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A video of an overflowing waterfall in Gujarat is shared as that from Amboli Ghat, Maharastra - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
July 15, 2022
A video is being shared on social media through a post that reads, ‘Tourists going to Amboli Ghat should be careful’, implying that the video is from Amboli Ghat.  Let us verify the truth behind this claim through this post.
Claim: Video of overflowing waterfall in Amboli Ghat, Maharastra.
Fact: The waterfall is located in Gujarat. It is a place named Shiv Ghat in Ahwa village of Gujarat’s Dang district. A video from a different location is being shared as Amboli Ghat. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
A search with relevant keywords on the internet led us to another Facebook post with the same video as the one shared in the original post. A user has commented below the post with an ETV Bharat Marathi article titled ‘Dang District WaterFall : Heavy rainfall in Gujarat; The waterfalls in Dang district began to overflow’ (English Translation). This article also includes a video similar to the one shared in the post. Based on the details mentioned in the article, it is understood that the waterfall in the video is the ShivGhat waterfall from Ahwa Village in Gujarat’s Dang district.
A video posted on Google by a user named Vipul Prajapathi shows the waterfalls from almost the same angle as the video from the original post, and we can see that it is the same place. A side by side comparison of the two videos can be seen below.
Various other videos available on the internet also indicate that the location of the video from the post as ShivGhat waterfalls. Those videos can  be viewed here and  here
To sum it up, a video of a waterfall from Gujarat is being shared as that from Amboli Ghat in Maharashtra


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A video of dancer Sunila Ashok performing to 'Aaj Phir Jeene Ki Tamanna Hai' is being misattributed to Bollywood actress Waheeda Rehman - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
September 27, 2023
A viral claim circulating on social media about a video featuring an elderly woman dancing to the classic Bollywood song ‘Aaj Phir Jeene ka Tamanna Hai’ states that the woman is the iconic Bollywood actress, Waheeda Rehman, performing after receiving the Dada Saheb Phalke award (here). We examine the validity of this claim through this fact-check.
Claim: This video of an elderly woman dancing to ‘Aaj Phir Jeene ka Tamanna Hai’ features Bollywood actress Waheeda Rehman.
Fact: The woman in the video is not Waheeda Rehman but a woman named Sunila Ashok. Hence, the claim made in the post is False.
We initiated the fact check by performing a keyword search on the internet about the video. This search directed us to a YouTube channel named ‘Mayookha,’ which featured the same video.
The video was uploaded in January 2022. Further investigations led us to find out more about Sunila Ashok. We stumbled upon her Instagram page ‘mayookha_sunila‘, where we found the same viral video.
A post shared by Sunila Ashok (@mayookha_sunila)
In a pinned post addressing the video, she stated, “woke up this morning to a flurry of messages from my family & friends. My video for ‘Aaj phir jeene ki Tamanna hai’ seems to have gone viral as Waheeda Rahman’s dance video! I am greatly honoured to be compared to her and I am overwhelmed with all the love and appreciation I am getting from my viewers”. This clearly indicates that it is Sunila Ashok in the video, not the acclaimed actress Waheeda Rehman.
To sum up, the woman dancing to ‘Aaj Phir Jeene ka Tamanna Hai’ in the viral video is not Waheeda Rehman but Sunila Ashok.

source: news-factly

created: September 27, 2023

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

author: Sai Krishna Muthyanolla


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A video of floods in Morocco is shared as it's from Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 22, 2023
A video of cars being washed away by floods is being shared on social media claiming that the incident took place in Thutukoodi district of Tamil Nadu. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: The visuals depict cars being washed away due to floods in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu.
Fact: The visuals show flood situation in Morocco in July 2023. News channels reported on this video, indicating that it depicts events in Morocco during flash floods. Besides, tamil voices were digitally added to the viral video and shared. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
Due to cyclonic circulation, the district of Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu recently experienced floods (here and here). Amidst this, a video went viral on social media, claiming to depict the flood situation in Thoothukudi.
On conducting a reverse image search using the keyframes of the video, we found that this video is recently being shared, claiming it occurred in different parts of Tamil Nadu (here, here, and here). However, we discovered that the same video was featured on the X handle of Disaster News in July 2023 with the title, ‘The massive floods due to heavy rain in Moulay Brahim of Al Haouz, Morocco.’
In subsequent research, we found that this video is featured on the Instagram page of Morocco World News with the caption, ‘Heavy rainfall resulted in flooding in Moulay Brahim, a small town in the Al Haouz province.’ Additionally, news channels reported on this video, indicating that it depicts events in Morocco during flash floods in 2023 (here and here).  Moreover, it is evident that Tamil voices were digitally added to the viral video and shared.
To sum up, a video of floods in Morocco with edited Tamil voices is shared as it’s from Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu.

created: December 22, 2023


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February 2022 video of Israeli forces attacking a Palestinian girl is shared as a recent incident - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 1, 2022
In the context of the ongoing women-led protests in Iran, a post is being shared on social media where an unarmed girl can be seen beaten by uniformed and armed men. The post claims that the girl in the video is a Palestinian assaulted by Israeli forces. The post claims that these visuals were never reported by Western mainstream media. Let’s fact-check the claim made in this post through this article.
Claim: Visuals of Israeli forces assaulting an unarmed girl and such videos are never reported in the western media.
Fact: The video shared in the post is from February 2022. Reportedly, this was captured in Jerusalem when Palestinians gathered at the Damascus gate to celebrate al-Israa wa al-Miraj, the anniversary of Prophet Mohammed’s journey to Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. Police reportedly fired stun grenades and rubber bullets to disperse these crowds who were allegedly throwing stones. The video in the viral post is from this incident that was widely reported. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
A primary keyword search on the internet about the incident led us to a video report by Al-Jazeera English. This video report contains a clip from the viral video. We noticed the source of the clip as Baraah Abo Ramouz and further refined our keyword search on the internet. This led us to news reports (here, here and here) and few social media posts (here and here) from February and March 2022 which contained the same video. This video was also found on Baraah Abo Ramouz’s Facebook page.
Reportedly, this video was captured during alleged clashes between Israeli police officers and Palestinians at Jerusalems’s Damascus gate. On 28 February this year, several Palestinians gathered (here) at Jerusalem’s Damascus gate to celebrate al-Israa wa al-Miraj, the anniversary of Prophet Mohammed’s journey to Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. Reportedly, the police dispersed the group of people with stun grenades and water cannons, who were allegedly pelting stones and bottles at the police. A 11-year old girl was also reportedly injured and was later hospitalised after getting hit by a stun grenade fired by the police (here and here).
The girl who was beaten by the Israeli police forces is a 15-year-old Palestinian, Iman Kiswani, who was arrested by the Israeli troops that day (here). Her interview after her release from arrest/ detention can be seen here.
Contrary to the post’s claim, these visuals and the incident are clearly not of a recent incident. The viral post also claims that this incident was not reported by the mainstream media, while we found that the incident was covered by the media including the Associated Press, which you can read here.
To sum up, video of Israeli forces attacking a Palestinian girl in February 2022 is shared as visuals of a recent incident.

created: December 1, 2022


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A video of Japanese reciting a Ram Sloka in India is shared falsely as a Ramayana recital in Japan. - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
January 17, 2024
A video of a few people singing the ‘Shuddah Brahma Paratpara Rama’ song is being shared on social media, claiming that it shows a recital/pravachanam of Ramayana in Japan. Let’s verify the truthfulness of this claim through this article.
Claim: The viral video shows a recital of Ramayana in Japan.
Fact: The video shows a Japanese family reciting a Ram Sloka in Manjakkudi Jnanapravaha, the Vedanta study centre in Tamil Nadu. Hence, the claim made in the viral post is Misleading.
Firstly, we performed a reverse image search on a few keyframes to learn more about the viral video, leading us to multiple old social media posts (here, here, and here) containing longer versions of the same video.
Japanese family have come to attend the camp for a week in Manjakkudi which is the birthplace of Pujya Dayananda Saraswathi Swamiji 🙏
Here they are learning Shlokas and Stotras…🙂🙏 pic.twitter.com/sRwPjDoslS
In a few of these posts, this video was identified as visuals of a few Japanese people singing a sloka of Lord Ram during a camp in Manjakkudi, Jnanapravaha,  the Vedanta study centre in Tamil Nadu, which the Swami Dayananda Educational Trust runs.
A further search on the internet to learn more about the camp led us to a video on the Facebook page of Swami Dayananda Educational Trust, which shows a few visitors from Japan being welcomed to the Jnanapravaha.
While going through the official website of Jnanapravaha, we found that an idol present in the viral video behind two Swamijis is the same one present inside the Vedanta study centre at Jnanapravaha.
To sum up, the viral video does not show a recital of Ramayana in Japan but a few Japanese singing a sloka of Lord Ram in Jnanapravaha, Manjakkudi.

created: January 17, 2024


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A video of Maldivian MPs brawl in Parliament is falsely shared as footage of President Mohamed Muizzu getting beaten - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
January 30, 2024
A video of a man pinning down another person while a few others try to stop him is being shared on social media with a claim that it shows the President of Maldives, Mohamed Muizzu, getting beaten in parliament. Let’s verify this claim through this article.
Claim: The viral video shows Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu getting beaten inside the Maldivian parliament.
Fact: The video shows a fight that broke out between two Maldivian MPs inside the Maldivian parliament on 28 January 2024. Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Isa and ruling party Peoples’ National Congress (PNC) MP Abdullah Shaheem Abdul Hakeem reportedly engaged in a fight during a crucial vote. Hence, the claim made in the post is False.
To check the veracity of the viral claim, we performed a keyword search on the internet, leading us to multiple news reports (here, here, and here) about the viral video.
Reportedly, this incident took place in the Parliament of Maldives on 28 January 2024, when the leaders of the ruling coalition, the Progressive Party of Maldives and People’s National Congress(PNC), tried to disrupt the parliamentary proceedings as the opposition, the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and The Democrats, disapproved of a proposal made by the ruling cabinet.
*Viewer discretion advised*
Parliament proceedings have been disrupted after clashes between PPM/PNC MPs and opposition MPs. pic.twitter.com/vhvfCBgQ1s
This resulted in a fight breaking out between the two groups. The viral video shows a fight between the MDP MP Isa and PNC MP Abdullah Shaheem Abdul Hakeem.
To sum up, the video does not depict Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu getting beaten inside the Maldivian parliament.

