysis by K Yeshwanth Reddy


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More than a Crore Passports issued in 2015, up 24.3% from 2014 - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
March 25, 2016
For the first time in 2015, more than a crore passports were issued in India. This is 24.3% more than the 84.72 lakh passports issued in 2014.


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74 Fugitives extradited to India since 2002, another 150 yet to be extradited
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
June 15, 2019
As India pursues its efforts
to get Zakir Naik extradited from Malaysia, here is a look at the extradition
numbers.
Couple of days ago, theMinistry of External Affairs (MEA) asserted that it would continue its effortsto pursue Malaysia with regards to the extradition request of Dr. Zakir Naik. Theofficial spokesperson of MEA stated that Government of India has made a formal request and would bepursuing it.  This comes in wake of Malaysia PM’s statement that his country has the right not to extraditeDr.Zakir Naik.
India has anextradition treaty with Malaysia, signed in the year2010. So far, there have been no instances of anyone being extradited to Indiaby Malaysia.
India has extradition
treaties with 42 other countries
As per the data onMEA website, India currently has extradition treaties with 43 countries. The list of these countries is given below.
In addition, India also has extradition arrangementswith 10 other countries –  Antigua &Barbuda, Croatia, Fiji, Italy, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Sri Lanka, Singapore,Sweden and Tanzania.
What is the process to be followed for Extradition ?
An extradition request can be raised against any fugitive criminal who is formally accused of, charged or convicted of any extradition offence. The requests are raised bythe concerned law enforcement agencies in India, which are then taken up by MEAwith the respective countries.
There are certain guidelines specified by MEA, which need to be followed while raising any suchrequests. Further, it needs to be noted that the specifications of eachextradition request would differ based on the treaty/arrangement that is signedwith the respective countries.
What about the extradition treaty signed with
Malaysia?
India and Malaysia have signed an extradition treaty on 20 January, 2010.
As per this treaty,any punishable offence under the laws of the two states – whether committed,attempted or planned , would be considered as an extradition offence. Anyoffence of purely fiscal nature is also considered as an extradition offence asper the treaty. The treaty also specifies that in case there is a difference inlaw regarding the treatment of a particular offence, then the case presented bythe requesting party would be considered.
As for the caseagainst Dr.Zakir Naik, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed charges for laundering money to the tune of Rs. 193 crores. Indian authoritieshave also charged him with spreading hate crime and abetting terrorism. As pernewspaper reports, Malaysia has granted Permanent Resident (PR) status to Dr.Zakir Naik. This was confirmed byMalaysian authorities in the year 2017.
It has to be notedthat while the requesting party can raise an extradition request, citing thereasons for the same, the requested party has the option not to surrender thefugitive under certain conditions. The treaty between India & Malaysiaclearly lays down these conditions.
UAE is the country with most extraditions to India and
Murder is the most common offence of these fugitives
Extraditions do takea long time, right from the point of raising a formal request to that of successfully getting the fugitiveextradited. While, the fate of extradition request for Zakir Naik is yetunclear, India had 73 fugitives extradited since 2002, as per the latest data (as of January 2019) on the MEA website. However, asper the answer provided in the Rajya Sabha by MEA, in April’2018, there are 150pending requests for extradition.
Analysis of the available data indicates that  UAE has extradited most people (23) to India,followed by USA which has extradited 10 fugitives back to India.
In terms of offences by these fugitives, Murder, Criminal conspiracy and Terrorism top the list of offenses committed by the extradited fugitives.


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75% of the Government owned Airports still incur Losses but Profitability improves
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
November 26, 2018
There has been a close to 20% annual increase in Air passenger traffic over the last few years.  Close to 75% of the government owned airports still incur losses. But at the same time, the overall profitability has improved.
There have been demands from various states to establish Airports in smaller cities, to encourage investments, tourism & improve connectivity. While the demands are fair, viability is always an issue. Currently, the airports in India are either government owned/managed by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) or managed by a Public-Private entity (PPP). The AAI currently manages 125 airports, which include 18 International Airports, 07 Customs Airports, 78  Domestic Airports and 26 Civil Enclaves at Defense airfields. Some of the bigger Airports like the ones in Delhi, Mumbai & Hyderabad are PPP projects and are not managed by AAI.
Airports Authority of India (AAI)
Airports Authority of India (AAI) was constituted by an Act of Parliament and came into being in 1995 by merging erstwhile National Airports Authority and International Airports Authority of India. The merger brought into existence a single Organization entrusted with the responsibility of creating, upgrading, maintaining and managing civil aviation infrastructure both on the ground and air space in the country.
Gujarat (11) has the highest number of AAI managed airports followed by Maharashtra (8), Tamil Nadu (8), Uttar Pradesh (8), Madhya Pradesh (8), Assam (8), West Bengal (7) and Rajasthan (7).
Only 15 are Profit Making Airports
About 100 of the airports managed by AAI are currently operational. The domestic passenger traffic has seen a close to 20% annual increase over the last few years. From about 70 million domestic passengers in 2014-15, the passenger traffic has crossed 110 million in 2017-18.
Of these airports, only 15 of them have made cumulative profits in the 4-year period between 2014-15 & 2017-18 as per data shared by AAI in response to an application under RTI. This number (15 airports) is substantially higher than number of the profit making airports during the previous four years.
During the four year period between 2014-15 & 2017-18, Chennai airport made the most profits with 1947 crores followed by the Kolkata airport with 815 crores in profit. In addition to these two airports, only five other airports (Goa, Ahmedabad, Pune, Lucknow & Trivandrum) made a cumulative profit of more than 100 crores. The profits of Goa, Ahmedabad, Pune, Lucknow airports increased substantially over the last four years.
75% of the Airports still make Losses
Out of all the airports managed by AAI, only 13 of them made profits in both 2014-15 & 2015-16. This number increased to 15 in 2016-17 and even in 2017-18, the number of profit making airports remained at 15. On the other hand, the number of loss making airports was 94 in 2014-15 which increased to 96 in 2015-16. This has now decreased to 91 in 2017-18.
As far as the loss making airports are concerned, Delhi’s Safdurjung airport reported a cumulative loss of 245 crores between 2014-15 & 2017-18, the highest for any AAI managed airport in the country. This airport is primarily used by VVIPs. Among the airports used for civilian operations, the Bhopal airport reported a loss of 225 crores in these four years. A total of 15 airports reported a cumulative loss of more than 100 crores between 2014-15 & 2017-18. Further analysis of data in terms of growth in passenger traffic at specific airports and the relevant growth in profit/loss is required to understand the specific reasons for such profit or loss.
The overall profit at all AAI managed airports has increased in the last four years. From a total loss of 599.5 crores in 2014-15, it has now grown to a total  profit of over 590 crores in 2017-18, a growth of about 200%. This is primarily on account of the substantial increase in profits at the 15 profit making airports.
What does the Government say?
The government on various occasions has cited the following reasons for these losses.
When asked about the steps being taken to make these airports viable,  the government says it is trying to develop cargo activities, enhance non-aeronautical revenue through revision of rates and award of contracts through master concessions, allowing operation of flying schools at non-operational airports, encouraging Maintenance, Repair & Overhauling (MRO) activities, revision of base rates etc.
UDAN is one such scheme  aimed at increasing air traffic movement at these airports. Only time will tell if these efforts are paying off. Between 2014-15 & 2017-18, the overall profit/loss scenario has improved in 46 airports while it has deteriorated in 61 other airports.
Feature Image Source: Tshrinivasan (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

created: November 26, 2018


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Understanding the Security Features of the 100 Rupee Note
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 25, 2016


