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Simulation video of ‘Antonov An-225 carrying Boeing 747’ shared as a real incident - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
March 26, 2021
A video is being shared on social media with a claim – ‘A Boeing 747 being launched from a cargo plane with one on top of the other, taking off while defying all odds’. While the video looks like a simulation, it is being shared on social media as a real video. Let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Real video of a Boeing 747 being launched from the top of a cargo plane.
Fact: It is not a real incident. It is a simulation video posted by a YouTube channel (‘Bopbibun’) with the title – ‘World’s Biggest Airplane Antonov An 225 Carry Boeing 747 (GONE WRONG) | X-Plane 11’. Both of them did not find a place in the last released 2020 list. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
When the screenshots of the video were run through Google Reverse Image Search, no proper information related to the video was found in the search results. So, when we searched with some relevant keywords (words which are written on the plane and in the post) on YouTube, similar videos were found to be uploaded by a channel with the name – ‘Bopbibun’.
On looking at the videos uploaded by the channel, the posted video was found to be taken from the video titled – ‘World’s Biggest Airplane Antonov An 225 Carry Boeing 747 (GONE WRONG) | X-Plane 11’. In the description of the video, it can be read – ‘This is only in the flight simulation. This situation is not real!’.
Also, in the ‘About’ section of the channel, it can be read – ‘I am not the pilot either an expert in aviation. I am just a guy who enjoy to play the flight simulators, therefore, my videos are only just for entertainment purpose.’
To sum it up, a simulation video of ‘Antonov An-225 carrying Boeing 747’ is being shared as a real incident.


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Simulation video of flying train is passed off as flying train unveiled in China - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
February 1, 2021
A post accompanying a video that shows a flying train landing on the tracks is being widely shared across social media platforms with a claim that the video shows a flying train that was inaugurated in Chedung city of China. Through this article let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Video showing a flying train which was inaugurated in Chedung city of China.
Fact: This is actually a simulation video uploaded on a YouTube channel that primarily uploads train simulation videos. However, China on 16 January 2021, unveiled a domestically developed maglev train prototype in Chengdu. As per the news reports the top speed of the train is 620 km/hr and will eventually be boosted to 800 km/hr. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
YouTube search with relevant keywords led us to a video which carried visuals similar to the one in the video. In this video, we can spot watermark of ‘DENDI KOMARA RAILFANS ID’. Also in the description, the link of the verified channel of ‘DENDI KOMARA RAILFANS ID’ is provided.
Further the link in the description led us to the verified channel of ‘DENDI KOMARA RAILFANS ID’ in which we can find a video uploaded on 11 August 2020, which carries visuals similar to the one in the post. The English translated version of the caption of the video reads ‘Train Down from the Sky (Game Only)’. Further, the video is described as, “Trainz Railroad Simulator 2019”, which is a video game as per their Facebook page. Similar simulation videos are posted on the page.
Further Google search with relevant keywords led us to a tweet by China Xinhua News, China state-affiliated media dated 16 January 2021 which shared a video of the domestically developed maglev train prototype which was unveiled in Chengdu, China. As reported by the South China Morning Post, the top speed of the train is 620 km/hr and will eventually be boosted to 800 km/hr. Videos similar to the one in the post might have surfaced after this event.
Superfast! A domestically developed maglev train prototype has been unveiled in Chengdu, China. The superconductor technology the train employs could make it faster and lighter than its peers pic.twitter.com/51waWPX66E
To sum it up, simulation video is passed off as flying train unveiled in China.