created: January 30, 2024


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A video of Nihal Singh travelling from Sultanganj to Basukinath is falsely shared as a devotee travelling to Ayodhya on his hands. - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
January 19, 2024
The newly constructed Ram Mandir in Ayodhya will be consecrated on 22 January 2024. In the run-up to this, a video of a saffron-clad man hand-walking on a road has gone viral on social media. It is being claimed that he is on his way to Ayodhya. Mainstream media outlets like TV 9 Bharatvarsh and India TV also reported this. This article aims to fact-check this claim.
Claim: A video of a man hand-walking to Ayodhya for the consecration ceremony.
Fact: The person seen in the viral video is Nihal Singh, aka ‘Bichoo Bam’ from Bihar. He is hand-walking to Basukinath from Deoghar as part of his 160km hand-walking yatra/journey to Lord Shiva Shrines. He started this yatra on 4 July 2023. Speaking to Factly, he refuted the viral claim that he is travelling to Ayodhya and clarified that he is on his way to Basukinath and it might take him one more month to reach there. Hence, the claim made in the viral post is False.
To check the veracity of the viral claim, we first performed a reverse image search on the internet using a few keyframes from the viral video. This search led us to reports (here and here) on a man named Nihal Singh, who is hand-walking like a Bichoo (Scorpion) to Basukinath temple as part of his 160 km yatra to Shiva shrines, which started from Sultanganj, Bihar. He is the same person seen in the viral video. His story was covered by mainstream media outlets in July 2023 when he started this yatra on 4 July 2023 (here and here).
Further search on the internet revealed that he had done a Jal Abhishek in Baidyanath temple, Deogarh, on 31 December 2023 and is now on his way to Basukinath temple. In an interview he gave on 16 January 2024, he said that he had covered hardly 15 km of his route to Basukinath from Deogarh.
Additionally, Factly found his number on Facebook and contacted him. Speaking to us on the phone, he refuted the viral claim that his video shows him hand-walking to Ayodhya. He clarified that it was a false claim. He added that mainstream media outlets, too, have run this fake news while, in reality, he is hand-walking to Basukinath temple, which, in his words, might take him one more month to reach there.
To sum up, this video does not show a devotee travelling to Ayodhya on his hands. It shows a man named Nihal Singh, who is on a yatra to Basukinath temple, Jharkhand, from Sultanganj, Bihar.

created: January 19, 2024


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A video of Nirmala Sitharaman from 2023 is falsely shared as a clip from a recent press conference. - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
February 5, 2024
A video of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman speaking to a journalist at a press conference is making rounds on social media. It is accompanied by a description suggesting it’s a recent incident that occurred during a press conference after the introduction of the budget for the financial year 2024-25, with the minister appearing arrogant in her discussion with the journalist. This fact-checking article aims to verify the accuracy of this claim.
Claim: A video of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman behaving arrogantly with a journalist during a press conference realted to the budget.
Fact: The video is from a press conference in 2023, after the budget announcement for that year. Hence, the claim made in the post is False.
We began our fact-checking process by performing a keyword search for the video under scrutiny. This led us to a similar video posted in February 2023 on the YouTube channel ‘BrutIndia.’ Interestingly, the logo of ‘Brut’ is also visible on the viral video under examination, suggesting they are indeed the same footage.
The video found on ‘Brut’ is titled ‘This was FM’s reply when a journalist tried to convey the Opposition’s view on Budget.’ Given that this video was uploaded in 2023, it became clear that the contentious video is not recent but from a press conference held after the 2023 budget announcement.
Several mainstream media outlets have also reported (here, here, and here) this incident in 2023. You can see the full video of the press conference where this incident occurred here on the official YouTube channel of PIB India. The portion in the viral video can be seen from here.
To sum up, the video of Nirmala Sitharaman speaking at a budget-related press conference being circulated on social media is not recent but from 2023.

created: February 5, 2024


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A video of old incidents from West Bengal is falsely shared as ‘BJP MLA beaten in Patna (Bihar)’ - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
July 24, 2020
A video is being shared widely on social media with a claim that it shows a BJP MLA getting beaten up by the people in Patna (Bihar). Let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Video of BJP MLA getting beaten up by people in Patna (Bihar).
Fact: There are two clips related to two different incidents in the posted video. Both the incidents took place in West Bengal, not Bihar. While one incident took place in 2017, the other incident took place in 2016. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
On watching the video, it can be seen that there are two different video clips in the posted video. So, let’s check each one of them separately.
Clip 1:
This clip has been already debunked by FACTLY when it went viral with another claim in January 2020. The fact-check article can be read here. The video is related to an incident which took place in West Bengal in 2017. West Bengal BJP President Dilip Ghosh and other BJP leaders were heckled by a rebel group of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) in Darjeeling. The group was of the supporters of expelled GJM leader Tamang. The news published regarding the incident can be found here and here.
Clip 2:
The second clip begins at 12 seconds in the posted video. When the screenshots of the clip were run through Yandex Reverse Images Search, the longer version of the same clip was found to be uploaded on YouTube in 2016. So, when searched using keywords and time filter, a similar video was found to be uploaded by multiple news agencies on their respective YouTube channels in October 2016, which can be watched here, here, and here. In the description below the ‘ANI’ video, it can be read that – ‘Union Minister Babul Supriyo and his convoy was on Tuesday attacked by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) supporters in West Bengal’s Asansol district. During the scuffle, a BJP party worker was also thrashed and his clothes were ripped. The mob allegedly pelted stones and thrashed party workers in the presence of police officials.’
To sum it up, video clips of two old incidents from West Bengal falsely are joined and falsely shared as ‘BJP MLA beaten in Patna (Bihar)’.
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A video of Pakistani players celebrating their victory against India during T20 Asia Cup 2022 passed off as recent - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
September 5, 2023
After the Asia Cup 2023 cricket match between India and Pakistan on 2 September 2023 was abandoned (here and here) due to rain, a video of Pakistani players celebrating in their dressing room emerged on social media. These visuals are claimed to showcase the Pakistani cricketers celebrating the match’s cancellation. Let’s fact-check this claim through this article.
Claim: Visuals of Pakistani cricket players celebrating in their dressing room after the India vs. Pakistan Asia Cup 2023 match got abandoned due to rain.
Fact: This is an old video clip from 2022. The visuals show Pakistani cricket players celebrating their victory against India during a match in T20 Asia Cup 2022. Hence, the claim made in the post is False.
To learn more about the viral clip, we performed a basic keyword search on the internet, leading us to a tweet posted by the official Twitter handle of the Pakistan Cricket Board on 05 September 2022. According to the post’s description, this tweet contained a video showing the “raw emotions, the reactions and the celebrations” of the Pakistani players over their five-wicket win against India during the T20 Asia Cup 2022.
The raw emotions, the reactions and the celebrations 🤗
🎥 Relive the last over of Pakistan's thrilling five-wicket win over India from the team dressing room 👏🎊#AsiaCup2022 | #INDvPAK pic.twitter.com/xHAePLrDwd
This match took place on 4 September 2022. The viral clip is just a tiny portion of this 3-minute video. Clearly, this clip is being taken out of context, and a false narrative is built around it to say that these visuals show Pakistani players celebrating the cancellation of their Asia Cup match against India on 2 September 2023.
To sum up, this video does not show Pakistani cricket players celebrating the abandonment of their match against India on 2 September 2023. This is an old video from last year’s Asia Cup.

created: September 5, 2023


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A video of protestors at the Ohio Statehouse is being falsely shared as ‘Protestors storming into the White House’ - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
June 4, 2020
A video is being widely shared on Facebook claiming that it shows protestors storming into the White House in Washington, D.C.  Massive protests are being held across the United States after the death of an African-American George Floyd due to the excessive use of force by a police officer in Minneapolis. Let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Video of protestors storming into the White House.
Fact: The video shows people protesting George Floyd’s Death at the Ohio statehouse, not at the White House. So, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When the screenshots of the video were subjected to reverse image search technique, many search results were obtained about the protests at Ohio Statehouse. Those results can be seen here and here. So, on comparing the Ohio Statehouse building images with that of the building in the viral video, it was confirmed that the building in the video is Ohio Statehouse, not the White House as is being claimed in the post. More images of Ohio Statehouse on ‘Shutterstock’ photo library can be seen here. A news report regarding the protests at Ohio Statehouse can be read here.
When searched with text in the post, various news reports were found which said that hundreds of protestors had gathered outside the gate of the White House and the US Secret Service agents had rushed President Donald Trump to the underground bunkers for safety.
To conclude, a video of protestors attacking Ohio Statehouse is being falsely shared as ‘Protestors storming into the White House’.
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A video of Punjab education minister Harjot Singh Bains being detained by Police is falsely shared as that of Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 2, 2024
A video (here, here and here) is currently circulating on social media platforms claiming to show the Chief Minister of Punjab, Bhagwant Mann, being detained by Delhi Police. We will fact-check this claim through this article.
Claim: The visuals show Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann being detained by Delhi police.
Fact: The individual in the viral video is actually Harjot Singh Bains, the Education Minister of Punjab, not the CM Bhagwant Mann. Hence, the claim made in the post is rated as False.
To check the veracity of the claim, a reverse image search was performed on keyframes from the viral video. This led to news reports (here, here and here) containing the same video but identifying the person in the yellow turban as the Education Minister of Punjab, Harjot Singh Bains, not Bhagwant Mann. Reports suggest that Bains was arrested by Delhi Police while en route to meet the family of Delhi CM Kejriwal following his arrest.
This same video was also posted by the official, verified Facebook page of the Aam Aadmi Party, further confirming the identity of the detained individual as Harjot Singh Bains, who also tweeted about his detention.
I have been detained by Delhi Police and being taken to unknown place.
I was peacefully protesting against politically sponsored arrest of Arvind Kejriwal ji while paying my homage to Shaheed-E-Azam Shaheed Bhagat Singh ji, Sukhdev ji, Rajguru ji on their martyrdom day at…
To sum up, despite the social media claims, the individual shown in the video is not Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, but Punjab Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains.