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Railway Claims Tribunals (RCT) took an average of 605 days to dispose Compensation claims - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
July 20, 2016
Compensation paid to the Railway accident victims is granted only after the Railway Claims Tribunal (RCT) passes a decree to that effect. As per data available with the government, a total of 762 cases were disposed by 19 different RCT benches between 2012-13 and 2015-16 with an average disposal time of 605 days.
Compensation to the victims of Railway Accidents is governed by the Railways Accident and Untoward Incidents (Compensation) Rules. While ex-gratia is granted for immediate needs, compensation is given only after the claim is upheld by the Railway Claims Tribunals (RCT) setup across the country. As per data available with the government, the RCT took an average of 605 days to dispose 762 cases in the four year period from 2012-13 to 2015-16.
Ex-gratia for immediate needs
In case of an accident, ex-gratia relief is given by the Railways soon after an accident at the rate of:
The ex-gratia is intended to meet the immediate expenses and is not taken into account at the time of final settlement of compensation claims.
The Compensation claim process
Compensation to the victims of train accident, as defined under Section 124 of the Railways Act, is not paid by the Railways on the basis of announcement. The claimant of the compensation has to file a claim in the Railway Claims Tribunal, which is a quasi judicial body, independent from the Railways. The amount of compensation is paid by the Railways after the claim filed by the claimant is decreed by the Tribunal in favour of the claimant and the decree so awarded by the Tribunal is decided to be satisfied by the Railways. The compensation payable is pre-defined based on whether the victim has died or is injured and also based on the type of injury. The amount of compensation in case of death has recently been increased to Rs 8 lakh from the existing Rs 4 lakh.
142 cases are pending with RCT
A total of 142 accident cases are pending with RCT. 84 of these cases are cases of death while the remaining are cases of injury. More than 1/6 of the cases are pending for more than 5 years and more than 60% of the cases are pending for more than 2 years. 65% (92 cases) of all the pending cases are in the Lucknow and Gorakhpur benches of RCT. Delhi, Bhubaneshwar, Guwahati and Nagpur benches of RCT have zero pendency while single digit cases are pending in the remaining 13 benches.
It took 605 days on average to dispose cases in the last 4 years
From 2012-13 to 2015-16, a total of 762 cases were disposed by the 19 benches of RCT. The average disposal time of these 762 cases was 605 days. For the 7 cases disposed by the Ranchi bench, it took an average of 1914 days or more than 5 years. The Ahmedabad bench that disposed 3 cases took 1896 days on average. Five different RCT benches took an average of more than 1000 days for disposal of cases. Guwahati bench did not dispose a single case since it did not have any cases. Chennai bench took the lowest average time of 94 days for disposal of 59 cases. Five different benches that disposed cases in these 4 years took an average time of less than a year to dispose cases. The Kolkata & Mumbai benches stand out as they disposed the highest and 3 highest number of cases while taking only 310 and 398 days on average for disposal respectively.
The government admits that process is a lengthy one and hence it takes time. There are various stages involved like filing of cases, filing of written statement, filing of evidences, cross examination of witnesses/parties and the arguments. But it is surprising to note that some benches perform better than the other ones despite disposing a greater number of cases.
Featured Image:  Train Accidents


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80% of the Communal Incidents in India Occur in Seven States
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 5, 2018


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More than 800 Private TV Channels are operating in the country
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
September 23, 2017
As of September 2017, a total of 881 private TV channels have been granted permission by the government. About 44% of these are in the news category. Twenty-two (22) companies operate more than 1/3rd of all the channels in the country.
As of September 2017, a total of 881 private satellite TV channels are operating in the country as per the data available with the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB). Companies desirous of operating a satellite TV channel have to apply for permission from the MIB in the specified format.
Most permissions given in 2011
Till 05th September 2017, permissions were granted to 1097 private satellite TV channels since the year 2000. Out of these, 216 permissions were cancelled. The remaining 881 are operational TV channels. Number of permissions granted per year followed a mixed trend, but increased from 2007.  Most permissions were granted in the year 2011 when 175 permissions were granted followed by 2008 when 111 permissions were granted. These are the only two years when more than 100 permissions were granted. More than 50 permissions were granted in seven (7) different years. Only one permission was granted in 2001, the lowest for any year followed by 7 in the year 2013.
About 44% are News Channels
Of the 881 channels currently operational, 387 are in the ‘News & Current Affairs’ category while the rest are ‘Non-News’. Seventeen (17) of these channels are permitted only to uplink from India but not permitted to downlink into India. Eighty-four (84) channels are permitted only to downlink into India (uplinked form abroad). The remaining channels are permitted to both uplink from India and downlink into India.
Among the news channels, forty (40) are exclusively in the Hindi language followed by 23 in Tamil, 18 in Malayalam, 17 in Telugu and 14 in English. These are channels that took permission for exclusively for that specific language. Even among the non-news category, there are 62 exclusive Hindi channels followed by 24 exclusive English, 11 in Telugu & 9 in Tamil.
If all the channels irrespective of the category are considered, then 102 channels are exclusively in Hindi followed by 38 in English, 32 in Tamil, 28 in Telugu & 26 in Malayalam. There are channels in most other Indian languages.
STAR India leads with 47 channels
Among the companies that have obtained permission for operating channels, more than 250 of them operate only one channel. Sixty-four (64) of them operate 2 channels each, 24 of them operate 3 channels each and 14 of them operate 4 channels each. Eleven (11) companies operate 5 channels each while the remaining 22 operate more than 5 channels each. In fact, these 22 companies operate more than 1/3rd of all the channels. STAR India operates 47 channels followed by 33 by SUN Network.

created: September 23, 2017


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1 out of every 4 under trial Prisoner is under detention for more than a year
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
October 31, 2016
As per the recently released ‘Prison Statistics India 2015 report, more than 70000 under trial prisoners are under detention for more than a year. In Jammu & Kashmir, more than half of the under trial prisoners are under detention for more than 5 years.
More than 3.1 crore cases are pending in various courts of the country as of 31 March, 2016. Many of these cases are pending for more than a year and more than a crore of these are criminal cases. The Prison Statistics India 2015 report (PSI 2015) also substantiates the pendency of a large number of cases.  There are a total of 4.19 lakh jail inmates in the country by the end of 2015 out of which 2.82 lakh are under trial prisoners. More than 70,000 (25%) of the under trial prisoners have been under detention for more than a year.
Most under trial prisoners in Uttar Pradesh
As expected, the highest number of under trial prisoners (62669) are in Uttar Pradesh followed by Bihar (23424). Four (4) states have more than 20000 under trial prisoners each while eleven (11) states have more than 10000 under trial prisoners each.
Delhi has most under trial prisoners per Lakh Population
If the population is taken into consideration, the All-India average for number of under trial prisoners per lakh population is 23.3. Delhi with 64.94 has the most number of under trial prisoners per lakh population. Punjab is in the second place with 47.09 followed by Haryana with 41.37. In the top 10 are Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Bihar. Thirteen (13) States/UTs have more under trial prisoners per lakh population compared to the All-India average. Of the states with more than 1500 under trial prisoners, Andhra Pradesh & Telangana have least number of under trial prisoners per lakh population with 9.93 and 10.01 respectively.
More than half the under trial prisoners in J&K are under detention for more than a year
Of all the under trial prisoners, more than 25% are under detention for more than a year at an All-India level. 35.2% of the under trial prisoners have been under detention for up to 3 months. Of all the States/UTs with more than 1500 under trial prisoners, 55.2% in Jammu & Kashmir are under detention for more than a year. In Gujarat, 39.8% are under detention for more than a year. More than 30% of the under trial prisoners are under detention for more than a year in 10 States/UTs. Of the states with more than 1500 under trial prisoners, only 3% are under detention for more than a year in Telangana. In Jammu & Kashmir, 9.5% of the under trial prisoners are under detention for more than 5 years while in Gujarat, 3.5% are under detention for more than 5 years. In Kerala, 62.8% of the under trial prisoners are under detention for up to 3 months, the highest for any state. In Tripura & Telangana, 62.2% and 61.4% of the under trial prisoners are under detention for up to 3 months respectively.
Featured Image: Prisons in India