source: news-factly

created: February 1, 2021

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

author: Sai Krishna Muthyanolla


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Since Independence, every 'No-Confidence' motion taken up by the Lok Sabha was defeated except one - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
February 2, 2019
The BJP led NDA government faced its first ‘No-Confidence’ motion on 20th July 2018 and the motion was defeated with a huge margin. Data suggests that a total of 27 such motions were taken up since independence and every motion was defeated except one in 1979, when the motion could not proceed to the voting stage.
The BJP led NDA government faced its first ‘No-Confidence’ motion on 20th July 2018 and the motion was defeated with a huge margin. Using RTI, Factly obtained the data on all ‘No-Confidence’ motions since Independence.  Data suggests that every motion was defeated except one in 1979, when the motion could not proceed to the voting stage.
27 ‘No-Confidence’ motions in all
A total of 27 ‘No-Confidence’ motions were taken up by the Lok Sabha since independence. Two-third (18 of the 27) such motions were taken up between 1960 and 1980. The 3rd and the 4th Lok Sabha elections each saw six (6) such motions followed by four (4) in the 5th Lok Sabha.
The number of ‘No-Confidence’ motions has come down significantly in the last  three decades when only 5 such motions were taken up.  It has to be noted that not a single motion was taken up in the first 13 years after independence. The first ever ‘No-Confidence’ motion was taken up by the Lok Sabha in August 1963 when Jawaharlal Nehru was the Prime Minister.
Indira Gandhi faced 15 of these 27 motions
Indira Gandhi, who was the Prime Minister (PM) for 15 years faced more than half of all the ‘No-Confidence’ motions till date. Out of the 27 motions till date, fifteen (15) of them were taken up during her time as the PM. Lal Bahadur Shastri, who was the PM for less than 2 years faced 3 such motions. P V Narasimha Rao, who ran a minority government for full 5 years also faced 3 such motions. Manmohan Singh is the only PM who did not face any such motion though he was in office for 10 years.
A total of 22 different members of Parliament proposed these 27 ‘No-Confidence’ motions. Jyotirmoy Basu of the CPI (M) proposed the highest (4) of these 27 motions. A B Vajpayee & Madhy Limaye proposed two motions each. Sonia Gandhi also proposed a ‘No-Confidence’ motion in 2003.
Every motion except one is defeated
Out of the 27 motions till date, 26 of them went to the stage of voting. The government led by Morarji Desai resigned in 1979 even before the voting on the ‘No-Confidence’ motion proposed by Y B Chavan was taken up. This is the only occasion when voting didn’t take place. Of the remaining 26 occasions, 22 of them were decided by ‘Division vote’ while the other four were decided by ‘voice vote’.
Though all the 22 motions were defeated, the margins were very different. The closest ever voting took place in 1993 on a motion proposed by Ajoy Mukhopadhyay of the CPI(M) when P V Narasimha Rao was the PM. In this particular case, the motion was defeated by only a margin of 14 (251 for and 265 against). In terms of margins, 9 out of the 22 motions were defeated by a margin of more than 200 votes while 10 other motions were defeated by a margin between 100 and 200 votes. The remaining three motions were defeated by a margin of less than 100 votes.

created: February 2, 2019


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Singapore has not conducted autopsy on dead COVID-19 patients and declared COVID-19 as bacterium - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
June 21, 2021
A post is being circulated on social media with a claim that the Ministry of Health in Singapore had recently discovered COVID-19 as a bacterium after conducting an autopsy on the dead COVID-19 patients. This post claims that COVID-19 does not exist as a virus, but instead as a bacterium that has been exposed to radiation and causes death by coagulation in the blood. Also, the post claims that the Singapore Government authorities had changed WHO protocols and started giving Aspirin as a treatment for COVID-19 patients. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: The COVID-19 findings by Singapore’s Ministry of Health including the cure for the COVID-19 virus.
Fact: The Ministry of Health in Singapore had issued a clarification on this message circulating on social media. The Singapore Government clarified that the allegations made in the message are untrue and did not originate from the Ministry of Health, Singapore. Earlier, the same misleading message was attributed to the Health Ministries of Italy and Russia. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When we searched to check whether the Singapore Government had announced such findings on the COVID-19 virus, we found that the Ministry of Health in Singapore had issued a clarification on this message circulating on social media. The Singapore Government clarified that they had not performed an autopsy on COVID-19 dead patients and stated that they had not made such claims about the pathophysiology effects of COVID-19 infection. The Singapore Government further clarified that the message circulating on social media shares false information.
The Singapore Government had published a detailed fact-check article about this message. In the article, the Singapore Government stated that they had not made any resultant changes in the treatment protocols for COVID-19 patients. The Singapore Government had reiterated that COVID-19 is caused by the SARS-COV-2 virus. Further, they clarified that Aspirin has no direct effect on the virus that causes COVID-19.
The National Centre for Infectious Diseases in Singapore had mentioned COVID-19 as a virus and never mentioned Aspirin as one of the treatments for the COVID-19 patients. The World Health Organization (WHO) had also debunked this myth on COVID-19 being caused by bacteria.
Earlier, when the same misleading message was attributed to Italy’s Health Ministry, FACTLY published a fact-check article. It can be read here.
To sum it up, the Singapore government has not conducted autopsy on dead COVID-19 patients and declared COVID-19 as bacterium.