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A video of Shah Rukh Khan's doppelganger dancing at a wedding is passed off as the actor himself dancing - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
February 1, 2023
A social media post shares a video allegedly of Shah Rukh Khan dancing at a wedding. The post claims that he performed at the wedding for money because he blew up around 500 crore rupees on his film Pathaan. Let’s fact-check this claim through this article.
Claim: A video of Shah Rukh Khan dancing at a wedding.
Fact: The person in the video is a look-alike of Shah Rukh Khan; his name is Quadr Ibrahim. Ibrahim posted a longer version of him performing the song ‘Ghunghte Mein Chanda hai‘ on his social media accounts. Hence the claim made in the post is False.
To learn more details about the viral video, we searched the internet with relevant keywords. This led us to a YouTube short video titled ‘PATHAAN in the HOUSE. SRK Ka Humshakal(look-alike) Dances on Ghunghte Mein Chanda Hai.’ This is the longer version of the video, which is in the viral post.
Based on this hint, we refined our keywords and searched the internet again, which led us to a YouTube video uploaded on a channel named ‘IBRAHIM QADRI.‘ This video is a longer version of the viral video.
Ibrahim is a look-alike of Shah Rukh Khan, who makes reels to SRK’s songs and videos of his performances at various events. One can see his photos and video on his Facebook and Instagram handles.
To sum up, a video of Shah Rukh Khan’s doppelganger dancing at a wedding is passed off as the actor himself dancing.

created: February 1, 2023


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A video of Siddaramaiah and D.K. Shivakumar at an Iftar party from 2022 is falsely shared as visuals of them celebrating Election Victory in Muslim Attire - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
June 7, 2023
A video of Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar eating food at an Iftar party is being shared on social media, accompanied by a claim that they are celebrating their victory in the recently held assembly elections while donning Muslim attire, described as their new uniform. This fact-check article examines the veracity of this claim to determine the truth behind the viral video.
Claim: A video circulating on social media shows Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar celebrating their victory in the recently held assembly elections while dressed in Muslim attire.
Fact: The video actually shows them attending an Iftar party in April 2022, as confirmed by the banner in the background and news reports from that time. It does not show them celebrating their election victory or wearing new uniforms. Hence, the claim made in the post is False.
Upon careful examination of the video, a banner behind the Congress leaders reads “Dawat-e-Iftaar,” indicating that they are attending an Iftar party. Iftar parties are typically held during the month of Ramadan to break the daily fast.
To gather more information, we conducted an internet search using relevant keywords, which led us to a video published by OneIndia Kannada on 16 April 2022, which visually matched the viral video from the 52 Sec timestamp. The video’s title, translated to English, is “This is how Siddaramaiah and DK were seen at the Iftar party.” Additionally, a few news reports (here and here) from April 2022 featured images from the same Iftar party held at Palace Ground in Bengaluru.
Based on this evidence, it is clear that the viral video does not depict Siddaramaiah and D.K. Shivakumar celebrating their victory in the recently held assembly elections or donning new uniforms. Instead, it shows them attending an Iftar party in April 2022.
To sum up, the claim circulating on social media suggesting that the video shows Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar celebrating their election victory while dressed in Muslim attire is false.


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A video of Surat locals searching for diamonds on the road is being shared with a misleading claim - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
September 29, 2023
A video circulating widely on social media platforms shows people picking up something from the road. The claim accompanying the video asserts that these people have joined a scavenger hunt after a Diamond trader in distress due to plummeting exports threw away a diamond on the road. The video and its claim are connected to the current plight involving the diamond industry in Surat, influenced by the Russia-Ukraine war (here). Here is a fact-check about this claim.
Claim: Locals in Surat are collecting diamonds from the street thrown by a distressed diamond trader due to a decline in exports.
Fact: According to local authorities, someone dropped a bag of American diamonds (imitation stones) on the street, causing the crowd to gather and scavenge. This event was unrelated to any crisis in the diamond market. Therefore, the claim made in the post is Misleading.
Our investigative process started with an internet query using keywords related to the claim. We were directed to numerous news reports (here and here) about this incident.
As per a LiveMint report, this event occurred in Surat’s Mini Bazar in the Varachha area. The local populace began searching for diamonds on the road after hearing that a local businessman had accidentally disposed of diamonds worth crores on the street. However, it was later revealed that these were American diamonds, typically used in imitation jewellery.
Alpesh Gabani, a police inspector from Varachha P.S, shared insights about the incident with BoomLive. He confirmed that an individual had dropped a bag of American diamonds, leading to the ensuing commotion and spreading rumours. He also clarified that this incident is irrelevant to any diamond market crisis.
Through our fact-checking process, we have determined that the claim spreading on social media about Surat locals picking up real diamonds from the streets is misleading. The diamonds were imitation stones, and the incident was not linked to any decline in the diamond trade.
To sum up, the video and associated claim concerning Surat locals frantically searching for diamonds on the streets, aree misleading.

created: September 29, 2023


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A video of the collapse of Guwahati airport roof is falsely shared as being from Ayodhya airport - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 8, 2024
A video (here, here and here) is gaining traction on social media, purporting to show a roof collapse at the recently built Ayodhya airport. In the video, water can be seen leaking from the roof of a building and eventually causing the ceiling to cave in. We fact-check this claim through this article.
Claim: The viral video shows the roof of Ayodhya Airport leaking water and eventually collapsing.
Fact: The video is, in fact, of a roof collapse at Guwahati airport in Assam, which occurred in March 2024, not Ayodhya airport. Therefore, the claim made in the post is False.
To verify the origins of the viral video, we conducted an in-depth internet search using the relevant keywords. Our investigation revealed that the video was actually filmed (here, here and here) at Guwahati Airport in Assam, not Ayodhya.
Moreover, there have been no reported incidents of any kind of structural damage at Ayodhya Airport, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Modi on 30 December 2024.
The viral video, on the other hand, depicts a roof collapse at the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport in Guwahati, Assam. This incident occurred following a storm accompanied by heavy rain on 31 March 2024.
This makes it clear that the video has been incorrectly attributed to Ayodhya Airport when, in reality, it shows an incident that took place at Guwahati Airport.
To sum up, the video showing a roof collapse is not from Ayodhya Airport, as claimed in the viral post, but from Guwahati Airport.


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A video showing protests against the arrest of Vlogger Bhana Sidhu is shared as visuals of the farmers' protest march to Delhi - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
February 14, 2024
Punjab farmers initiated their ‘Delhi Chalo’ march on 13 February 2024, following inconclusive talks with the government regarding their demands, including a legal guarantee for Minimum Support Price (MSP). It is in this context that a video is circulating on social media, claiming to be from this recent farmers’ movement, depicting individuals on tractors breaking police barricades. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: The video shows Punjab farmers breaking barricades and heading to Delhi on tractors as part of the ‘Delhi Chalo’ movement in February 2024.
Fact:  The visuals are of the Protesters, expressing dissent over the police cases against social activist and vlogger Bhana Sidhu. People rallied towards Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s residence in Sangrur on 3 February 2024. This video has nothing to do with the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march that started on 13 February 2024. Hence, the claim made in the post is False.
On conducting a reverse image search using the keyframes of the viral video, we found a similar video posted on the Gemm TV Facebook page on 3 February 2024, with the title ‘Young individuals arrived with tractors to Join the protest in support of Bhana Sidhu. They removed the barricades and began moving forward. This situation resembles the farmers’ movement!’ in Punjabi. After comparing the visuals of both videos, it was confirmed that they both documented the same incident.
On performing a relevant keyword search, we came across a news report published by BBC Punjabi on 3 February 2024, stating that ‘Protesters, expressing dissent over the police cases against social activist Bhana Sidhu, rallied towards Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s residence in Sangrur.’ Likewise, a video was found on Pro Punjab TV Canada where scenes like the viral video are observed.
As per news reports, Bhagwan Singh alias Bhana Sidhu, a social activist and vlogger, was arrested in January on charges of extorting an immigration agent based in Ludhiana (here and here). On 12 February 2024, he was granted bail by Mohali court.
To sum up, a video showing a protest against the arrest of Vlogger Bhana Sidhu is shared as visuals of the farmers’ protest march to Delhi in February 2024.

created: February 14, 2024


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A video taken at least half-a-decade ago is being shared in the context of recent border standoff between India and China - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 28, 2020
A video of an argument between Indian and Chinese troops is being shared as a live video on social media in the context of recent border tensions between the two countries. Let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Recent video of Indian Army stopping the Chinese soldiers from entering the Indian territory.
Fact: The same video was found to exist on the internet at least since 2015. So, it is not related to any recent border standoff between the two countries. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When the screenshots of the video were run through Google Reverse Image Search, many similar videos were found in the search results. The same video was uploaded by ‘India Today’ on YouTube in July 2017 with the title – ‘Fresh Video Of Faceoff Between India-China’.
But it was also found that the same video was included in an article published by ‘NDTV’ in 2015. In the description, it was written – ‘This is part of a video of a tense standoff that the Army says took place more than two years ago’. While FACTLY could not independently verify the context and the exact time of the video, it can be concluded that the video is not related to the recent events at the border between the two countries.
To sum it up, a video taken at least half-a-decade ago is being shared in the context of recent border standoff between India and China.
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A video taken in 2016 falsely shared as ‘MLA Waris Pathan threatening Police to open a mosque during the lockdown’ - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 29, 2020
A video is being widely shared on social media with the claim that it shows Byculla (Maharashtra) MLA Waris Pathan threatening Police to open a mosque during the existing lockdown. In the video, Waris Pathan asks Police personnel not to shut mosque and loudspeaker and allow people to offer namaz. But, FACTLY has found the video to be of an incident in 2016. An argument erupted between the then Byculla MLA Waris Pathan and local Police over the volume of a loudspeaker in a mosque in Byculla. Waris Pathan has also posted the same video on his Facebook account on 14 November 2016. Waris Pathan lost in the Assembly elections of 2019 and he is no more the MLA representing Byculla.
Sources:
Claim – Facebook post (archived)
Fact –
1. YouTube video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyIwTdE3HTE
2. Waris Pathan FB Post – https://www.facebook.com/warispathanmla/videos/590189821170339/?v=590189821170339
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A video that predates the 8 February 2024 Haldwani clashes is being falsely misattributed to it. - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
February 13, 2024
A video of a police lathi charge on a mob is being shared on social media, claiming that the incident occurred in Haldwani, Uttarakhand. This is being linked to the clashes that erupted between police and locals following the demolition of a madarsa and a mosque by the Haldwani Municipal Corporation as an anti-encroachment measure. This incident happened on 8 February 2024. Through this article, we will fact-check this claim.
Claim: This video shows police lathi charging a mob in Haldwani, Uttarakhand, during a clash after a madarsa and a mosque were demolished in an anti-encroachment drive.
Fact: The viral video predates the events in Haldwani and shows police handling a crowd in the Ghatkopar area of Mumbai following the arrest of an Islamic preacher. Hence, the claim made in the post is False.
To verify this claim, we performed a reverse image search on the internet using keyframes from the viral video. We discovered several social media posts (here and here) that contained the same video uploaded before 8 February 2024, when the clashes in Haldwani erupted.
हिंदुओ को #कुत्ता बोलने वाले मौलाना  मुफ्ती सलमान अजहरी को गुजरात एटीएस ने उसके उसके घाटकोपर के घर से उठाया और उसके समर्थन में उसको छुड़ाने का प्रयास कर रहे उनका भी हाल देख लीजिए 😊
warning:- violence pic.twitter.com/2M1GHGLxhS
According to these posts, the incident took place in Ghatkopar, Mumbai. Further internet searches confirmed this and led us to news reports (here and here) about an incident in Ghatkopar where hundreds of people gathered outside a police station. This crowd attempted to stop the Gujarat anti-terror squad from taking Islamic preacher Mufti Salman Azhari, who had been arrested on charges of hate speech, to Gujarat.
Although news reports did not feature the viral video, the video predates the Haldwani clashes and matches the visuals from the Ghatkopar incident. You can view the related news reports and videos here and here. Aditionally, you can find reports related to the lathi charge that took place in Haldwani after the demolition of the madarsa here and here.
To sum up, the video being shared as a lathi charge in Haldwani, Uttarakhand, is from an unrelated incident in Ghatkopar, Mumbai.