created: October 31, 2016


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What to expect from the Banks after the Government ban on 500 and 1000 rupee notes?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
November 10, 2016
Expect heavy rush & chaos at the Bank Branches today. Go prepared and follow the rules specified by the RBI.
All Banks will reopen today for normal banking operations. Since this is going to be the first working day after the withdrawal of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes, expect heavy rush and long queues in banks. As Factly reported earlier, the government has issued detailed rules on both exchange and deposit of old notes. Here is a brief of what to expect at the Banks today. Banks will also remain open both on Saturday & Sunday (12 & 13 November, 2016) to facilitate the exchange & deposits of the withdrawan notes.
Detailed Guidelines issued to Banks
RBI has issued detailed guidelines to be followed by Banks for the task of both exchange & deposit of old notes by the common public. RBI has also directed banks to accord highest priority to this work till 30 December, 2016, the last date to deposit/exchange the old notes. Banks were also asked to submit a statement by midday of 09 November showing the details of the specified Bank Notes held by it at the close of business as on 8th November 2016.
All ATMs and cash dispensing machines will have to be re-configured to disburse bank notes of Rs 100/- and Rs 50/- denominations prior to reactivation of the machines on 11th November, 2016. The ATMs & cash dispensing machines will remain closed on 10 November also. The new Rs 500 and Rs 2000 notes will be issued over the counters from 10 November 2016.
Information material for educating the public regarding withdrawal limits and also the salient features of the new series of bank notes (Rs 500 and Rs 2000) are required to be printed by banks in adequate quantity and distributed to the public in banking halls and ATM kiosks.
Banks have also been directed to identify the staff for managing the exchange counters and brief them properly about the scheme and the procedure to be followed. A copy of the FAQs provided should be supplied to the staff manning the exchange counters.
Banks have also been directed to provide adequate number of note counting machines, UV Lamps, note sorting machines etc. at the exchange counters to take care of the work load and timely detection of counterfeit notes. The banking hall, public areas and counters should be under CCTV surveillance and recording should be preserved.
What will happen on November 10th, 2016?
Bank branches will commence normal operations on November 10, 2016. Banks have to accord top priority to provide facility for exchanging / accepting deposits of Specified Bank Notes and open additional counters to meet the public demand and keep the counters open for extended hours, if necessary. Maximum staff should be deployed for this purpose. If necessary banks may consider hiring retired employees for a temporary period to take care of additional work load.
Any person wishing to exchange the old notes has to fill the receipt in the following format as specified by the RBI.
As reported earlier, the exchange of old notes will be limited to an amount of Rs 4,000/- per person till 24 November 2016. With respect to the deposits, there will no limit on the amount as long as relevant KYC norms are satisfied. For those accounts where the KYC norms are not complete, the maximum deposit amount will be limited to Rs 50,000/-. The normal process for deposits will continue.
Business Correspondents (BCs) will also be allowed to exchange Specified Bank Notes upto ₹ 4000/- per person as in the case of bank branches, against valid identity proof and requisition slip.
Each bank branch has been directed to report at the close of business on each day starting from November 10, 2016 till the closure of the scheme on December 30, 2016 by email or Fax to their Controlling Office a statement showing the details of Specified Bank Notes exchanged by it and the respective Controlling Offices will aggregate these details and report to the Department of Currency Management, RBI by email on a daily basis.
Featured Image: New 2000 Rs Notes

created: November 10, 2016


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9 Point check list for buying agricultural land in Telangana & AP - Factly
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
June 20, 2015
Buying a property is fraught with many risks these days. From encroachments to disputes to forgery, the issues are multifold. Hence it is important that one is aware of all the documents to be checked and all the issues to be cognizant of. Here is a check list for anyone planning to buy agricultural land in the States of Telangana & Andhra Pradesh. Similar land documents exist in every state albeit with different names.
When you buying agricultural land in Telangana or AP,
Governments should work on educational campaigns like these
The Registrations & Stamps department of the Telangana government recently released a short video of 15 minute duration educating people about the things to be taken care of or documents to be cross checked before buying an asset (land/flat etc). This is a wonderful effort by a government department and should be emulated by all the states.
Featured Image:By Raj (Flickr: Green Beds) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons


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More than 90% of the Panchayats in Andhra Pradesh do not have a building of their own - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
September 26, 2016
As per the data shared in the Lok Sabha, more than 56000 GPs do not have a building of their own out of the 2.48 lakh GPs in the country. Leading this list is the state of Andhra Pradesh with more than 11800 GPs without a building out of more than 12900 GPs.
Gram Panchayat is the lowest tier of governance in India where the elected representatives are closest to the rural citizenry. Thus the Panchayat institution is a very important cog in the governance wheel and its efficient functioning has the potential to bring in transformative changes. But Panchayats in general suffered from lack of Funds, Functions & Functionaries. As per the data shared by the government, more than 56000 Panchayats (23%) do not have a building of their own while in Andhra Pradesh, more than 90% of the Panchayats do not have a building of their own.
The RGPSA was launched in 2013 to strengthen the Panchayati Raj system across the country and address critical gaps that constrain its success. The scheme was launched to address the following issues
One of the activities included in the state plan of this scheme is funding for the construction of Gram Panchayat (GP) buildings. In general, States are expected to obtain funds for Gram Panchayat buildings from various sources, especially through schemes of the Ministry of Rural Development. However, where funds cannot be accessed from other schemes, RGPSA will fund new Gram Panchayat buildings, repair of existing buildings, construction of barrier free access, construction of toilets (including separate toilets for women), electricity and water supply connections.
The funding of RGPSA for State plans will be on a 75:25 sharing basis by the Central and State Governments respectively. For North Eastern States (NE States), this ratio will be 90:10. A State may also spend up to 25% of its plan funds on construction and repair of GP buildings. Cost of land will not be funded under the scheme. The cost norms for the construction of GP buildings are like the following.
As per the data shared in the Lok Sabha, more than 56000 GPs do not have a building of their own out of the 2.48 lakh GPs in the country. In other words, 23% of the GPs do not have a building of their own. Leading this list is the state of Andhra Pradesh with more than 11800 GPs without a building out of more than 12900 GPs in the state. This is about 91% of the GPs without a building, the highest in the country by quite a margin. Interestingly, the state of Telangana which was formed after the bifurcation of the erstwhile United Andhra Pradesh has only 275 GPs without a building out of a total of 8695 GPs, a mere 3.2%. More than 30% GPs are without a building in six (6) different states. In twelve (12) different states, less than 10% of the GPs are without a building. None of the GPs are without a building in Karnataka while only 3 out of the 941 GPs are without a building in Kerala.
Featured image source:By Gazal Aga (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

created: September 26, 2016


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93% of the Government owned Airports are making Losses: Collective loss of 4788 crores in the last four years
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
August 3, 2015
Demand for airports in smaller cities has been growing every year. While the demands may be fair, as many as 93% of the airports owned by Airports Authority of India (AAI) are making losses. In the last four years from 2010-11 to 2013-14, these airports have accumulated a cumulative loss of 4788 crore rupees.
There have been demands from various states to establish Airports in smaller cities, to encourage investments, tourism & improve connectivity. While the demands are fair, viability is always an issue. It seems that the government does not do enough planning before setting up these Airports. Nothing can explain these shocking numbers. 93% of the government owned (owned by Airports Authority of India (AAI)) Airports are making losses and they collectively lost 4788 crore rupees in the last four years from 2010-11 to 2013-14. Some of the bigger Airports in Delhi, Mumbai & Hyderabad are PPP projects and are not owned by AAI.
Airports Authority of India (AAI)
Airports Authority of India (AAI) was constituted by an Act of Parliament and came into being in 1995 by merging erstwhile National Airports Authority and International Airports Authority of India. The merger brought into existence a single Organization entrusted with the responsibility of creating, upgrading, maintaining and managing civil aviation infrastructure both on the ground and air space in the country.
AAI manages 125 airports, which include 18 International Airport, 07 Customs Airports, 78 Domestic Airports and 26 Civil Enclaves at Defense airfields. Out of these, 107 Airports are open to civilian aircrafts. Out of these 107, only 8 have made profits in 2013-14, while the rest of the 99 have made losses in the last four years from 2010-11 to 2013-14.
Gujarat (10) has the highest number of AAI owned airports followed by Maharashtra (9), Assam (7), Rajasthan (7), Tamil Nadu (7) in the top five. Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh & West Bengal have 6 airports each, while Madhya Pradesh has five. The top 10 states make for 64% of all the states.
Profit Making Airports
Only eight (8) of these 108 airports have made a profit in 2013-14. However, there is a discrepancy in the data with Pune airport being mentioned as both making profits in 2013-14 and as making a loss. Chennai Airport made the highest profits with a profit of 452 crore. Next is Ahmedabad Airport with a profit of 58 crore followed by Goa Airport with 51 crore. Kolkata Airport also made a profit of 44 crore. Kerala & Maharashtra have two airports each in the profit making list (Trivandrum & Calicut, Pune & Juhu). Trivandrum made losses from 2010-11 to 2012-13. It made profits for the first time in the last 4 years in 2013-14.
Loss Making Airports
17 Airports have made a loss of more than Rs 100 crore from 2010-11 to 2013-14. Amristar Airport has made the most losses with 217 crore followed by the Jaipur Airport (191 crore), Bhopal (182 Crore), Lucknow (167 Crore) and Varansi (165 Crore). Bangalore (HAL), Aurangabad, Delhi (Safdarjung), Guwahati & Udaipur are the remaining Airports in the top loss making airports.
In terms of states, Airports in Uttar Pradesh have made a cumulative loss of 458 crore followed by Madhya Pradesh (415 crore), Rajasthan (382 crore), Karnataka (352.13 crore)) & Assam (320 crore in the top five. Airports in 10 states have made a cumulative loss of more than 200 crore rupees.
What does the Government say?
The government cites the following reasons for these heavy losses.
When asked what steps the government is taking to revive these airports, the government says it is trying to development of cargo activities; enhance non-aeronautical revenue through revision of rates and award of contracts through master concessions, allowing operation of flying schools at non-operational airports, encouraging Maintenance, Repair & Overhauling (MRO) activities, revision of base rates etc.
But none of these seem to be working the way the government wishes to. In close to 50% of these airports, the losses have increased from 2012-13 to 2013-14.
Feature Image Source: Tshrinivasan (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