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Sir Ganga Ram hospital clarified that their letterhead prescribing preventive medication for COVID-19 is ‘fake’ - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
June 12, 2020
An image of letterhead in the name ‘Sir Ganga Ram hospital’ in Delhi, mentioning the medication to be taken to prevent the risk of being infected from COVID-19  is being shared on social media. The letter also states that, as per the ICMR guidelines, the contacts of COVID-19 positive cases would be put on ‘home isolation’ even if they have mild symptoms. But, ‘Sir Ganga Ram hospital’ has clarified that the image being shared as that issued on behalf of the hospital is fake, and that someone had forged the doctor’s signature. The hospital said it dissociates itself from such fake messages.
Sources:
Claim –
1. Facebook post (Archived)
Fact –
1. ‘Sir Ganga Ram hospital’ tweet – https://twitter.com/sgrhindia/status/1271114974199336960
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Kento Jini won a Legislative Assembly seat unopposed, not the Lok Sabha seat - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 19, 2019
A post is being shared on Facebook by some users claiming that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has opened its Parliamentary seat count by winning a Lok Sabha seat unopposed in Arunachal Pradesh. Let’s try to analyze the claim made in the post.
BJP candidate Kento Jini has won a Lok Sabha seat unopposed.
Fact: Kento Jini won an assembly seat (Alo East Constituency) unopposed, not the Lok Sabha seat. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When searched for the name of the candidate on Google, it can be found that Kento Jini has won the Alo East Constituency Assembly seat in Arunachal Pradesh unopposed. Ram Madhav, BJP’s National General Secretary, has also tweeted about this on his Twitter account. There are only two Parliamentary seats in Arunachal Pradesh and the BJP members contesting those seats are Tapir Gao (Arunachal East) and Kiren Rijiju (Arunachal West).
Also, the affidavit filed by Kento Jini can be found in the Alo East Constituency section of the ECI’s website, where it can be seen that he applied for Alo East Assembly Constituency. He was elected unopposed as nomination filed by his lone rival candidate (Minkir Lollen – Congress) was found invalid by the Election Commission. So, it can be concluded that the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Finally, Kento Jini won a Legislative Assembly seat unopposed, not the Lok Sabha seat.


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Sitemap - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 24, 2024


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'Slave I Remain' is not the full form of the word sir; Sir originated from an old french word, Sire - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
September 22, 2022
A post is being shared on social media which claims that the English word SIR is an acronym for ‘Slave I Remain’. According to the claim, ‘ the British, during their rule, wanted all Indians to address them as Sir.’  Let’s fact-check this claim through this article.
Claim: The English word SIR is an acronym for ‘Slave I remain’.
Fact: According to etymonline.com, a website that describes the origins of English words, the word sir originated from the old French word sire. Sire was placed before a name to denote knighthood. Sire originated from the Latin word senior, which means older or elder. It says that the word is not an acronym. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
We searched the internet to see if the English word sir is an acronym for Slave I Remain, but we could not find any relevant information. According to the Cambridge dictionary, sir is a noun which is ‘used as a formal and polite way of speaking to a man, especially one who you are providing a service to or who is in a position of authority.’ More definitions of sir can be read here and here.
We looked for the etymology of sir in etymonline.com, a website that describes the origins of English words, the word sir originated from the Old French word sire. Etymonline.com writes that sir is ‘Not an acronym of anything.’
Sire was placed before a name to denote knighthood. Sire originated from the Latin word senior, which means older or elder. The word sir does not mean slave i remain as claimed by the post.
To sum up, ‘Slave I Remain’ is not the full form of the word sir; Sir is originated from an old french word, Sire.

created: September 22, 2022


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Slums are Everywhere, Yet Nowhere - Factly
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 26, 2015
Slums are a manifestation of Urban Poverty in our country. There has been a 25% rise in the slum population from 2001 to 2011. 70% of the slum population lives in 6 states with Maharashtra contributing 18% of the total slum population of the country. Slums lack a lot of facilities extended to other parts of urban settlements and that is evident from the data released by the 69th round survey of the NSSO.
Slums are the most visible manifestation of poverty in urban India. Slums are everywhere and yet they are nowhere; everywhere because of rapid urbanization and yet nowhere because they are mostly not notified. These informal settlements occupy one-third of the large city spaces. As per the 2001 census reports, 41.6% of the total slum population resides in cities with over one-million population.
The slum population in the country has increased from 5.23 crore in 2001 to 6.59 crore in 2011. This rapid growth is because of the following among other reasons.
Six states contribute more than 70% of the total slum population in the country as per the 2011 Census.Maharashtra contributes more than 18% of the total slum population followed by Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu & Madhya Pradesh.
The Ministry of Statistics & Program Implementation (MoSPI) released the data for the 69 round survey of the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) on Urban Slums in India. The data released included some key indicators.
Any compact settlement with a collection of poorly built tenements, mostly of temporary nature, crowded together, usually with inadequate sanitary and drinking water facilities in unhygienic conditions, provided at least 20 households lived there, is considered a slum. Such a settlement, if not a notified slum, is called a non-notified slum. Both notified slums i.e. areas notified as slums by the concerned municipalities, corporations, local bodies or development authorities and other slums are part of the above figures.
A total of 33,510 slums were estimated to be present in the urban areas of India. About 41% of these were notified and 59% non-notified.
The data included key indicators on land, housing, drinking water, electricity, drainage, latrine, garbage etc.
The Govt. is implementing Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) as a centrally sponsored scheme, for providing houses along with basic civil and social infrastructure for slum dwellers and urban poor. Under the scheme, government provides central assistance to the extent of 50% to 75% with cost upper ceiling depending upon size of city
The erstwhile National Advisory Council has stressed that slum dwellers should be resettled at the spot where they are currently living. The rehabilitation of slum dwellers is under way under the Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation.
While many of the programs for Slum Dwellers are to be adopted by the state governments and designed to be facilitated by central governments, the reality is completely different. As per a planning commission study, almost 75% of slum households have not received any benefits from any of the governmental programmes designed to alleviate poverty.
The slums are not a manifestation of demographic shifts, but the result of the failure of land and housing policies, and of legal and delivery systems. The urban poor are trapped in an informal and illegal world of slums that are not reflected on maps, where waste is not collected, where taxes are not paid and where public services are not provided. Most of them officially do not exist.
Featured Image: Flickr | Thomas Leuthard