created: February 13, 2024


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Unrelated video is shared as an IDF soldier applying pig fat to a bullet during Israel-Hamas war - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
October 16, 2023
A video is being shared claiming that Israeli soldiers are greasing bullets with pig fat. The post calls this a smart way to deal with Muslims. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Israeli soldiers greasing bullets with pig fat during Israel-Hamas war.
Fact: While there is no credible information on the details of the video, the uniform worn by the soldier in the video does not resemble that of an IDF soldier. The soldier’s headgear is similar to that of Ukrainian army.  There are reports of Ukrainian Azov fighters greasing bullets with pig fat to use against Muslim Chechens during the war with Russia. It is also to be noted that both Judaism and Islam have prohibited pork and its products. Moreover, by the time this video is shared, Israel’s defense forces were not yet ready for ground invasion in Gaza territory. Hence, the claim made in the post is Misleading.
On conducting a reverse image search of the keyframes of the video, we did not find any credible source mentioning the details of the video. A search with relevant keywords also did not yield any credible reports on Israeli soldiers greasing bullets with pig fat during Israel-Hamas war. However, we came across old videos and posts that show Ukrainian Azov fighters greasing bullets with pig fat to use against Muslim Chechens who were deployed in Ukraine (here, here, and here).
Azov fighters of the National Guard greased the bullets with lard against the Kadyrov orcs👊
Бійці Азова Нацгвардії змастили кулі салом проти кадировських орків👊
Підписуйтесь на наш телеграм канал https://t.co/SBQltMr4bM pic.twitter.com/A1ci7tZL8r
Based on this information, we compared the uniforms worn by Ukrainian soldiers and Israeli soldiers. We found that the IDF gear (here and here) looks different from what is worn by the person in the viral video
Further, We observed that the Ukrainian army has a similar front mount to their helmet as the person’s helmet in the viral video (here and here). Based on this evidence, it seems more likely that the viral video originated from Ukraine rather than Israel.
In subsequent research on war tactics employed by the IDF forces, we found the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and the National Library of Medicine mentioning that Judaism and Islam have prohibited eating pork and its products. In Judaism, pork is considered non-kosher and is prohibited for consumption. In Islam, the predominant religion in Palestine, pork is also considered haram and thus prohibited.
Moreover, by the time this video was shared on social media, Israel’s Defence forces were not ready for the ground invasion of Gaza territory. They were confined to mere drone and missile attacks. We found that the video was first published by a Telegram channel on 11 October 2023. Israel is ready to deploy ground forces only on 15 October 2023 (here and here).
To sum up, an unrelated video is shared of an IDF soldier applying pig fat to a bullet during the Israel-Hamas war.
Update (17 October 2023): This article is updated to include comparison visuals of the soldier’s uniform in the viral video with that of IDF and Ukrainian soldiers.

created: October 16, 2023


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A walk down the memory lane - HMT Watches
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
January 7, 2016
Hindustan Machine Tools (HMT) was established by Government of India in 1953 as a machine tools manufacturing company with this Headquarters in Bangalore. This timeline is made by Factly.

created: January 7, 2016


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Aadhaar enrolment is a continuous process; rumours about government halting it after October 1 are false - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
October 12, 2022
An Instagram post is being widely shared claiming that the Government of India will not issue new Aadhaar cards for persons older than 5 years from 01 October 2022. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Government of India will stop issuing new Aadhaar cards for persons older than 5 years from 01 October 2022.
Fact: UIDAI and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) have not issued any such order to stop new Aadhaar enrolments. Further, Minister of State for MeitY clarified that the enrolment for Aadhaar is a continuous process in the country. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
We searched the internet with relevant keywords and found no such news reported by media outlets. Also, there were no notifications/circulars regarding this claim in UIDAI and MeitY websites.
Moreover, in February 2022, when asked whether the process of issuing Aadhaar cards to the citizens of the country has been completed or not, the Minister for State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajiv Chandra Sekhar answered that considering the birth of children every year and left out population of other age groups, the requirement for new enrolment for Aadhaar is a continuous process.
To sum it up, enrolment for Aadhaar is a continuous process. Indian Government has not taken any such decision to stop issuing new Aadhaar after 01 October 2022.

created: October 12, 2022


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Advertisements issued for publicizing that Aadhaar is not mandatory actually promote Aadhaar - Factly
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
January 9, 2016
The UIDAI spent a total of 142 crore till date on publicity to promote Aadhaar enrollments. The UIDAI also spent 7.82 crore rupees following the Supreme Court directions to publicize that obtaining Aadhaar is not mandatory. But the advertisements issued by UIDAI actually promote Aadhaar in the guise of publicizing that obtaining Aadhaar is voluntary.
So how much did the UIDAI spend so far on publicity to promote Aadhaar? According to the data provided in response to a RTI application, UIDAI spent a total of 142.14 crore rupees (till November 2015) on publicity of Aadhaar asking people to enroll. So how does this amount compare to the amount spent by UIDAI following the recent Supreme Court directions?
The Supreme Court recently directed the Government (UIDAI) to give wide publicity in the electronic and print media including radio and television networks that it is not mandatory for a citizen to obtain an Aadhaar card.
The Supreme Court was dealing with a bunch of petitions filed against the government’s push to make Aadhaar mandatory and its use for various schemes. While the bench referred the issue of ‘Right to Privacy’ being a fundamental right or not to a larger bench, it passed orders making it clear that Aadhaar cannot be made mandatory. The Court said that Aadhaar is not mandatory for citizens and the government should give wide publicity to this extent. It also said that the production of Aadhaar will not be a condition for obtaining any benefits from the Government. Aadhaar will not be used for any purpose other than PDS, LPG etc.
The UIDAI spent 18.6 crore in 2010-11. It spent the highest the following year (34.98 crore). In 2012-13, it spent 29.43 crore and 31.82 crore in 2013-14. In 2014-15, it spent 22.85 crore. In 2015-16, it spent only 4.46 crore till November 2015.
Following the SC directions, the UIDAI released a spate of advertisements on print, electronic and outdoor media. As per the response to the RTI application, UIDAI spent a total of 7.82 crore in publicizing that Aadhaar is not mandatory.
This translates to around 5.5% of the amount spent on publicity to promote Aadhaar enrollments. While the amount spent looks high, there is a catch. The advertisements issued for publicizing that Aadhaar is not mandatory actually promote it.
The advertisements issued by the UIDAI while mentioning that it is not mandatory for a citizen to obtain an Aadhaar Card highlight that it is a lifelong identity and that it is the right of the common man. In other words, the advertisements issued actually promote Aadhaar in the guise of publicizing that it is voluntary.