created: August 3, 2015


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93% of the Government owned Airports are making Losses: Collective loss of 4788 crores in the last four years
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
August 2, 2015
Demand for airports in smaller cities has been growing every year. While the demands may be fair, as many as 93% of the airports owned by Airports Authority of India (AAI) are making losses. In the last four years from 2010-11 to 2013-14, these airports have accumulated a cumulative loss of 4788 crore rupees.

created: August 2, 2015


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urban poor housing
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 12, 2016
Government data indicates that more than 10 lakh houses were built for the urban poor in the last 11 years and 23% of them are lying vacant. In Delhi, 96% of the completed houses are vacant.
Since the mid 2000s, urban housing has been a key priority area for various governments. In the last 11 years, three different schemes of housing for the urban poor have been implemented. As per the latest available government data, 23% of the more than 10 lakh houses built for the urban poor since 2005 lie vacant due to varied reasons.
Three different housing schemes for urban poor
Starting 2005, the Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India has been implementing three different housing schemes for the urban poor.
All the above schemes provide central assistance to States/UTs to build houses and related civic amenities to the urban poor.
More than 10 lakh houses built so far
There are no state level targets for these schemes and central assistance is sanctioned based on proposals submitted by states. Till date, a total of 10,32,443 houses sanctioned under the above schemes have been completed. Majority of these houses were sanctioned under JNNURM. More than 10 lakh houses have been completed under the JNNURM scheme while only 20954 houses are completed under the RAY scheme. The PMAY scheme is relatively new and only 710 houses have been completed till date.
Seven states account for more than 70% of the houses built
Out of the 10 lakh odd houses built under the scheme so far, more than 70% of the houses were built in the seven states of West Bengal, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. The maximum numbers of houses were built in West Bengal followed by Maharashtra, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. These are the only four states where more than a lakh houses were built. 23 States/UTs account for less than 10% of the houses built under these schemes.
An average of 2.08 lakh released per house
Till date, a total amount of Rs 21481.62 crore has been released to States/UTs under the three schemes for construction of houses. When compared with the number of houses constructed, the average expenditure per house comes to 2.08 lakh. Surprisingly, the average expenditure per house was different in different states based on funds released by the central government. In Uttar Pradesh, it was 2.59 lakh per house while the lowest was in Tamil Nadu (1.34 lakh per house).
96% of the houses built in Delhi lie vacant
Of the 10 lakh odd houses completed so far, 2,38,448 houses are lying unoccupied (vacant). In other words 23.1% of the houses completed so far are vacant. In Delhi, a staggering 95.9% houses are lying vacant. Of the states with a very high number of houses built for the urban poor, 42.3% are lying vacant in Maharashtra, 11% in Tamil Nadu, 18.8% in Gujarat, 37.9% in Andhra Pradesh, 24.4% in Telangana and 24.1% in Uttar Pradesh. Though highest number of houses was built in West Bengal, less than 1% (0.8%) are lying vacant there.
Who is to blame?
The Government of India (GOI) maintains that the construction and allotment of houses under these schemes is the responsibility of the State/UT Governments concerned.  The reasons cited for the high percentage of vacancy are the following
GOI also says that it has been reviewing the issue of vacancy in the meetings of Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee (CSMC) and that it is advising the State/UT Governments to expedite allotment of vacant houses to the beneficiaries and submit plan for 100% occupancy. But nothing explains the vacancies in UTs where the central government itself is responsible.
Featured Image: Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation


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99.16% Demonetized currency returned to the system. ₹ 12977 Crore did not return - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
August 30, 2018
The RBI has finally finished counting & verification of all demonetized currency that returned to the system. As per the latest annual report of RBI, 99.16% of the total demonetized currency returned to the system. The high value currency now accounts for 80% of the total currency in circulation.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently released its annual report for 2017-18. In the report, RBI mentioned that the processing & verification of demonetized currency that returned to the system is complete. As per the report, a total of ₹15310.73 billion of demonetized currency returned to the system. This represents 99.16% of the total demonetized currency on 08 November 2016. A mere ₹129.77 billion (0.84%) did not return to the system.
More than 99% of both ₹500 & ₹1000 returned to the system
As on 08 November 2016, 17165 million pieces of ₹500 notes & 6858 million pieces of ₹1000 notes were in circulation as per the information shared by the government in the Lok Sabha. This translated to ₹8582.5 billion worth ₹500 notes and ₹6858 billion worth ₹1000 notes that were demonetized. In all, currency notes worth ₹15440.5 billion were demonetized. As per the latest annual report of the RBI, ₹15310.73 billion of the demonetized currency (representing 99.16%) has returned to the system. In other words, only ₹129.77 billion did not return to system. In terms of denomination, demonetized notes worth ₹63.77 billion in ₹500 and ₹66 billion in ₹1000 did not return to the system.
High value currency accounted for 80% of the total currency in circulation by March 2018
One of the reasons for demonetization as mentioned by the government was to reduce the proportion of high value currency out of the total currency in circulation. As per the latest annual report of RBI, the high value currency ( ₹2000 & ₹500) accounted for more than 80% of the total currency in circulation by value as of March 2018. This is an increase of 7% from March 2017 when the high value notes accounted for 73% of the total currency. Part of the reason could be that the printing of new notes and their introduction into the system was still in progress in 2017. The current value of 80.5% is lower than the value in March 2016 when the high value notes accounted for 86.4% of the total currency in circulation. It remains to be seen if the increasing trend would continue in the subsequent years.
More than ₹12000 crore spent on printing currency notes in 2 years
As per the latest RBI annual report, an expenditure of ₹12877 crore was incurred in printing new currency in the two year period from July 2016 to June 2018. This is almost equal to the total amount of demonetized currency that did not return to the system. An amount of ₹7965 crore was spent in 2016-17 (July 2016 to June 2017) while an amount of ₹4912 crore was spent in 2017-18 (July 2017 to June 2018) on printing of new currency notes.
No new ₹2000 notes being printed
It is also clear from the annual report that the printing of new ₹2000 notes is stopped. Compared to the 3504 million pieces of ₹2000 notes that were supplied in 2016-17, only 151 million pieces were supplied in 2017-18. On the other hand, 9693 million pieces of new ₹500 notes were supplied in 2017-18 compared to the 7260 million supplied in 2016-17. The data also makes it clear that there was huge short supply of ₹100 notes. While RBI put an indent for 8068 million pieces of ₹100 notes in 2017-18, only 3170 million pieces were supplied. This could be due to the change in design of the ₹100 note. In 2017-18, 2832 million pieces of ₹200 notes were also supplied.