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Smoke and Fumes - Understanding the Forest Fire Numbers
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
January 11, 2017
The number of forest fires in India has seen a mixed trend over the last few years. Various reports and analysis suggest that we are long way away from tackling this problem
India’s forest cover is remarkably distinctive. Though the country accounts for less than 2% of the world’s total forest cover, it encompasses a diverse range of 16 major forest types and 10 biogeographic zones. This precious entity also disproportionately supports a burgeoning 18% of the world’s population and must offset the carbon emissions of the world’s third largest carbon emitter. It is therefore imperative for India to protect its forest cover and enlarge it. While attention is drawn to the umbrella issue of diversion of forest lands, little is known to the public about the ravages of forest fires. This piece provides an overview of the number of forest fires recorded by the Forest Survey of India between the years 2010 and 2016.
Forest Fires see a mixed trend
Forest fires in the Indian subcontinent were typically natural phenomenon caused by lightning and the circumstances of low humidity, high temperatures and dry vegetative cover. However, with mankind discovering fire and utilizing it as a tool to serve its own purpose anthropogenic reasons predominantly began to inflame forest fires. Over the past few centuries the ever-increasing demands of industry, urbanization, economy and society have led to the rampant incidence of forest fires and 99% of India’s forest fires are reported to originate due to anthropogenic reasons.
Most of these anthropogenic causes are typically attributed to communities whose socio-economic circumstances or cultural histories are closely tied to the forests. Therefore, the need for cattle fodder, collection of non-timer forest products, collection of tendu and mahua leaves, shifting cultivation, poaching, warding off wild animals and small-scale agricultural farming are generally cited as causes of forest fires. Additionally, pilgrim and tourist carelessness are cited as reasons. It is important to note that official records do not report the causes of forest fires and there is no precise data on the issue. Therefore, it is difficult to substantiate the claim that these are the most common causes of forest fires. It is also reported by some sources that forest fires are created to conceal illicit timber extraction and tree felling but there remains an absence of public data to substantiate this claim. Forest fires are occasionally believed to be used as mediums of protest restrictive government policies and by officials themselves to maintain grasslands for herbivores. Kindling or setting fire in reserved forests is prohibited by the Indian Forests Act, 1927 under which the offenders can be imprisoned for a maximum of 6 months or be fined up to Rs 500 in addition to compensating for the loss.
The number of forest fires in India saw a mixed trend in the last 7 years. From a high of 30947 fires in 2010, the number decreased to 13791 in 2011 only to increase to 29194 the following year. In 2016, the number of forest years increased to 24817 from 15937 in the previous year (2015).
The real time monitoring of forest fires is achieved by a collaboration between the Forest Survey of India and ISRO’s National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) whereby Indian Remote Sensing satellites provide systematic data on active fires and this information is disseminated to the local forest officials within 2 hours.
March & April account for 85% of all the fires
Of all the months in the last 7 years (2010 to 2016), March alone accounted for 57% of all the forest fires followed by April (29%). February & May together accounted for about 13% of all the fires while all the other months put together contributed to about 1% of all the fires.
Forest fires are repeatedly cited as majorly contributing to the depletion of India’s forests which function as invaluable carbon sinks. Additionally, forest fires release high emissions of carbon and aerosols into the atmosphere. They also result in loss of biodiversity, loss of vegetative cover which consequently leads to soil erosion and water run-off, loss of livelihood for dependent communities, alteration of soil composition, loss of timber resources, change in micro-climate, health issues, disturbance to wildlife and adverse changes in the regenerative capacity of forests. Thus, they amount to massive ecological and economic damage, although details regarding the same are not maintained by the government.
35% of the forest fires occur in the North-East
The North-Eastern states account for more than 35% of all the forest fires between 2010 and 2016. Mizoram accounted for 16818 fires during this period, the highest for any state in the country. Five north-eastern states are in the list of top 10 states that accounted for the highest number of forest fires during this period. Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh & Maharashtra are the remaining five states in the top 10. The top 10 states accounted for nearly 75% of all the fires in these 7 years.
Forest Fire Management
Forests are Entry 17-A in the Concurrent List (Seventh Schedule) of the Indian Constitution. The responsibility of forest fire management is shared between the Central and the State governments. While the Central government provides policy, technical support and finances, the implementation of programs and suppression of forest fires is the responsibility of the State governments. State governments also have the duty to restore the burnt forest areas through afforestation and other conservation methods.
The National Forest Policy of 1988 urges for the developing of capacities to deal with forest fires but  does not provide any substantial guidelines on forest fire management. The Draft National Forest Policy of 2016 states that “Adequate measures should be taken to safeguard ecosystems, map the vulnerable areas and develop and strengthen early warning systems and methods to control fire based on remote sensing technology and community participation”.
The Central government allocates funds to States and Union Territories under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme Intensification Of Forest Management to create fire lines, construct fire watchtowers, build water storage structures and implement other measures. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change also stated that it has formulated a contingency plan to coordinate during a major forest fire crisis.
However the state of forest fire management, which includes both mitigation and suppression, remains lacking. According to the National Institute of Disaster Management’s Forest Fire Disaster Management the lack of appropriate policy, institutional mechanism, scientific approach to data collection and management, funding, involvement of local communities, coordination, prevention and preparedness have hindered the capacity to manage forest fires.
The destruction of economic and ecological wealth by forest fires is an avoidable tragedy and deserves priority for forests and natural resources cut across all sectors of development.
Featured Image: Forest Fires in India