created: January 9, 2016


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Aaj Tak did not telecast the news which said drinking alcohol or weed can cure COVID-19. - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
March 6, 2020
Some pictures of ‘Aaj Tak’ news channel’s telecast on TV are being shared widely on social media with a claim that drinking alcohol or weed can cure COVID-19. Let’s try to analyze the claim made in the post.
Aaj Tak channel telecasted a program that said drinking alcohol or weed can cure COVID-19.
Fact:  Aaj Tak channel did not telecast any program that said drinking alcohol or weed can cure COVID-19. The posted photos are taken from their fact-check episode. In the episode, they debunk the claim and conclude that neither a peg of alcohol nor weed can cure COVID-19. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When searched for the news telecasted by Aaj Tak on Coronavirus, the episode, from which the photos were taken, was found on the ‘Aaj Tak HD’ YouTube channel. In the video, it can be seen that they do not claim that alcohol or weed can cure COVID-19. They debunk the posts which say that alcohol or weed can cure COVID-19.
Any vaccine or medicine for COVID-19
No, as of now, there is no vaccine or medicine for COVID-19
Also, ‘World Health Organization Western Pacific’ has tweeted that ‘drinking alcohol does not protect you from #nCoV infection’
Another post (archived) claiming that ‘weed kills Coronavirus’ is being shared virally on social media. Vivek Agnihotri has also tweeted (archived) the same on his Twitter account.
There is no evidence that weed kills Coronavirus. The picture was taken from a website where memes are created and posted.
To sum it up, Aaj Tak did not telecast any program that said drinking alcohol or weed can cure COVID-19.
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‘Aaj Tak’ misquotes Amit Shah: He said, ‘53000 crore rupees into 41 crore bank accounts’ - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
June 1, 2020
A screenshot of Amit Shah’s interview with ‘Aaj Tak’ news channel is being widely shared on Facebook. In the ‘Breaking News’ template of the news channel, it is being claimed that Amit Shah had said, ‘53 crore rupees were sent into the bank accounts of 41 crore people’ (अमित शाह: ‘41 करोड़ लोगों के खातों में 53 करोड़ रुपए भेजें’). FACTLY has found that Aaj Tak news channel had misquoted ‘53 thousand crore rupees’ as ‘53 crore rupees’. During the interview, Amit Shah had said that 53000 crore rupees were sent into the bank accounts of 41 crore people. The same figures can be also seen in a tweet by Amit Shah. The visual in the screenshot where Aaj Tak had misquoted the numbers can be seen at 10:43:19 duration. Also, Aaj Tak has issued a correction regarding their mistake.
Sources:
Claim –
1. Facebook post (archived)
Fact –
1. AajTak interview – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkF5aYD442M
2. Amit Shah tweet –
https://twitter.com/AmitShah/status/1266787296134610944
3. AajTak correction – https://www.facebook.com/aajtak/videos/279229863224012/
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Aaj Tak’s fact-check video was clipped to falsely claim that Chinese PM said, ‘Quran is the only cure for COVID-19’ - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
March 9, 2020
A video clip of Aaj Tak news channel is being shared widely on social media with a claim that China’s Prime Minister has ordered to reopen all mosques and asked people to read Quran and offer namaz as it is the only cure for COVID-19. Let’s try to analyze the claim made in the post.
Aaj Tak telecasted a news in which the Chinese PM said, ‘Reading Quran and offering namaz is the only cure for COVID-19’.
Fact:  It is a clipped video of Aaj Tak’s fact-check. In the full version, it can be seen that Aaj Tak has debunked the claim and concluded that no such statement was made by the Chinese PM. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When searched with the keywords shown in the video, the full version of the video was found on the ‘Aaj Tak’ website. In the video, it can be seen that they have fact-checked a video with the same claim. They have debunked the claim and concluded that no such statement was made by the Chinese PM. Also, Aaj Tak has published a fact-check article on the same claim. FACTLY has also debunked the same video in the first week of February. The fact-check article can be read here.
Also, in the posted video, the photograph of Xi Jinping (Presidentof the People’s Republic of China) was added. While the claim talks about thePrime Minister, the video shows the photo of the President.
To sum it up, Aaj Tak’s fact-check video was clipped to falsely claim that Chinese PM said, ‘Quran is the only cure for COVID-19’.
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Aajtak tweet saying BJP apologised to Gandhi family in a court is digitally morphed - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
September 2, 2021
A post accompanying the screenshot of an alleged tweet by popular media house AajTak in Hindi, which loosely translates to ‘CBI could not find a single evidence of corruption against Gandhi family. Hence BJP apologised to Gandhi family in the court’. Through this article let’s fact-check the veracity of the tweet shared in the post.
Claim: ‘CBI could not find a single evidence of corruption against Gandhi family. Hence BJP apologised to Gandhi family in the court’- AajTak tweet.
Fact: AajTak has not made any such tweet. They clarified the same through a Facebook post. Further, there are no recent incidents of BJP apologising to the Gandhi family or Congress party in a court. If at all any such incident would have taken place in any part of the country, media would have reported it but we could not find any such reports. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
We could not find any such tweet on AajTak’s official Twitter timeline. Though tweets can be deleted, and the technical nuances make the image of the purported tweet look like a real tweet, there are high chances of it being digitally morphed because, if at all any such incident of BJP apologising to Gandhi family/Congress party in a court takes place in any part of the country, media would have reported it. But there are no such media reports. Hence, there is no reason for Aajtak to tweet about an incident which did take place.
Further, as the purported tweet went viral on social media, AajTak through a Facebook post clarified that the organization has not made any such tweet, and post rated the image as fake.
To sum it up, Aajtak tweet saying BJP apologised to the Gandhi family in a court is digitally morphed.

created: September 2, 2021


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Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) activist Ankita Shah portrayed as the ‘Toolkit’ case accused Nikita Jacob - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
February 16, 2021
A photo is being shared on social media claiming it as the picture of ‘Toolkit’ case accused Nikita Jacob with Delhi Chief Minister Aravind Kejriwal. The Delhi Police issued an arrest warrant against the Mumbai-based activist Nikita Jacob, alleging her involvement in the controversial ‘Toolkit’ application shared by the Sweden climate activist Greta Thunberg. The news articles published on Greta Thunberg’s Toolkit case can be read here and here. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Photo of ‘Toolkit’ case accused Nikita Jacob along with Delhi CM Aravind Kejriwal.
Fact: The lady standing beside Aravind Kejriwal in the photo is Aam Aadmi Party volunteer Ankita Shah, not the ‘Toolkit’ case accused Nikita Jacob. Ankita Shah shared this photo of her with Aravind Kejriwal in 2019. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
On reverse image search of the photo shared in the post, we found few social media posts sharing the same photo, with a similar claim. In a response to one such tweet, a user mentioned that the girl is Aam Aadmi party volunteer, Ankita Shah.
Abe wo ankita shah hai AAP ki volunteer 🤦🏻♂
When we searched for the photo using these keywords, we found out that AAP volunteer Ankita Shah shared the same photo on her Facebook and Twitter handles in 2019. In her Twitter bio, Ankita Shah mentioned herself as “Die Hard Fan !! Aravind Kejriwal !! AAP National Social Media Team!! India”.
Ankita Shah shared a post on her Facebook page, clarifying that her photo was falsely portrayed as the ‘Toolkit’ case accused Nikita Jacob. From all these pieces of evidence, it can be concluded that the girl in this photo is AAP volunteer Ankita Shah, not the ‘Toolkit’ case accused Nikita Jacob.
To sum it up, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) activist Ankita Shah is falsely portrayed as the ‘Toolkit’ accused Nikita Jacob with Delhi CM Aravind Kejriwal.

created: February 16, 2021


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Aamir Khan has clarified that he is not the person who is putting money in wheat bags - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 4, 2020
A piece of news that Bollywood actor Aamir Khan is helping the needy during the lockdown in a unique way by sending flour bags with cash in them is being shared widely on social media. But FACTLY has found the news to be fake. On Twitter, Aamir Khan himself has clarified about this. In his tweet, Aamir Khan has said that he is not the person who is putting money in the wheat bags. He said that the story is either fake or some person who does not want to get revealed might be making such donations.
Sources:
Claim – Facebook post (archived)
Fact –
1. Aamir Khan tweet – https://twitter.com/aamir_khan/status/1257165603678240768
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AAP government in Punjab did not cancel pensions for former MLAs and Ministers but announced ‘one MLA one Pension’ - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
March 25, 2022
Update (25 March 2022):The Chief Minister of Punjab, Bhagwant Mann has announced that the pension formula for Punjab’s MLAs will be changed so that MLAs will now be eligible for only one pension, and the money saved will be used to benefit the people of Punjab.
Today, we have taken another big decision. The pension formula for Punjab's MLAs will be changed. MLAs will now be eligible for only one pension.
Thousands of crores of rupees which were being spent on MLA pensions will now be used to benefit the people of Punjab. pic.twitter.com/AdeAmAnR7E
A social media post claiming that the Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab has taken a big decision of doing away with pensions for former MLAs and Ministers is being widely circulated. Through this article let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab has taken a big decision of doing away with pensions for former MLAs and Ministers.
Fact: There are reports about AAP government in Punjab is plannning at discontinuing the multiple pensions available for former MLAs. Instead, the government is mulling over the idea of ‘one MLA one Pension’. However, the government has not yet made any official statement or passed any orders in this regard. Moreover the concept of ‘one MLA one Pension’ does not mean a complete ban on pensions for former MLAs, but it intends to do away with multiple pensions for an individual. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
Google search yielded a couple of recent reports (here & here) stating that the AAP government in Punjab is mulling over the idea of one pension for one MLA. Most likely, these reports could have been the source for the viral claims.
As per the current policy, any former representative of the state assembly is entitled to multiple pensions for multiple tenures. Effective from 26 October 2016, any member who served as an MLA is entitled to receive a standard basic pension of Rs. 15,000 per month plus D.A. In addition to this, the member receives an additional pension of Rs. 10,000 a month plus D.A. thereon for every subsequent term, irrespective of tenure.
Recent reports suggest that owing to the financial burden on the state exchequer, the AAP government is mulling to implement ‘one MLA one pension’ scheme so as to do away with the multiple pensions.
However, it is noteworthy to mention that the government hasn’t yet made any official announcement or passed any orders in this regard. Moreover, the concept of ‘one MLA one Pension’ does not mean a complete ban on pension for former MLAs, but it intends to do away with multiple pensions for an individual replacing it with only one pension irrespective of terms & tenure.
Also, this is not the first time AAP is suggesting such measures. Even when they were in opposition, AAP made similar representations in this regard.
Lately, there has been a growing clamour across party lines in this regard. Members of BJP have also made such representations demanding one pension for one MLA. Elected & former representatives of the Punjab Legislative Assembly like Prakash Singh Badal, Jaswant Singh, etc. have decided to forgo the pensions and instead requested the state government to use this amount for the welfare of the people.
To sum it up, the AAP government in Punjab did not ban pensions for former MLAs and Ministers but mulling over ‘one MLA one pension’.