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99.9% of the printed ₹ 1000 & ₹ 10,000 Electoral Bonds remain unsold
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 12, 2020
Access here Comprehensive Data on Electoral Bonds (as of February 2024)
The electoral bond sale data of the last 2 years has often been highlighted to conclude that the bonds are being purchased by the corporates and the rich. Data further indicates that 99.9% of the printed  ₹ 1000 and  ₹ 10,000 worth Electoral Bonds remain unsold.
The Government of India launched the Electoral Bond Scheme, on 02 January 2018. The then Union Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley has earlier made an initial announcement regarding the scheme during the 2017-18 annual budget presentation.
One of the reasons cited by the government for the introduction of Electoral bonds is to control the flow of unaccounted money into the political system.
However, there have been multiple apprehensions raised about the scheme. One of the key concerns is that it has made the process of political funding opaquer. Factly has earlier written on the issues relating to Electoral Bonds.
What did the Government say while introducing these bonds?
In a blog date 06 January 2018, the then finance minister Arun Jaitley expounded the reasons as to why Electoral Bonds are necessary.  One of the aspects he highlighted was  transparency. Since the whole transaction is being carried out through banking instruments, he stated that the amount flowing to the political parties is being accounted for.
However, the primary concern with the electoral bond scheme is the anonymity of the donors where in citizens have no way of knowing the identity of persons/organizations donating to political parties. Furthermore, there is inordinate delay in submission of mandatory reports to the Election Commission which results in complete absence of any information about the beneficiary political parties. Factly has earlier written a story, highlighting the delay in ascertaining the beneficiaries of the Electoral bonds.
Addressing the concern over this non-disclosure or anonymity, Arun Jaitley said that this was done to encourage more people to come forward to adopt more transparent means to donate to political parties, rather than cash donations.
He also said that electoral bonds serve as the best of compromise between protecting the interests of the donor as well as involving them in a more transparent form of political funding. While it is not known if Arun Jaitley was referring to small or large donors, his emphasis on donor anonymity comes out through these statements.
BJP requested for electoral bonds of lower denomination in addition to the higher denomination
An official letter sent by Bharatiya Janata Party on 17August 2017, to the then finance minister, Arun Jaitley lays stress on introducing electoral bonds of lower denominations and also protecting the identities of donors, to encourage more people to participate in the process of electoral funding. This letter was obtained by Commodore Lokesh Batra (retd) using Right to Information (RTI).
Electoral bonds led to an increased share of Political Party Income from undisclosed sources
As per ‘Analysis of Sources of Funding of National Parties: FY 2017-18’ report of the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR), 53% of the income of the National Political Parties (excluding CPI(M)) is through undisclosed sources. This amounts up to  ₹ 689.44 crores, of which  ₹ 215 crores (i.e. 31% of undisclosed sources) is via the newly introduced electoral bonds.
However, Analysis of Sources of Funding of National Parties: FY 2018-19 indicates that the share of income from undisclosed sources, in the case of national parties has increased to around 67% of the total income i.e. a total of  ₹ 2,512 crores. Of these,  ₹1960.68 (78% of undisclosed sources) is through Electoral Bonds.
The increase in the share and volume of income through undisclosed sources for major political parties can be attributed to the increase in the income through electoral bonds.
Since the value of Electoral Bonds purchased in April’19 & May’19 is higher than any other phase, the income of national political parties in 2019-20 may indicate an exponential increase. The share of their income through Electoral bonds and thereby share of income through undisclosed sources is also bound to increase in 2019-20. These numbers would be known only when the political parties submit their annual audit reports by October 2020.
However, this increase in the income of political parties through electoral bonds does not indicate that a greater number of people are willing to donate to political parties, as anticipated by Arun Jaitley. The data available so far indicates that there is hardly any demand for electoral bonds of lower denomination.
Less than 1% of all Electoral Bonds purchased so far are of lower denomination ( ₹1000 &  ₹10,000)
Electoral Bonds are available in 5 different denominations, to accommodate political donations of varying magnitude. These denominations (all in  ₹ ) are – One Thousand, Ten Thousand, One Lakh, Ten Lakhs & One Crore.
Since the inception of the scheme, electoral bonds were sold in 13 phases. A total of 12,452 electoral bonds have been sold so far in all these phases. Of these, the highest number of electoral bonds purchased were of  ₹ 1 Crore denomination (5,702 bonds). The next highest number of bonds purchased were of the next higher denomination i.e.  ₹ 10 lakhs (4,911 bonds).
1,722 electoral bonds of  ₹1 lakh denomination were purchased during these 13 phases. As per ECI norms, all political parties are required to furnish the details of donations received in excess of  ₹ 20,000. However, this norm is not applicable if the donation is made through an electoral bond.
The only two denominations of electoral bonds whose value is less than this anonymous  ₹ 20,000 limit are  ₹ 1000 and  ₹ 10,000.  Only 47 and 70 bonds of these denominations are purchased respectively.
These numbers clearly indicate that, the electoral bonds have facilitated a substantial increase in high value anonymous donations. The electoral bonds do not seem to have encouraged any increase in smaller donations contrary to the arguments made by the then finance minister.
In terms of value, a total of  ₹ 6,210.39 crores worth of electoral bonds were purchased so far out of which  ₹ 1 Crore denomination bonds amount to  ₹ 5,702 crores i.e. 91.81 % of the total worth of bonds purchased so far.
Large number of lower denomination Electoral Bonds remain unsold
The low sales of  ₹ 1000 and  ₹ 10,000 denomination bonds are not only contrary to the initial perception created by the government that there would be lot of takers for these denominations, they have also meant financial implication for the government.
The Electoral Bonds are physical copies which are sold by SBI. Information obtained by Commodore Lokesh Batra (retd) using RTI reveals that the  printing of these bonds is being carried out at India Security Press Nashik.
The RTI information provided by SBI indicates that the printing of these bonds was carried out both in 2018 and 2019.  The volume of Electoral Bonds printed is given in the following table.
As the data indicates, a large number of electoral bonds of  ₹ 1000 and  ₹ 10,000 denomination were printed by the government initially in 2018.  A total of 2.65 lakh electoral bonds were printed in of these two denominations. This is exponentially higher than the number of bonds printed for the higher value denomination. In 2019, however, the government stopped printing the lower denomination ones as they remained unsold.
As seen earlier, the actual sale of the electoral bonds of lower denomination is negligible. Only 47 and 70 bonds of  ₹ 1000 and  ₹ 10,000 denomination respectively as against 2.65 lakhs each printed in 2018, which means 99.9% of these printed lower denomination bonds remain unsold.
The one lakh denomination also does not  fare better either with 98.14 % of the printed bonds remain unsold. Looking at the trend in the 13 phases, it is highly unlikely that the already printed lower denomination bonds would be sold any time soon.
As per an invoice submitted by Indian Security Press, Nashik for printing  these bonds, the unit price for printing each electoral bond is  ₹ 25 (excluding GST). A further 12% GST (6% CGST + 6% SGST) was charged in the invoice.
Based on these numbers, the total cost of printing 6,64,250 Electoral Bonds comes up to around 1.66 crores without GST. 12% GST adds up to another 19.9 lakhs i.e. approximately  ₹1.85 crores is the total cost incurred by the government to print the Electoral Bonds.
With more than 5.2 lakh electoral bonds  of  ₹ 1000 and  ₹ 10,000 denomination remaining unsold, it does appear like an unnecessary burden of more than a crore rupees on the public exchequer.
High volume of unsold electoral bonds shows improper planning
Transparency in political funding process and encouraging larger participation in the process of political funding were mentioned as some of the prime reasons for introducing electoral bonds. However, the increase in the share and volume of income through undisclosed sources negates the transparency argument.
The donor anonymity in the electoral bond scheme was justified as a means to encourage large scale small donations to political parties. However, the numbers in the last two years and the 13 phases clearly indicate that the bonds are being purchased by corporates and larger players, rather than individuals and small donors.
Furthermore, the printing of 2.65 lakh electoral bonds each of  ₹ 1000 and  ₹ 10,000 denomination indicates complete lack of planning & understanding on the government’s side. The government’s initial estimate has gone horribly wrong as 99.9% of these bonds remain unsold and it does not look like they will be sold any time soon. Not only the stated goals for the introduction of these bonds stand negated but also have resulted in an unnecessary financial burden on the public exchequer.


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A 10-month old video is shared as a present-day video of two dead bodies dumped in the open at Gandhi Hospital (Telangana) - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
July 3, 2020
We received a video on FACTLY’s WhatsApp helpline to fact-check. The video is going around with a claim – ‘#Watch: An eye witness, who happened to visit Gandhi hospital in Hyderabad, notices two bodies dumped’. The same video was also found to be uploaded recently on Facebook and YouTube (archived) with the same claim. It is being shared in the context of COVID-19 pandemic as the patients tested positive for COVID-19 in Hyderabad are being treated at the Gandhi Hospital. Let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Recent video of two dead bodies dumped in the open at Gandhi Hospital (COVID—19 dedicated hospital) in Hyderabad, Telangana.
Fact: The video is an old one. It is found to be on the internet at least since August 2019. So, it is not related to the current COVID-19 situation at the Gandhi Hospital in Telangana. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
When the screenshots of the video were run through Google Reverse Image Search, the same video was found in the search results. The video was uploaded on YouTube in August 2019 with the title – ‘Two dead bodies Gandhi Hospital parking area’. The same video was also found to be uploaded on Facebook in August 2019 with a similar description. Hence, it can be concluded that it is not a recent one and is not related to the COVID-19 situation at Gandhi Hospital in Telangana.
FACTLY could not independently verify the actual context of the video. However,  this incident was reported by ‘The New Indian Express’ when the video went viral in August 2019. Speaking to ‘The New Indian Express’, the then Superintendent of Gandhi Hospital denied these allegations and termed it as false news.
To sum it up, a 10-month old video is shared as a present-day video of two dead bodies dumped in the open at Gandhi Hospital (COVID-19 Care Center) in Telangana.
Did you watch our new video?