created: January 11, 2017


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Social media influencer Piyanka Mongia is still alive; this video informing Piyanka’s death in a car accident is fake - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 22, 2022
A video is being widely shared on social media claiming that TikTok star Piyanka Mongia passed away recently in an accident. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Social media influencer Piyanka Mongia passed away recently in an accident.
Fact: Piyanka Mongia is still alive, and this video informing about the death news of Piyanka is fake. Piyanka Mongia recently published a video on her Instagram and YouTube channels on 21 December 2022. Unrelated visuals of an old accident and the funeral procession of BJP leader Sonali Phogat are shared as the visuals of Piyanka’s death. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When we searched to check whether social media influencer Piyanka Mongia had passed away recently in an accident, we could not find any news report confirming this information. Several YouTube channels and many users in the comments section of the video clarified it as fake news saying Piyanka Mongia is completely healthy and did not die in a car accident. Piyanka Mongia, a social media influencer who has more than 8 million followers on Instagram, recently published a video on her Instagram page and YouTube channel on 21 December 2022.
In 2020, when similar news about her death were circulated on social media, Piyanka Mongia in a live video clarified the news as fake and said she had not met with any accident.
On reverse image search of the accident visuals shared in the video, we found the same picture in an article published by the ‘Times of India’ on 12 August 2018. TOI reported it as the picture of a chain collision of vehicles on an elevated corridor near Pitampura in northwest Delhi. Piyanka’s name was not mentioned in the list of eight people injured in this accident.
Also, the funeral procession visuals seen in the video shows the funeral procession of late BJP leader Sonali Phogat. A few more visuals of Sonali Phogat’s funeral procession can be seen here.  From all these pieces of evidence, it can be concluded that social media influencer Piyanka Mongia is still alive, and the video shared in the post shows unrelated visuals of an old accident and the funeral procession of BJP leader Sonali Phogat.
To sum it up, social media influencer Piyanka Mongia is still alive; this video informing  Piyanka’s death in a car accident is fake.

created: December 22, 2022


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Social media messages claiming that M S Dhoni and Virat Kohli have announced donations to Odisha Train accident victims are hoaxes - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
June 6, 2023
A few social media posts (here and here) claim that former Indian Men’s Cricket team Captains M S Dhoni and Virat Kohli have announced a donation of 60 and 30 Crore rupees respectively, to the victims of the tragic train accident that occurred in Odisha on 2 June 2023. Let’s verify these claims through this article.
Claim: Cricketers M S Dhoni and Virat Kohli have donated 60 Crore and 30 Crore rupees, respectively, to the victims of the Odisha train accident.
Fact: These claims are unverified. No credible media reports or official statements confirm the alleged donations made by M S Dhoni and Virat Kohli to the Odisha train accident victims. Furthermore, there are no posts on their social media accounts indicating any such donations. Hence, the claims made in these posts are False.
First, to check the veracity of these claims, we extensively searched for reliable sources to substantiate the claims regarding the donations. However, we found no credible evidence from reputable media outlets or official statements to support the assertions made in the social media posts. Additionally, no posts on either M S Dhoni or Virat Kohli’s social media profiles mentioned any financial contribution towards the Odisha train accident victims.
While it is true that Virat Kohli expressed his grief and condolences for the victims of the tragic accident through a Twitter message, he did not mention any specific donation. Therefore, the claims suggesting substantial donations of 60 Crore rupees by M S Dhoni and 30 Crore rupees by Virat Kohli remain unverified.
Saddened to hear about the tragic train accident in Odisha. My thoughts and prayers go out to the families who lost their loved ones and wishing a speedy recovery to the injured.
To sum up, the social media posts claiming significant donations by M S Dhoni and Virat Kohli to the victims of the Odisha train accident are unverified. No credible media reports, official statements, or posts on their social media accounts corroborate these claims.