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AAP wins 2022 MCD elections with 134 seats; BJP, INC win 104 & 09 respectively - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 7, 2022
In the context of recently announced Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) election results for the year 2022, a video is being widely shared on social media claiming that BJP has won the election by securing 154 seats out of 250, whereas AAP and INC got 87 & 08 seats respectively. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: BJP has won the MCD 2022 election by securing 154 seats out of 250, whereas AAP and INC got 87 & 08 seats respectively.
Fact: As per the official data released by the Delhi State Election Commission, seats won by the contesting parties are, AAP- 134, BJP-104, INC-09, Others-03. Even though the video talks about the initial leads, the title, description, and thumbnail of the video say the BJP won the election by winning 154 seats. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
Though the video talks about the initial leads, the title, description, and thumbnail of the video say BJP won the election by getting 154 seats.  However, as per the Official date available on the Delhi State Election Commission’s ‘Nigam Chunav Delhi’ app, the seats won by all the contesting parties are AAP- 134, BJP-104, INC-09, Others-03.
Media outlets also reported the same figure.
To sum it up, AAP wins the MCD 2022 elections by getting 134 seats, whereas BJP and INC got 104 & 09 seats respectively.

created: December 7, 2022


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Analysis of Delhi Assembly Elections 2015 Results - Factly
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
February 11, 2015
The Delhi 2015 results are extra ordinary for many reasons. Not even in their wildest dreams, would the BJP & the Congress have dreamt of such drubbing. While the Congress was widely expected to lose and be content with a handful of seats, it is the BJP’s drubbing that left everyone shocked. The AAP wave was so powerful that even Kiran Bedi, the BJP’s Chief Ministerial Candidate lost from Krishna Nagar, the safest seat for the BJP.
Vote Share & Seats
This is the first time after 1977 that a party got more than 50% of the total vote in Delhi. The AAP polled about 54.3% of the total vote which is highest in the history of Delhi elections. The BJP polled 32.2% while the Congress was a distant third with just 9.7% vote. A 22% lead over BJP meant that the AAP virtually decimated both the BJP & the Congress by winning 67 of the 70 seats (more than 95% of the total seats) while the BJP had to be content with just 3 seats. The Congress drew a blank.
Record Vote Share for AAP & Record number of Seats
The 54.3% vote share is the highest in the history of Delhi elections. There have been only two instances in the history of Delhi elections where a party won more than 50% of the votes. First was way back in 1951 during Nehru’s time and the second time was during the Janata Party wave in 1977.
(In 1972, 1977 & 1983, elections were held to the Delhi Metropolitan Council established under the Delhi Administration Act, 1966. These elections were as good as assembly elections. Hence they are included in the Analysis)
What changed from 2013 to 2015?
Delhi has witnessed three elections from 2013 to 2015; two Assembly elections & one Lok Sabha election in 2014. The change in fortunes of the various parties is fascinating. While the Congress went into decline mode from 2013 to 2015, the BJP peaked during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections on the back of a national resurgence. The BJP lost more than 14% of the vote in 2015 compared to the Lok Sabha elections in 2014. Though it managed to get more or less the same vote share as in December 2013, the AAP went so far ahead of BJP that there was 22% difference in the vote share of AAP & BJP this time around. The AAP gained close to 25% vote share compared to December 2013 & 21% compared to the Lok Sabha election in May 2014.
As can be clearly seen, the Congress is in a continuous decline while the BJP peaked in 2014 and is went down in 2015. The AAP seems to be the only party that has consistently increased its vote share from 2013 to 2015.
The 2015 story
The elections in 2015 have thrown up a lot of surprises. In terms of vote share lost or gained compared to 2013 & 2014, AAP is the only party that has gained vote share both times.
Some highlights of the Delhi 2015 elections
Assets & Criminal Cases of newly elected MLAs
All the statistics are sourced from the website of Election Commission of India

created: February 11, 2015


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Abandoned Aircraft got stuck under the bridge while it was being carried by Truck - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
January 13, 2020
A video is being widely shared on social media with a claim that it shows an aircraft stuck under a bridge in Durgapur (West Bengal). It is also being claimed that the aircraft got stuck as the pilot mistook the motorway as the runway due to heavy mist. Let’s try to analyze the claim made in the post.
Airplane stuck under the bridge, in Durgapur (West Bengal), as the pilot mistook the motorway as the runway due to the heavy mist.
Fact: The aircraft was stuck under the bridge while it was being carried by truck. It was not being handled by the pilot. It was an abandoned India Post aircraft. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When searched on Google with the keywords ‘aircraft under bridge west bengal’, many news articles and videos regarding the incident were found in the search results.
In the ‘Times Now News’ article, it can be read that an abandoned India Post aircraft got stuck under a bridge in Durgapur (West Bengal) while it was being carried by truck. Other articles regarding the incident can be read here, here and here. So, the story that ‘the pilot mistook the motorway as the runway due to heavy mist’ is not true
To sum it up, an abandoned aircraft got stuck under the bridge while it was being carried by truck.
Did you watch our video on the 10 Most Ridiculous Fake News of the Year 2019?

created: January 13, 2020


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Abdul Hamid was awarded the Param Vir Chakra in 1965 - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
October 4, 2021
A post is being widely shared on social media claiming that the achievements of Abdul Hamid who received Param Vir Chakra for his actions during India-Pakistan war of 1965, are fake. The post even claims that the Congress party gave a wrong history and that the Patton tanks during the war were blown by Chandrabhan Sahu and not Abdul Hamid. Let us fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Achievements of Abdul Hamid who received Param Vir Chakra for his actions during India-Pakistan war of 1965, are fake.
Fact: Company Quarter Master Havildar Abdul Hamid received the Param Vir Chakra, India’s highest wartime gallantry medal on 10 September 1965 posthumously. Abdul Hamid is remembered for his dexterity of shooting down the ‘patton tanks’ in the 1965 Indo-Pakistan war. The official documents also list his achivements. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
According to the Gallantry Awards website of the Ministry of Defence, Company Quarter Master Havildar Abdul Hamid received the Param Vir Chakra, India’s highest military decoration. He received the award on 10 September 1965 posthumously. Abdul Hamid was part of the ‘4 GRENADIERS’ unit.
Param Vir Chakra is India’s highest wartime gallantry medal. It was instituted on 26 January 1950 and came into retrospective effect from 15 August 1947. 21 war heroes were awarded the Param Vir Chakra since 1947. Abdul Hamid was the 10 person to receive the award in 1965. The official government documents list his claims and do not dispute any of them. There is also no mention of a person named Chandrabhan Sahu in the list of awardees. The NCERT had developed a book, ‘Veer Gaatha: Stories of Param Vir Chakra Awardees’ in honour of the war heroes which lists the stories of these awardees.
In 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid a wreath at the Asal Uttar Memorial on the Amritsar-Khem Karan Road in Punjab and at the tomb of Company Quarter Master Havildar Abdul Hamid. Modi also tweeted that Abdul Hamid was awarded the Param Vir Chakra posthumously for his gallantry.
Paying homage to CQMH Abdul Hamid. He was awarded the Param Vir Chakra posthumously for his gallantry. pic.twitter.com/fkgdEGEiZu
Abdul Hamid was born on 01 July 1933 in Dhamupur, in Ghazipur district of Uttar Pradesh. He joined Grenadiers regiment of the Indian Army on 27 December 1954 and was later posted to the regiment’s 4th Battalion. Abdul Hamid is remembered for his dexterity in shooting down the ‘patton tanks’ in the 1965 war. He destroyed many enemy tanks, according to a tweet by the Prime Minister, ‘During this battle CQMH Abdul Hamid single handedly destroyed 3 enemy tanks & helped stop their offensive, inspite of being mortally wounded.’ According to the official citation of the Param Vir Chakra at least two tanks were destroyed.
An article about the history of the India-Pakistan war of 1965, on the Indian Army website, talks about the bravery of Abdul Hamid; there is no mention of Chandrabhan Sahu in this article.
To sum it up, Abdul Hamid was awarded the Param Vir Chakra in 1965, and his achievements are not fake.

created: October 4, 2021


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Abhishekam with thick turmeric water forms layer on the idol's eyes thus making them appear closed - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
January 2, 2023
Visuals of a priest performing abhishekam to idol of goddess Bhadrakali is being widely shared on social media claiming that whenever the abhishekam is done with turmeric water, the goddess closes her eyes. Let’s verify the claim made.
Claim: Visuals of Bhadrakali idol in Telangana closing its eyes during abhishekam with turmeric water.
Fact: Video shows idol of Goddess Bhadrakali at Bhadrakali Temple of Warangal, Telangana. The eyes of the idol remain normal when abhishekam is performed with low-viscous liquids like water, milk, and ghee. When thick turmeric water or kumkum water is used, the eyes appear to be closed due to the formation of a layer on the eyes. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
Reverse image search of the viral visuals revealed that the idol is situated in Bhadrakali Temple of Warangal, Telangana. We then watched the visuals of abhishekam performed on this idol using different substances on various occasions. At first, when water is used, there is no change in the eyes of idol.
Similarly, when abhishekam is performed with milk and ghee, one can see the watchful eyes of the idol.
However, when thick turmeric water or Kumkum water is used, one cannot see the eyes of the idol. The reason for this phenomenon is that these thick liquids form a layer on the idol’s eyes. So, it seems like the Goddess has closed her eyes. But, after pouring water, this layer is removed, and the eyes look normal again.
Similar cases of optical illusions from other temples can be seen here and here.
To sum it up, when abhishekam is performed with thick liquids, the eyes of the idol are not visible due to the formation of a layer on them.

created: January 2, 2023


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About 2.03 Lakh girls and women remained untraced by end of 2021, not 13.13 Lakh - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
February 25, 2024
A video featuring a man claiming that around 13.13 lakh girls and women went missing in India from the year 2019 to 2021 is being widely circulated on social media platforms. He further attributes this data to the Government of India. Through this article, let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: 13.13 lakh girls and women went missing in India between 2019-2021.
Fact: On 26 July 2023, in the Rajya Sabha, in response to a question about missing women, the government presented data on missing women and girls for the years 2019, 2020, and 2021 based on NCRB annual reports. Upon careful examination of these reports, we observed that these figures are cumulative and include untraced women and girls from previous years as well. Moreover, these figures only account for missing cases and not the actual number of women and girls still missing and traced, as a significant number of individuals were traced every year. This implies that these figures do not represent the true number of missing (untraced) girls and women. A total of 2,03,893 females remained untraced by end of 2021. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
To verify the authenticity of the viral claim, we conducted a relevant keyword search on the internet, leading us to several news reports (here, here & here) by prominent media houses. These reports stated that, according to the Union Home Ministry data tabled in Parliament in July 2023, a total of 10,61,648 women above 18 years and 2,51,430 girls below that age went missing between 2019 and 2021 across the country.
To learn more about this, we checked the Rajya Sabha reply by Ajay Kumar Mishra, Minister of State for Home Affairs, on 26 July 2023, regarding missing women in India. It is observed that the government, in its reply, has presented data on missing women and girls in the Rajya Sabha for the years 2019, 2020, and 2021, sourced from NCRB data.
Subsequently, we checked the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) and examined its annual reports on crime in India for the years 2019, 2020, and 2021. According to these reports, in 2019, a total of 82,084 girls (below 18 years of age) and 3,42,168 women (above 18 years of age) were reported missing. In 2020, these figures were 79,233 and 3,44,222, respectively. In 2021, 90,113 girls and 3,75,058 women went missing. Upon careful observation of these reports, we noted that these figures are cumulative and include untraced women and girls from previous years. Moreover, these figures represent only reported missing cases and not the actual number of women and girls missing, as a significant number of individuals were traced every year. Therefore, these figures do not accurately represent the actual number of girls and women who are missing (untraced).
NCRB also records the number of women and girls traced every year. According to NCRB reports, in the year 2019, 2,48,937 girls and women were reported missing. Out of these, 1,62,939 were traced in the same year, 60,010 females were traced from previous years, and 1,99,490 females remained untraced by the end of 2019.
In the year 2020, 2,22,395 girls and women were reported missing. Out of these, 1,52,020 were traced in the same year, 72,023 females were traced from previous years, and 1,99,612 females remained untraced by the end of 2020.
In the year 2021, 2,65,481 girls and women were reported missing. Out of these, 1,90,421 were traced in the same year, 70,857 females were traced from previous years, and 2,03,893 females remained untraced by the end of 2021. From all this information, it is evident that 13.13 lakh girls and women did not go missing in India between 2019 and 2021.
To sum it up, about 2.03 Lakh girls and women remained untraced by end of 2021, not 13.13 Lakh.