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A 2-year old video about burnt EVMs is now being re-circulated with a misleading narrative - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 18, 2019
Many Facebook users are sharing a post with a video showing EVMs being burnt. In the post, it is alleged that at Mandi in Poonch district, EVMs were hacked by BJP and when voted to any party all the votes were going to BJP itself. Let’s try to verify the authenticity of the claims put in the post.
EVMs being burnt in Mandi, Poonch district and all the votes went to BJP only.
Fact: The video in the post was taken on April 9, 2017 during the by-election for Srinagar Parliamentary Constituency. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
When the video in the post is run through InVID Fake Video debunker plugin, many key frames of the video will be obtained. On doing Google reverse image search of them individually with the filter “EVMs burnt”, then for a certain frame, the URL of an NDTV article dated April 12, 2017 was found. As per the article, the video is the one related to the by-election for Srinagar Parliamentary Constituency. On voting day, huge violence erupted as the mobs targeted the polling booths as there was a poll boycott call by the Kashmiri separatists. A similar video was also uploaded on YouTube two years ago by Waqt India.
As the elections for Jammu Lok Sabha constituency were held on 11th April 2019, this video resurfaced on social media with a misleading narrative.
Finally, a 2-year old videois now being re-circulated with a misleading narrative.


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A 2004 deforestation photo in the Amazon Forest is falsely shared as a 2019 image - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
July 24, 2019
On Facebook, a few users are posting a collage with two photos, the left one bearing the text ‘Amazonia 2009’ and the right one with the text ‘Amazonia 2019’  to suggest that the former photo shows the status of Amazon forest in 2009 and the latter one indicates its status in 2019. Let’s try to verify the claims made in the post.
In the collage, the left photo shows the status of the Amazon forest in 2009 and the right one indicates its status in 2019.
Fact: The photo claimed to be the one of 2019 is an aerial view of an area in Amazon forest deforested by soybean farmers in Brazil in 2004. So, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When the two photos in the collage are cropped and are subjected to Google Reverse Image Search technique individually, the photo on the right side was found in an article published by ‘The Guardian’ in 2009. The photo credits to that image were given to ‘AP’ photos. When looked in the Associated Press (AP) photo stock, the image was found in it. When looked for the date of its creation, it was found to be May 19, 2005. The following description was found with that photograph- “Aerial view of an area deforested by soybean farmers in Novo Progreso, Para, Brazil, in this September, 2004 file photo. Deforestation in the Amazon rainforest in 2004 was the second worst on record, figures released by the Brazilian government showed. Satellite photos and data showed that ranchers, soybean farmers and loggers burned and cut down a near-record area of 26,130 square kilometers (10,088 square miles) of rain forest in the 12 months ending in August 2004, the Brazilian Environmental Ministry said Wednesday.The destruction was nearly 6 percent higher than in the same period the year before, when 24,600 square kilometers (9,500 square miles) were destroyed”.
When looked for information about the left side photo in the collage, many search results (result1, result2, result3) suggested that the image is that of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil but the date on which the photo was taken couldn’t be found.
To summarise, a 2004 photo of deforestation in the Amazon forest is falsely shared as a 2019 image.
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A 2009 photo falsely shared as ‘Priyanka wearing Indira’s saree because of Bihar Assembly elections - 2020' - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
October 7, 2020
A photo of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in a saree and ringing a temple bell is being shared widely on social media with a claim that it shows Priyanka wearing Indira Gandhi’s saree as Bihar Assembly elections – 2020 are coming up. Let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Photo of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra wearing Indira’s saree as Bihar Assembly elections – 2020 are coming up.
Fact: The photo was taken in 2009 in Amethi (UP). It is not related to the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections – 2020. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When the image was run through the Google Reverse Image, only recent posts with the same claim were found in the search results. But, when we searched with the keywords taken from the claim, many similar posts with the same photo were found to be posted in October 2018. So, it can be concluded that this image is not related to the upcoming Bihar elections – 2020.
When we searched with other keywords and using time filter, the same photo was found to be uploaded by ‘Pressbrief .in’ on the Flickr website. In the description, it can be read that the photo was taken on 12 April 2009 when Priyanka Gandhi visited a ‘Durga temple during the election campaign for her brother Rahul Gandhi in Amethi’. Other similar photos can be found here.
Also, the photos related to her visit to the temple in 2009 can be found on the ‘Getty Images’ and ‘Outlook’ websites. We could not find any information about her saree.
While the posted photo is old, Priyanka Gandhi recently visited Delhi’s Valmiki Temple to attend a prayer meeting for Hathras victim. The news articles regarding her visit to the temple can be read here and here.
To sum it up, a photo from 2009 falsely shared as ‘Priyanka wearing Indira’s saree as Bihar Assembly elections – 2020 are coming up’.

created: October 7, 2020


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A 2012 video of Raveena Tandon supporting Congress is falsely shared as recent - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 26, 2024
A video (here, here and here) of Bollywood actress Raveena Tandon expressing support for the Congress party, allegedly in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections is making rounds on social media platforms. This video is accompanied by a Hindi caption translating to, “Raveena Tandon says this time Congress will win.” We will fact-check this claim through this article.
Claim: Raveena Tandon has publicly endorsed the Congress Party for the 2024 General Elections.
Fact: The viral video is actually from 2012, when Raveena Tandon campaigned for the Congress party in Vadodara, Gujarat. Hence, the claim made in the post is False.
To determine the truth behind the viral claim, we initiated a keyword search on the Internet. This search led us to news reports published (here and here) by ABP News on their official YouTube channel and the Dailymotion channel (also this one by DeshGujaratHD) in 2012.
The video report titled ‘Raveena Tandon campaigns for Congress in Vadodara, holds roadshow’ was uploaded on 12 December 2012. The news presenter in the video states that Raveena Tandon has reached Vadodara to campaign for the Congress Party during the ‘second phase of the elections.’ Extracts of the viral video can be viewed from the 0:34 mark.
This clearly suggests that the old video from 2012 is being falsely presented as a recent video of Raveena Tandon supporting the Congress Party.
Additionally, to verify if Raveena Tandon has made any recent public statements supporting the Congress Party for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, we searched for news reports and also looked through her social media accounts. However, no credible sources were found substantiating such claims.
To sum up, the video in question is not a recent event but a clip from 2012 when actress Raveena Tandon campaigned for Congress in Vadodara, Gujarat.


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A 2013 video of Rajnath Singh shared now as proof of his support to the farmers' protest - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 9, 2020
A video is being shared on social media claiming that the Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has come out in support of farmers protesting against the new farm bills. In the video, Rajnath Singh can be seen expressing his complete support to the farmers who participated in a dharna. Amid the ongoing farmers protest against the new agriculture laws passed by the Government of India, this post is going viral on social media. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Rajnath Singh has come out in support of the farmers who are protesting opposing the new farm bills.
Fact:  Video shared in the post is an old one. This video shows Rajnath Singh addressing a Kisan dharna at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi in the year 2013. This video has nothing to do with the ongoing farmers protest over the new farm bills. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
On searching for this video using relevant keywords, we found the extended version of the video published on the official YouTube channel of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on ‘20 March 2013’. This video was uploaded  with the title ‘Shri Rajnath Singh addressing farmers staging dharna at Jantar Mantar, NewDelhi: 20.03.2013’. The same video was also uploaded in the official website of Rajnath Singh.
According to the article published by ‘The Hindu’, thousands of farmers gathered in New Delhi during March 2013, to start a ‘Mahapanchayat’ demanding farmers’ income commission to guarantee a minimum income to the farmers. From all these pieces of evidence, it can be concluded that the video shared in the post is an old one and has nothing to do with the ongoing farmers protest over the new farm bills.
To sum it up, a 2013 video of Rajnath Singh’s speech at a Kisan dharna is being shared now as proof of his support to the farmers protesting against the new farm bills.