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These Social Media posts and Websites offering Nataraj pencil/pen packing jobs are fraudulent - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 5, 2022
A post is being circulated on social media claiming that the Nataraj manufacturing company is offering pencil or pen packing jobs for work from home, with a salary of Rs. 30,000 per month. A purported website of Nataraj Pencils offering a similar job can be seen here. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Nataraj manufacturing company is offering pen packing jobs with a salary of Rs. 30,000.
Fact: Nataraj Pencils issued a statement cautioning the public not to fall prey to these fraudulent posts offering pen or pencil packing jobs in the name of their company. Nataraj Pencils clarified that Hindustan Pencils Private Limited, the manufacturing company of Nataraj pencils, does not provide any such pencil packing jobs and said that all details related to their recruitment process will be provided on their official website. Nataraj Pencils in a video emphasized that the pencil packaging process in their company is completely automated with the help of machines. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When we searched for relevant sources using the keywords on the internet, we found a video published by the ‘Nataraj Pencils’ related to these pencil packing job posts on social media. Nataraj Pencils through the video confirmed these posts as fake and cautioned people not to fall prey to such fraudulent posts or websites offering pencil packing jobs in the name of their company. Confirming these posts as fraud, Nataraj Pencils emphasised that the pencil packaging process in the company is completely automated with the help of machines and said there is no human interference in the packaging process of their products. The same video was also published on their YouTube channel in multiple languages.
Further, Nataraj Pencils said that all their recruitment information will be provided on the website of Hindustan Pencils Private Limited, the manufacturing company of Nataraj and Apsara pencils. The Nataraj Pencils issued a statement on 18 January 2022, stating, “Hindustan Pencils Private Limited is not giving any such pencil packing job work from home and we have not even authorized any person to collect any payment/cash deposit from any individual as a pre-formality for giving such packing work from home. We request/urge you not to share any of your personal details or documents like pan card, Aadhar card, driving license, credit card, debit card, CVV number, bank account details, ATM pin number, OTP number and/or any other details which are sensitive in nature to any unknown/anonymous person/s. The company is neither asking any amounts for giving such job work nor asking details or documents from anybody. All such ad- vertisements posted on social media network viz. Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp etc., are fake/- fraud/bogus Therefore, we urge everyone not to engage or apply. Please beware of this fake job postings and report them for fraud a  feedback@hindustanpencils.com.”
Several news websites published articles reporting these Nataraj pencil Packing jobs as a scam. They can be seen here and here.
To sum it up, social media posts and websites offering Nataraj pencil packing jobs are fraudulent.

created: December 5, 2022


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Social media speculates, but the UCC bill has not been introduced in the Rajya Sabha today - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
February 11, 2020
A post is being widely on social media with a claim that a bill related to the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) will be introduced in the Rajya Sabha on 11 February 2020. BJP had issued a whip, on 10 February 2020, asking all its members to be present in Rajya Sabha on 11 February 2020 to ‘support the government’s stand’. So, people started speculating that the government would be introducing a bill related to UCC. A photo of a ‘list of bills’ containing ‘The Uniform Civil Code in India Bill, 2020’ is also being shared to support their claim. Let’s try to analyze the claim made in the post.
Government to introduce the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) bill in the Rajya Sabha on 11 February 2020.
Fact: The UCC bill has not been introduced in the Rajya Sabha on 11 February 2020. The image going viral on social media relates to the business of private members bills on 07 February 2020 and has nothing to do with the government. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
In the photo of ‘list of bills’ containing ‘The Uniform Civil Code in India Bill, 2020’, the date can be seen as ‘6 February 2020’ and ‘Bills: To be introduced in the Rajya Sabha’ was written. When searched for the bills in the ‘List of Business’ documents of Rajya Sabha, in the revised ‘List of Business’ for Rajya Sabha proceedings on 7 February 2020, all the bills mentioned in the list can be found. It can be read that ‘The Uniform Civil Code in India Bill,2020’ was supposed to be introduced as a private member bill by Kirodi Lal Meena on 7 February 2020. More about the ‘private members’ bills’ can be read here.  All the bills mentioned in that image are private members bills that were to be introduced on 07 February 2020.
But, the ‘The Uniform Civil Code in India Bill,2020’ was not introduced in Rajya Sabha on 7 February 2020, as he was not present in the house when his name was called to introduce the bill. The proceedings of the Rajya Sabha can be read below. Also, it can be seen that ‘The Uniform Civil Code in India Bill,2020’ is absent from the list of bills introduced in the Rajya Sabha during this session. Kirodi Lal Meena cannot introduce the bill on 11 February 2020 (Tuesday) as private members’ bills are generally introduced only on Fridays.  Secondly, the government has nothing to do with a private members bill. Hence the image being shared on social media has nothing to do with government bills.
In the revised ‘List of Business’ for Rajya Sabha proceedings on 11 February 2020, it can be seen that there is no mention of the introduction of any bill. Also, it can be seen that Vice President has told the house today that ‘nobody needs to have any apprehensions that the house is going to take any bill. No bill. Only budget’. The Rajya Sabha has been adjourned till 2 March 2020 without introducing any bill on 11 February 2020.
To sum it up, an image that shows the business relating to private member bills in the Rajya Sabha for 07 February 2020 is being shared as proof for government’s  UCC bill to be introduced on 11 February 2020.
Did you watch our new video in the DECODE series?