created: February 25, 2024


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23% of all IPC crime cases are disposed of by Police for ‘Lack of Evidence’
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
January 28, 2020
Police investigation is an important part of justice delivery system and the court judgments are largely dependent on the evidence submitted by the police. NCRB data from 2018 indicates that police filed the closure report in more than 23% of the cases citing lack of evidence.
Proper investigation of the crime and disposal of the case either through closure or transfer to courts for a trial is one of the prime responsibilities of the police. Delay in the investigation & filing charge sheet delays the entire trial process. The common notion amongst the public is that the police delays investigation in most cases. What does NCRB data say about the disposal of cases by the police? Here is an analysis based on the 2018 ‘Crime in India’  report of the NCRB.
What
happens after a case is filed?
Any case that is filed with the police is investigated and further action depends on the outcome of that investigation. The cases are either disposed of by police or continue to be pending with them (under investigation).
The disposal of a case by the police includes either closure of the case by filing a final report or by filing a charge sheet. All such charge-sheeted cases go to the courts for trial. The ones that are not disposed are still pending for investigation with the police.
Whilependency of cases in the courts is often considered to be a stumbling block intimely delivery of justice,  there aremultiple stages that a case has to pass through with the police before thetrial in the courts.  In this story, weanalyse the state of disposal of cases by the police.
Consistent
increase in Disposal & Pendency of cases under IPC
As per NCRB Data, around 31.42 lakh cases under various IPC sections were disposed of by the police in 2018. This is the highest during the five-year period of 2014-18.  During this period, even the number of fresh cases registered under IPC has increased every year. In 2014, there were around 28.51 lakh fresh cases which increased to 31.32 lakh cases by 2018.
In spite of this increase in the fresh cases, 2018 has for the first time recorded fewer pending cases at the end of the year compared to that of the previous year. During the five-year period (2014-18), number of pending cases at the end of year have been higher than the previous one. In 2014, 10.65 lakh cases under IPC were pending at the end of year which subsequently increased to 11.4 lakh (2015), 12.41 lakh (2016) and 12.49 (2017) lakh respectively. However, by  the end of 2018, there were fewer i.e. 12.39 lakhs pending IPC cases with police compared to 2017.
Thenumber of cases booked under IPC and disposed of by police increased from 27.28lakh in 2014 to 31.42 lakh cases in 2018.
Increase
in the share of  IPC cases where the
closure was done by police
Out of above 31.42 lakh cases under IPC that were disposed of by police in 2018, nearly 21.38 lakhs i.e. 68% of the cases were charge-sheeted and sent for trial. The remaining nearly 32% of the total IPC cases under investigation in 2018 were closed by the police and final report submitted. These 32% account for around 9.99 lakh cases.
Thenumber of IPC cases being charge-sheeted in 2018 is less than that of previousyear when in it was 21.47 lakhs. The share of the charge-sheeted cases fellfrom 72.87% in 2016 to 70.66% and 68.06% in 2017 & 2018 respectively.
Onthe other hand, the number of cases closed by the police by submitting thefinal report has not only increased in absolute numbers every year, but theshare also increased substantially.
In2016,  police filed the final report in 7.52lakh cases which increased to 8.87 lakhs and 9.99 lakhs in 2017 and 2018 respectively.During these three years even the share of such cases increased from 26.97% in2016 to 29.21% and 31.82%  in 2017 &2018 respectively.
23%
of the cases under IPC disposed due to insufficient or no evidence
Amajor portion of the IPC cases closed by police in 2018 , i.e. 7.35 lakh were closeddue to ‘Cases True but Insufficient Evidence or Untraced or No Clue’. i.e.nearly 74 % of all the cases closed by the police without a trial.
Apartfrom being a major part of cases disposed of by the police, the ‘lack ofevidence’ category also accounts for a sizeable portion (23.4%) of all the IPCcases disposed of by the police in 2018.
Theshare of cases disposed of by the police due to ‘lack of evidence’ hasincreased continuously over the last few years. This was 19.8% and 20.8% i.e.accounting to 5.7 lakh and 6.3 lakh IPC cases in 2016 and 17 respectively.
In2018, 1.01 lakh cases were closed as False reports while 1.35 lakh cases wereclosed as ‘Mistake of Fact/Law/Civil Dispute’.
Final
report filed by  the Police in most cases
of Theft and Robbery
The cases under various heads of IPC are concentrated at different stages of the police investigation process.  When analysed with respect to different crime heads, many interesting trends were observed.
Mostof the cases relating to ‘Hurt’, ‘Rash Driving’ etc are the still under policeinvestigation.
Out of the 6.8 lakh cases which are pending under ‘Hurt’ , 4.65 lakh cases are charge-sheeted and sent for court trial, while around 1.59 lakh cases are still under investigation.
‘Rash Driving on Public Way’ is another major crime head with nearly 5.37 lakh cases of which 4.03 lakh cases are charge-sheeted and rest are pending for investigation.
Rapeand Riots are other crimes where a major share is disposed of by police via chargesheeting.
Among the cases disposed of by the police, most of the IPC crimes account for a higher share of charge-sheeted cases. The cases relating to Theft, Robbery and Fraud are exceptions.
Approximately52% (1.38 lakh) of the cases relating to ‘Forgery, Cheating & Fraud’ arestill under police investigation, the highest such share for any IPC crimehead. Meanwhile, police have filed the final report in around 41% of the casesbooked under ‘Robbery’ and another 34% such cases are pending investigation.
Inmore than half of the cases i.e. nearly 57 % of the cases booked as ‘Theft’,police have filed the final report. Majority of them are the ones withoutenough evidence.
Higher
disposal rate for SLL crimes in 2018 compared to previous year.
In
2018, a total of 23.72 lakh SLL (Special & Local Laws)cases were under police investigation of which 19.41 lakh cases were new cases.By the end of the year, 19.65 lakh cases were disposed by the police with 4.06lakh cases still pending investigation. This is an improvement over theprevious year when 4.3 lakh cases were pending by the end of 2017.
The total number of SLL cases reported has drastically reduced from 2016 compared to the previous years.  This is because of a change in the kind of SLL cases being reported in the NCRB report.
Despitethe fall in the number of cases reported under SLL since 2016, the number ofpending cases were comparatively higher compared to previous years.
More
than 90% of the SLL cases are charge sheeted every year
Among the SLL cases disposed of by police in 2018, more than 90% are charge-sheeted and sent for court trial.  In 2018, out of the 19.65 lakh cases disposed of by police, 18.12 lakh cases were charge-sheeted while final report was filed in 1.46 lakh cases.
While the share of cases charge-sheeted is very high in the SLL cases, there is a gradual increase in the share of cases where the police has filed the final report. In 2016, such cases were 5.04% which increased to 6.83% and 7.44% in 2017 and 2018 respectively. A major portion of these cases was closed by the police due to lack of evidence.
Mostof the SLL cases fall under ‘Liquor and Narcotic Drugs related Acts’ and otherRegulatory & Enforcement acts like ‘Gambling Act’, ‘Electricity Act’ etc.
Increase
in the cases disposed of by the Police due to lack of evidence
A common trend across various crimes under IPC and SLL is the increase in the share of cases closed by the police without filing the charge sheet.  As highlighted earlier, police filed the final report (without filing a charge sheet) in bulk of the cases like ‘Theft and Robbery’ because of non-availability of evidence.
A higher share of cases which cause bodily harm like accidents, riots, rape, causing death etc are charge-sheeted by the police and sent for court trial.
Closure of cases for lack of evidence points to serious issues in the investigation process and with the investigative agencies. Factors like – lack of personnel, lack of resources etc could be influencing such increasing trends.
Analysis of the NCRB data to understand what could be causing delay at various stages of police investigation would be done in part-2 of this series.
Featured Image: IPC Crime Cases