created: December 9, 2020


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A 2015 photo of a flooded Chennai airport is passed off as that of Ahmedabad airport - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
August 3, 2023
A photo of a few partially submerged aeroplanes in water is being shared through a social media post claiming it as the poor condition of the flooded Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel airport. This is being shared in the wake of Ahmedabad airport getting flooded due to heavy rain on 22 July 2023 (here and here). Let’s check the veracity of this claim through this article.
Claim: Photo of a flooded Ahmedabad International Airport.
Fact: This photo was filmed in the Chennai airport during the 2015 floods. In 2017, the same photo was falsely shared as that of the Ahmedabad airport, for which PTI fired its photographer who misquoted it. Hence, the claim made in the post is False.
To learn more details about the viral photo, we performed a reverse image search on Google, which led us to the 2017 article about the same photo.
Published by The Scroll, the article said that PTI fired a photographer for wrongly sharing a 2015 image showing a flooded Chennai airport as Ahmedabad airport. After the clarification, Indian Express, which also reportedly shared this photo with the wrong caption, acknowledged the error.
Reportedly, PTI took this action after BJP leader Smriti Irani pointed out this error. Also, in 2017, the same photo was falsely shared by a newspaper, as the condition of Chandigarh airport, which was affected by rain in July 2017.
PTI deeply regrets the error and has terminated the services of the concerned photographer; @smritiirani and @shashidigital
Reportedly, the airport authorities alerted the Mohali police in this regard. Nevertheless, it is evident that this photo existed on the internet way before the flooding of the Ahmedabad airport in July 2023 (when the most recent flooding occurred there), which disproves the claim that it represents a flooded Ahmedabad airport. Boomlive also debunked this claim in 2017, which can be seen here.
To sum up, an old photo filmed during the 2015 Chennai floods is passed off as that of Ahmedabad airport.

created: August 3, 2023


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A 2016 Bastille Day terrorist attack video is now viral as visuals of whites slaughtered by Muslim refugees in France - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
July 28, 2023
A video that shows lifeless people lying on the road with blood splattered around is being shared on social media with a claim that it shows white people slaughtered by Muslim refugees in France. Through this fact-checking article, let’s verify the truthfulness of this claim.
Calim:  Visuals show white people slaughtered by Muslim refugees in France recently.
Fact: This is a video from 2016, which shows victims of a terror attack that occurred in Nice, France, during the Bastille Day celebrations. Although a sympathiser of the Islamic State made this attack, the visuals do not depict a recent event. Hence the claim made in the post is Misleading.
To check the claim’s veracity, we performed a Google reverse image search on a keyframe obtained from the viral video. This search led us to a few news reports (here, here, and here) from 2016, which described the visuals as the aftermath of a truck terror attack in Nice, France, during the  Bastille Day celebrations in 2016.
Reportedly, a “man drove a 19-tonne truck at high speed into crowds as a fireworks show to mark France’s Bastille Day national holiday came to an end on Thursday. He was shot dead after ploughing through the crowd for some 2 km (1.5 miles) as he opened fire from his vehicle with a pistol.”
Eighty-six people lost their lives in this attack which an Islamic State sympathiser named ‘Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel’ made (Islamic State claimed responsibility for this attack). He was killed by the police that day. Eight people linked with this truck attack were sentenced to jail by a French court in December 2022. Although it is a fact that this attack has its roots in Islamic terrorism, the visuals and the event are not recent, as claimed by the viral post, which misquotes it as the latest event.
To sum up, a 2016 Bastille Day terrorist attack video during celebrations is now viral as visuals of whites slaughtered by Muslim refugees.


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A 2017 news clipping detailing the allegations raised by Kota residents concerning smart meters shared as a recent one - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
August 22, 2023
A screenshot of a news clipping is being shared on social media claiming it is a recent news report detailing how smart meters have been found displaying higher meter readings in comparison to the normal electric meters. The news clipping shared in the post states that during a test conducted by a consumer on the same electrical line, a regular electric meter displayed a reading of 279 units, while the smart meter showed a reading of 429 units. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Screenshot of the latest news clipping reporting about smart meters running faster than normal electric meters.
Fact: The post shared a news clipping published by the Chambal Sandesh newspaper in 2017. In 2017, under Rajasthan’s BJP government, Kota residents alleged that smart meters from private power company CESC showed higher readings than standard electric meters. After a month-long protest in Rajasthan’s Kota City over smart meters, the CEO of CESC company clarified in a press conference that the misconceptions about smart meters showing higher readings than standard electric meters were untrue. He stated that the company would install the meters only after ensuring consumer satisfaction. The post did not share the latest news clipping about smart meters. Hence, the claim made in the post is Misleading.
When we searched for the news clipping using relevant keywords, we found that the news clipping was published by the Chambal Sandesh newspaper on 16 September 2017. The news article reported the allegations of inconsistencies concerning the smart meters set up by Kota Electric Distribution Limited (KEDL), a subsidiary of the Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation (CESC), within residences in the Indravihar and other areas in Kota, Rajasthan.
The news clipping reported that a beauty parlour businessman, residing in the Indravihar area, had tested a smart meter and a normal meter on the same electric line for 10 days and found that the smart meter was showing 150 units more than the reading of the standard normal electric meters. The Patrika news site too published an article detailing the claims by Kota residents regarding the KEDL smart meters that were installed in their homes in 2017. The residents of Kota alleged that the smart meters installed by KEDL are running faster than the normal standard electric meters.
After a month-long protest over smart meters in Rajasthan’s Kota City, the CEO of CESC company held a press conference and asserted that the misconceptions about smart meters showing higher readings than standard electric meters were untrue. He stated that the company would install the meters only after ensuring consumer satisfaction. From all these pieces of evidence, it can be concluded that the post shared a news clipping published in 2017 and does not show the latest news report on smart meters.
To sum it up, a 2017 news clipping detailing the allegations raised by Kota residents concerning smart meters is shared as a recent news report.


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A 2018 video of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat praising the Congress party is being shared as his recent remarks during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 23, 2024
A video (here, here, and here) has recently gone viral on social media claiming that the chief of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Mohan Bhagwat, had remembered the contribution of the Congress party in the Indian freedom struggle during a speech. It is being claimed that he made these comments amidst the ongoing 2024 Lok Sabha elections. We fact-check this claim through this article.
Claim: Amidst the ongoing 2024 Lok Sabha elections, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said that the Congress party played a big role in the freedom movement.
Fact: This is an old video from 2018, not a recent one. Mohan Bhagwat made these comments during an RSS event held in New Delhi in September 2018. Hence, the claim made in the post is Misleading.
To check the veracity of the viral claim, we performed a keyword search on the internet to see if Mohan Bhagwat made any such comments on the Congress party recently, during the ongoing 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Through this search, we found that he did not make such comments during the ongoing Lok Sabha elections but made these statements during an event (here, here, and here) in 2018.
The Hindustan Times video report(archive link) that is doing the rounds on the internet claiming he praised the Congress party recently is actually from September 2018. During the inauguration ceremony of a three-day lecture event named “Future of Bharat: An RSS Perspective”  held in New Delhi, he said that Congress played a big role in the freedom movement and gave Indians many great personalities.
You can see him making this statement here in his full address video uploaded on Sansad TV’s YouTube channel on 17 September 2018. Despite the date on which this was recorded, which is 17 September 2018, being clearly visible even in the viral video, it is being shared on social media as a recent video recorded after the 5th phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
To sum up, a five-year-old video from 2018 of Mohan Bhagwat praising the Congress party is now misleadingly shared as his recent remarks during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.