created: February 11, 2020


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Social media users are sharing this wrong math calculation about the cost of 'Statue of Unity' - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
July 13, 2022
A social media post taking a jibe at the government for spending thousands of crores on building statues is being circulated widely across platforms. The post instead proposes that if the same amount is distributed among the citizens, and in an attempt to explain the math behind this, the post claims that each citizen would get Rs. 14.81 cr, if the 2,000 crores is distributed among the 135 crore population.  Through this article let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Each citizen would get Rs. 14.81 crores, if the 2000 crores spent on building a statute is distributed among the 135 crore population.
Fact: Each individual would get just 14.81 rupees and not 14.81 crores, if 2,000 crores is distributed among 135 crore population of the country. Such simple calculation failures are often being shared on social media on different issues. For instance, such wrong calculations are also shared when Elon Musk announced the $44 billion Twitter acquisition plan. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
The government of India in 2018 inaugurated a statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in Gujarat. The cost of the project is estimated to be nearly 3000 crores. Since then, multiple states have also embarked on building such statues with huge outlays.
However, the government’s decision of spending significant amounts on these statues invited criticism from certain quarters. Critics claim that government could have spent this amount on education or health sector or welfare etc. The viral post also tries to make one such attempt by explaining how each individual could be benefited  if the amount is distributed among the citizens.
However, the math explained in the post wrongly claims that each citizen would get 14.81 crore, if 2000 crores is distributed among the total population of the country (135 crores). However, it is not 14.81 crore but just 14.81 rupees, that an individual would get if 2000 crores are distributed among a population of 135 crores.
Although this calculation seems to be a simple error that is to be understood by most people,  such trend of bad math is visible on social media quite often. For example, ever since Elon musk announced his $44 billion Twitter acquisition plan, several social media users posted similar math calculations, saying each individual would get 5 billion dollars if the anticipated $44 billion is distributed among the 8 billion population of the world.
Even few verified social media users are also posting such calculations, one such example can be seen here. A verified twitter user claims that each individual would get $5 billion dollars if the $44 billion is distributed among the 8 billion population of the world.
However, distribution of $44 billion among the 8 billion, would give just $5.5 for each individual and not $5 billion. Multiple users are posting such wrong calculations, few of them can be seen here, here and here. Few other social media users are blindly believing the calculations and are spreading the narrative by share these messages.
To sum it up, social media users are going wrong on simple math calculations related to the cost of statue of unity.