created: January 28, 2020


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About 25% of the PM Ujjwala Yojana beneficiaries do not come back to refill their cylinders
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
August 9, 2019
The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana has been touted as one of the flagship schemes of the current government. Data suggests that close to 25% of the scheme beneficiaries have not come back to refill their cylinders.
Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala
Yojana, abbreviated as PMUY,is a flagship scheme of the current government aimed at encouraging the use ofclean cooking fuel (LPG) for domestic purpose concomitantly trying to safeguardthe health of women and children, by preventing chest congestion relateddiseases.
Promoting the use of LPG as an alternative to firewood, cow dung andcharcoal, the initiative has also been hailed by the World Health Organisation(WHO) for being a ‘decisive intervention to check the indoor health pollution being faced
by the women of the country’. The scheme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 01 May2016, in Ballia, Uttar Pradesh. Under this scheme, deposit free gas connectionsare provided to women from families belonging to ‘Below Poverty Line’ category.Assistance of ₹ 1600 is provided to those taking up new LPG connections comprisingsecurity deposit of 14.2 Kg cylinder and domestic pressure regulator; surakshahose; domestic gas consumer card and installation charges.
Since, its inception, the scheme has gained momentum and has met thetargets set by the Government, from time to time. Initially, the scheme wasformulated to benefit only certain groups as per the Socio Economic CasteCensus exclusion criteria and was later expanded to include all belonging tothe Below Poverty Line. Despite the increase in the number of connections, arethe ‘beneficiaries’ refilling their cylinders? Let’s find out.
By 2020, target is to
release gas connections to 80 million families
An annual target of 2 crore beneficiarieswas set by the government for each of the three financial years from 2016-17 to2018-19. During the same period, 7.18 crore connections were released i.e.,1.18crore connections more than the target. The current target is 8 croreconnections by 2020. The government has also stated that from 01 April 2014 to 01 June  2019, there has been a steady increase in thenationwide LPG coverage from 55.9% to 94.2%. Further, as per informationprovided by the government, 41% of the beneficiaries under PMUY are thosebelonging to the SC/ ST categories. The official scheme website shows that as on 05 August 2019, a total of 7.67 crore connections havebeen released under PMUY.
27.5% of the total
connections in the country are through PMUY
As on 01 July 2019, as per data provided by the government in the Lok Sabha, out of a total of 26.43crore LPG connections in India, 7.26 crore connections have been provided underPMUY. This constitutes 27.5% of the total LPG connections in India. Theproportion of connections availed through the scheme and the total number ofconnections can be seen in the following chart. Only the states where therehave been more than a million PMUY connections have been considered for thechart.
In the states of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, about 56.2% of the totalgas connections have been released under PMUY. Even in Odisha, the same standsat around 53%. These are the only 3 states where the percentage of PMUYconnections account for more than 50% of the total connections in the state.This is between 40% and 50% in four other states of Bihar, Meghalaya, MadhyaPradesh & Assam. The percentage for Uttar Pradesh stands at 35%.  In 13 States/UTs, the proportion of PMUYconnections out of the total LPG connections is less than 10%. In Delhi, Chandigarh,Daman and Diu and Goa, the percentage of connections under PMUY is less than 2%of the total connections.
75.4% of those who had opted for the scheme before
2019 opted to refill their cylinders
Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) reported that about 86% of the beneficiaries of the scheme who availedthe scheme more than a year back came back for refilling their cylinders. UntilMay 2019, 1.67 crore beneficiaries purchased refilled cylinders four times and1.45 crore beneficiaries went on to purchase refilled cylinders five times.
On the other hand, data provided by the ministry on the PMUY schemewebsite suggests that 75.4% of those who benefitted under the scheme before2019 went onto refill their cylinders at least once. The data further revealsthat 11.7% of the beneficiaries refilled thrice and 45.8% of them refilled morethan thrice. A total of 28.85 crore refills have been purchased by the beneficiariesby the end of 2018.  In the following chart,state wise number of connections installed under PMUY (more than 10 Lakhs) andthe number of people who have gone for refill in these states is plotted.
In every state, not everyone has refilled their cylinders. The percentage of refill (calculated as percentage of those who refilled at least once against the total number of connections under PMUY) is above 90% in Goa, Haryana, Delhi, Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Puducherry.  In 15 States/UTs, the percentage of refill is between 80 to 90%. It can be noted that in states like Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Assam, Meghalaya, Jharkhand, Tripura and Chhattisgarh the refill percentage is below 60%. In other words, more than 40% of the beneficiaries in each of these states did not come back for refilling. The year wise refill data is not available and reasons for such low refill rate are also not known. However, one factor that might be the reason for such numbers is the presence of forests in these areas making it easier to collect firewood instead of spending large amount of money on refilling gas cylinders. In almost all these states, the forest cover is more than 30% as per 2017 data.
24.6% of the
beneficiaries did not refill their cylinders at all
Meanwhile, 1.45 crore beneficiaries had not opted for refill till thedate of compilation of data (end of 2018). Together, they constitute 24.6% ofall the beneficiaries under this scheme till end of 2018. This has been justified by the OMCs saying that adoption to new cooking methods is a slow process since it involvesbehavioural change.  Further, they addedthat there are other factors also that influence this habit like frequency ofcooking a meal, food habits, price of LPG and ease of access to freealternative fuel such as cow dung, fuel wood, etc.
Provision to swap 14.2kg cylinder with 5kg cylinder
and increasing awareness to encourage beneficiaries
The PMUY has been criticised for the inability of the scheme to address the expenses incurred by the beneficiaries in refilling the cylinder. This discourages them from using LPG and so, they resume the use of hazardous fuels. In order to tackle this, the government has announced that in addition to the 14.2 Kg cylinders, people will also be allowed to choose 5kg cylinders. This will reduce the amount to be paid for refill at one go and simultaneously make the transportation and distribution of cylinders simpler in tough terrains. Another criticism of the scheme is the lack of awareness among people. Few of them, unaware of the ₹ 1600 financial aid provided by the government, ended up paying the whole amount at one go and many others did not avail of the interest free loans provided for the amount to be paid by the beneficiary. The government has encouraged OMCs to take measures such as advertisement through hoardings, audio visual media, SMS and education to overcome these problems.
More than 10 million
consumers have given up subsidised connections
Concomitantly, the government had started the ‘GiveItUp’campaign which encouraged those who could afford to give up their LPG subsidyso that it could benefit rural women. As per government’s estimates, the total savingsdue to this, in the financial year 2018-19 has been ₹ 2,930 crores.More than one crore people had given up their subsidy as per the Ministry’sstatement in the Lok Sabha as on 27 June 2019. The following chart shows thenumber of people who chose to give up subsidy in states that have the maximumnumber of PMUY beneficiaries.
Ministry data shows that a total of 1.03 crore individuals have given upsubsidy since the commencement of the campaign. Maharashtra has the largestnumber of people giving up subsidies (16.5 lakh) followed by Uttar Pradesh(12.6 lakh). These two states alone comprise of 28.2% of those who gave up. However,it is also true that many of those who give up subsidy also switch back toavailing subsidy. As of 01 April 2017, a total of 1.12 lakh people opted toswitch back to subsidies. The latest numbers are not available.
Featured Image: PM Ujjwala Yojana Beneficiaries

created: August 9, 2019


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About 5.6 crore Indians currently do not live in the State of their Birth
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
August 12, 2019
As per the recently released Census 2011
data on migration, close to 45 crore people currently do not live in their
place of birth. About 5.6 crore people currently do not live in their state of
birth.
In our story on migration in India for educational reasons, we looked at the statistics related to migrants in India who movedseeking better education opportunities. In this story, we take a look at thenumbers relating to those who were born outside their current place ofresidence, (with focus on inter-state migration) and attempt to identify some factorsthat drive this movement.
12.6% of the total migrants in India born outside their
current State of residence
According to the 2011 Census data on migration in the country, it is observed that, in India, out of the total population of more than 120 crores, close to 45 crore people were found to be born outside the place of enumeration or in other words, 45 crore people did not belong to their current place of residence by birth.
Out of the 45 crore people who were born outside their current state ofresidence, it is observed that 59.1% (26.4 crores) of them had moved within thedistrict after birth and about 27.1% (12.1 crores) moved within the state butto a different district other than the district of birth. Further, 12.6% (5.6crores) of them were born in other states than their current place ofresidence. The remaining about 53.63 lakh people, who constitute 1.2% of thetotal migrants by place of birth, are those living in India but born outsidethe country.
Uttar Pradesh has the largest number of out-migrants
followed by Bihar
Out-migrants are those who moved from one place to another within a country. For the purpose of this story, we define out-migrants as those who were born in one state but moved to a different state after birth.
In terms of the above definition, the largest number of out-migrants, asper the 2011 census were from Uttar Pradesh. Out of the 5.6 crore people whocurrently live in a different state than their state of birth, nearly 1.3 crorewere born in Uttar Pradesh. Following UP is Bihar where 79.5 lakh out-migrantswere born. The two states together comprise almost 38% of the total number ofpeople who currently live in a different state than their state of birth. Thisnumber from UP & Bihar corroborates the popular belief that a large numberof people from these two states migrate to other states in search of work &livelihood. Further, close to 80% of the migrants from these states currentlylive in urban areas, and most probably in large metros.
Out of the 5.6 crore out-migrants, North Indian states  of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab,Haryana, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, account for 36.4%. Theout-migration from North Eastern states is very low. The migrants fromNagaland, Tripura, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Sikkim, Manipur and Arunachal Pradeshtogether constitute only 0.7% of the All-India figure, largely because of thevery low population in these states. Assam alone accounts for 1.2% of the totalnational figure. The Eastern states of West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar and Jharkhandaccount for 24.4% of this figure while the Southern states of Kerala,Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh (including Telangana) account for only15.3%. On the other hand, Western states of Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Gujarat accountfor 15.3% somewhat similar to the South. The Central part of India comprisingof Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh account for 6.8% out-migrants.
The number of interstate migrants has reduced
to 12.6% from 13.8%
The census data of the last three decadesreveals that the percentage of interstate migration by birth increased from3.28% in 1991 to 13.8% in 2001 and then reduced to12.6% in 2011. In each of these census years of 1991, 2001 and 2011, a totalof  2.72 crores,  4.23 crores and 5.63 crores were inter-statemigrants by birth respectively.
About 55% of the inter-state migrants by birth are female
It is also interesting to note that among inter-state migrants by birth, 71.5% currently live in urban areas while the remaining 28.5% in rural areas, as per the 2011 census. Over the last three decades, one can also notice that in 1991, the scenario was entirely different. As per the 1991 census, 62.6% of the inter-state migrants lived in rural areas. This declined to 33.1% in 2001 and further down to 28.5% in the recently released census migration table of 2011. Settling in rural areas is more  preferred by those moving within the state.
The proportion of male and female migrants bybirth has been more or less consistent throughout these years. The total numberof females has always been higher than their male counterparts. The percentageof females was 55.5% in 1991, 53.5% in 2001 and 55.8% in 2011.
Data suggests that more
migration takes place in the working age
Based on the age group of the population,the following chart shows the distribution of the inter-state migrants inIndia.
Those in the age group of 35-59 yearsconstitute 37.3% of the total interstate migrants. This can be attributed tothe large age group range 25 years. Those in the age bracket of 25 to 34 years comprise 23.5%. Together,those in 25-59 age group constitute 61% of the inter-state migrants indicatingthat more migration takes place during the working age.
Socio- economic inequalities in various parts coupled with livelihood opportunities are the prime drivers of migration are across the country. While some parts of the country are plagued by under-development and poverty, economic growth and urbanisation are concentrated in & around a few cities offering greater opportunities of livelihood. These urban centers attract a large number of people from rest of the country.
Featured Image: Out-migrants in India