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A 2020 video of a little girl and her father laughing at bomb strikes is being falsely linked to the Israel-Palestine conflict - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
October 31, 2023
A video is fast gaining traction on social media, where it shows a man and a little girl laughing when they hear a sound resembling a bomb detonation. The post accompanying the video claims this man is teaching his daughter to laugh every time they hear an air strike from Israel. This article fact-checks this claim.
Claim: The viral video shows a man teaching his daughter to laugh each time they hear an Israeli air strike.
Fact: The video does indeed feature a father teaching his daughter to laugh at bomb sounds. However, this is a video from 2020. The man in the video is named Abdullah Mohammed, and he’s a Syrian, not Israeli. Hence, this claim is False.
In order to uncover the truth behind the claim, we began with a simple internet search using keywords related to the video and its shared content. This led us to several news reports (here and here) about this video dating back to 2020.
According to these reports, the video features Abdullah Mohammed, a Syrian father. He managed to turn a bombing situation into a game for his then-three-year-old daughter, Salwa. Mohammed would encourage his daughter to laugh every time they heard a bomb sound. This video gained a significant amount of attention and went viral in 2020. Many news outlets widely reported Abdullah’s approach to helping his daughter cope with their situation.
However, the claim that this video is related to Israeli air strikes is unfounded. The father and daughter in the video are Syrian, and the incident is related to their experience in Syria, not Israel.
To sum up, although the video does feature a father teaching his daughter to laugh at bomb sounds, the claim that this situation is related to Israeli air strikes is False. The family in the video is Syrian, and the incident took place in Idlib, Syria, not Israel.

created: October 31, 2023


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A 2022 photo is falsely portrayed as the recent image of AAP MP Sanjay Singh's arrest - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
October 13, 2023
A photo of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh being lifted by his limbs by the police is being shared on social media, claiming that it was taken when the Enforcement Directorate arrested him on 4 October 2023 in relation to the Delhi Excise policy case. Let’s fact-check this claim through this article.
Claim: Photo of AAP MP Sanjay Singh taken away by police after his arrest on 4 October 2023.
Fact: This photo was taken in October 2022 when Sanjay Singh was detained for protesting outside the Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI) headquarters in Delhi against CBI questioning the then Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, Manish Sisodia. Hence, the claim made in the post is Misleading.
A reverse image search on the photo on Google led us to a few news articles (here, here, and here), which revealed this photo to be old and from 2022.
Reportedly, on 17 October 2022, when the then Deputy CM of Delhi, Manish Sisodia, was getting questioned by the CBI in relation to the Delhi Excise policy scam, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh took part in a protest. The police detained him for allegedly violating prohibitory orders. The viral photo was taken on that day.
Additionally, you can see the visuals of Sanjay Singh being arrested in relation to the Excise policy case here and here.
VIDEO | AAP MP Sanjay Singh taken away from his official residence after being arrested by the ED in Delhi excise policy case. pic.twitter.com/Bpho7ctjcW
To sum up, an old photo of Sanjay Singh being detained by the police is being shared as a recent one taken during his arrest by the ED.

created: October 13, 2023


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A 3-D animated video shared as the rare visuals of the submerged Dwaraka city - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 6, 2023
A video is being shared on social media claiming it is the rare visual of the submerged Dwaraka city beneath the Arabian Sea. The video shows a Radhe-Krishna temple beneath the water’s surface. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Video showing Radhe-Krishna temple in the submerged Dwaraka city.
Fact: The video was created using 3D technology by an artist named Sri Ram. The video does not show the real visuals of a temple inside the submerged Dwaraka city. Hence, the claim made in the post is False.
On reverse image search of the screenshots of the video, a video with similar visuals was found posted by a social media user on Tik Tok. This Tik Tok user described it as a 3D animated video created with the inspiration of Dwaraka City. Many social media pages have published this video with the same description and by crediting the video to an Instagram handle “@artz_by_ram”.
When searched for further sources, we found the video on the Instagram handle Sri Ram (user_id: @artz_by_ram). Sri Ram, an artist and a digital content creator, published the video on 20 March 2023, with the description, “The lost temple… Made in 3d with the inspiration for real city in dwaraka“. From all these pieces of evidence, it can be concluded that the video shared in the post does not show the real visuals of the submerged Dwaraka city.
Earlier, Factly published multiple fact-checks debunking similar fake videos and photos attributed to Dwaraka. They can be seen here, here and here.
To sum it up, a 3-D animated video was shared as the visuals of the Krishna temple in the submerged Dwaraka city.


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A 3D model of M S Dhoni created by an artist is being shared as a 3D reconstruction of Chanakya by Magadha University - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
March 15, 2024
A viral claim has surfaced on social media involving a photo that is allegedly a 3D recreation of Chanakya, the author of Arthashastra, done by Magadha DS University. The recreation bears an uncanny resemblance to the former captain of the Indian cricket team, M S Dhoni. Let’s verify this claim through this fact-check article.
Claim: The image shows a 3D recreation of Chanakya done by Magadha DS University, which has an uncanny similarity to MS Dhoni.
Fact: The photo in question is indeed a 3D model, but it’s not of Chanakya. It’s a model of MS Dhoni created by an artist named Ankur Khatri. Additionally, there is no connection to Magadha DS University, a university that does not even exist. Hence, the claim made in the post is False.
To ascertain the facts behind the viral claim, we performed a reverse image search on the photo. The search led us to the same photo on ArtStation, an art-sharing website where character model artist Ankur Khatri had posted it, along with other 3D models of MS Dhoni.
The caption of the post read “MS Dhoni Likeliness Study.” He also shared a detailed video of how he created this model of MS Dhoni on his Instagram account.
We then searched the internet for any links between Khatri and the alleged “Magadha DS University” but couldn’t find any university by that name. A university named Magadh University does exist in Bodh Gaya, Bihar, but they denied having any involvement in creating the said 3D model. Dr. Gopal Singh, the media convenor of Magadh University, spoke to BoomLive and labelled the claim as false.
To sum up, the claim that the 3D model is a recreation of Chanakya by Magadha DS University is entirely false. The model is, in reality, a digital art piece of MS Dhoni crafted by artist Ankur Khatri.


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A 4-year-old news video is being shared as a recent video after the reduction in Corporate Tax - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
September 30, 2019
A video is being shared on Facebook that talks about companies shutting down their operations in China. This video is being shared in the context of  Corporate Tax reduction by the Modi Government,  and is being portrayed as a recent video. Let’s try to analyze the claim made in the post.
The video that talks about companies shutting down operations in China is a recent one.
Fact: The video in the post is an old one. It was uploaded on the ‘Arirang News’ YouTube channel in 2015. Also, the news related to 200 US companies looking to move manufacturing base from China to India was published in April-2019 and is neither related to the video in the post nor the corporate tax rate cut. So, old news stories are being shared as the outcome of Corporate Tax reduction by the Modi Government. Hence, the post is MISLEADING.
When searched on Google with the keywords ‘Companies closing factories in China’, the same video was found in the search results. But, the video was uploaded on YouTube by the ‘Arirang News’ channel in February-2015. So, the video is not related to any recent event or decision.
When searched on Google about the news on 200 US companies shifting from China to India, news articles regarding this issue can be found in the search results. According to an article published by the ‘Economic Times’ in April-2019, ‘about 200 American companies are seeking to move their manufacturing base from China to India post the general elections, a top US-based advocacy group has said, observing that there is a fantastic opportunity with firms looking at alternatives to the Communist giant.’ This news is also neither new nor related to the Modi Government’s recent decision to reduce Corporate Tax.
To sum it up, a 4-year-old news video is being shared as a recent video after the reduction in Corporate Tax.
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created: September 30, 2019


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A 5-meter human skeleton has not been unearthed in Australia. It is a satirical post turned hoax - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
July 4, 2019
A post with a video is being shared on Facebook with a claim that a 5-meter tall skeleton was unearthed in Australia. Let’s try to analyze the claim made in the post.
5-meter tall human skeleton was unearthed in Australia by a team of archaeologists from the University of Adelaide.
Fact: The news was taken from a satirical website called ‘World News Daily Report’. Similar news items were in circulation from the last 5 years and have already found to be untrue. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When you look for any such news on Google using keywords ‘5-meter tall human skeleton unearthed’, an article with the title similar to the description in the post (i.e. ‘5-METER TALL HUMAN SKELETON UNEARTHED IN AUSTRALIA’) is found in the search results.  The website (‘World News Daily Report’) which published that article is a satirical website. The description of the website at the bottom of the page reads, “World News Daily Report assumes all responsibility for the satirical nature of its articles and for the fictional nature of their content. All characters appearing in the articles in this website – even those based on real people – are entirely fictional and any resemblance between them and any person, living, dead or undead, is purely a miracle.” So, the news published by it should not be taken seriously. Further, the image found in the article is actually that of a mammoth skeleton found at site in Changis-sur-Marne, east of Paris in France.
Also, the website published an article regarding the same site in 2013 with a different narrative of finding ruins of a lost city. Both the articles have been already fact-checked by different organizations when the news went viral in the previous years
To sum it up, a 5-meter human skeleton has not been unearthed in Australia. It is a satirical post turned hoax.
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