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Software Services & Petroleum dominate India’s Export & Import
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
November 4, 2019
India’s
trade balance has been negative for most years. While Services dominate India’s
exports,  Petroleum makes up for a large
portion of India’s imports. Here is a detailed look at India’s export &
import story.
India’s trade balance, since independence has mostly been in deficit i.e. the value of imports exceeds the value of exports. Over the years, this difference has progressively widened barring few occasions where the defect had seen a declining trend.
Thelast two years (2017-18 & 2018-19) has seen an increase in the tradedeficit post a phase of 4 years (2013-17) where in the deficit was on thedecline. As observed in an earlier
story by Factly, the trade deficit is the major contributortowards the deficit in the current account of India’s Balance of Payments.
Whatare the components that cause this deficit in India’s Trade Balance? In thisstory we explore the various exports and imports of India and their trends.
Surplus
in trade of services is due to the higher exports in Software services
Inthe earlier
story, we have highlighted that the deficit in the tradebalance is due to the deficit balance in trade of goods, while trade ofservices is in surplus.
Asper the data
released by RBI in the ‘Handbook of Statistics on IndianEconomy’, over the past decade, the value of exports of services is more thanthe value of import of services. Furthermore, the surplus is in an increasingtrend over the decade. Import of services valued at ₹ 2,834 billion in 2009-10 have increased to ₹ 8,825 billion in 2018-19. During the same period theexports in services increased from ₹ 4,546 billion to ₹14,563 billion, thus widening the surplus in servicetrade.
Inspite of the increase in imports, the corresponding increase in exports haveensured that the trade in services has a surplus all through the past 10 years.However, not all services have a surplus. The surplus in the trade in servicesis largely due to the surplus of software services.
Softwareservices constitute the major share in the overall volume of trade in services.In the year 2009-10, the exports in software amounted to ₹ 2,353 billion while the imports were only ₹ 70 billion, contributing a surplus to the tune of ₹2,283 billion. In the year 2018-19, the value ofimport of software services increased to ₹ 405 billion, while the exports increased to ₹ 5,839 billion leaving a surplus of ₹ 5,433 billion.
Businessservices and Travel are the next largest components. The net value of trade inbusiness services has been in a deficit during 2009-13 and then moving intosurplus (2013-17, barring 2015-16) and then recording a deficit of ₹ 92 billion in 2018-19. Financial services and Transportationservices have also had inconsistent net value of trade over the past 10 years.
Onthe other hand, Travel services has recorded a consistent growth in the surplusof trade. In the year 2009-10, the value of imports in Travel services was ₹ 442 billion and that of exports was ₹ 560 billion i.e. surplus of ₹ 118 billion. After a consistent increase over theyears, in 2018-19, the value of exports is ₹ 1,991 billion with a surplus of ₹ 477 billion.
Engineering
goods, Petroleum Products, Gems & Jewellery among the highest value export
commodities.
Amongthe different commodities exported by India, Engineering Goods have the highestvalue. Along with having the highest gross value, they are also the commoditywith the highest growth over the past decade. Except for a blip in 2015-16, thetotal exports of Engineering goods have increased every year. In 2009-10,Exports of Engineering goods were valued at ₹1,595 billion which increased by more than 3.6 timesand in the year 2018-19 are valued at ₹ 5,841 billion.
Exportsof Petroleum products rank second and valued at ₹ 3,259 billion in 2018-19. During the year 2013-14,they reached their highest positive over the decade at ₹ 3,832 billion. After a sharp decline over next twoyears, they started with their recovery in 2016-17.
Exportof Gems & Jewellery has shown a steady and consistent increase and arecurrently the third highest valued exports at ₹ 2814 billion in 2018-19.
Organic& Inorganic Chemicals and Drug & Pharma complete the list of top fiveexport commodities of India.
Amongother top exports, export of RMG (Ready Made Garments) have more than doubledover the past 10 years. However, the highest was in year 2016-17. The exportshave increased last year after a fall in the previous year.
Aftera near flat growth in exports during 2014-18, the value of exports in Yarn& Handloom products have increased in 2018-19 with ₹784 billion. Plastic & Linoleum products have seena consistent increase in the exports over the decade.
Riceand Electronic goods are among the top 10 exported commodities and the growthin value of these exports have varied over the years.
Petroleum
(Crude & Products) account for a substantial portion of imports in India
Adecade back i.e. in 2009-10, Petroleum (crude & products) imports werevalued at ₹4,116 billion which constituted around 30.2% of the total Imports.
Theimport value of this commodity has consistently increased over the years withit valued at ₹9,862 billion in 2018-19. Petroleum (crude & products) has occupied a majorshare of the total imports all through the previous decade but the proportionhas varied during this time. In 2013-14, it reached the highest point with ashare of 36.7 % of the total imports of India. During that year, the value ofPetroleum imported was ₹9,978 billion. In the subsequent years, the value of Petroleum based imports hascome down in value which also resulted in the fall of its share. However, thelast two years has seen an increase in the total volume of petroleum beingimported.
Electronic
goods, Machinery and Gold among the other top imported commodities
Amongthe other key imports, the value of import of Electronic goods has increased by3.6 times over the last decade. In 2009-10, the value was ₹ 1055 billion which increased to ₹ 3881 billion in 2018-19. Further, the value hasconsistently increased every year. Machinery (Electrical & Non-electrical)is not only the third highest valued import but also has consistently increasedevery year.
Thenext highest import commodity is Gold, which valued at ₹ 2294 billion in 2018-19 while it was ₹ 1358 billion in 2009-10. However, the highest valueof Gold import was in 2012-13 at ₹ 2921 billion. The value of Gold imports has beeninconsistent over the decade but has seen an increase since the last two years.
Thevalue of import of Pearls, Precious and Non-Precious stones over the last 3years has been higher than the earlier years of this decade. Coal, TransportEquipment, Iron & Steel, Chemicals, Resins & Plastics all have morethan doubled up in the value of their respective imports over the decade.
Increase
export of software products & other services can help bridge the balance of
trade deficit.
Asseen from the data, Petroleum (Crude & Products) occupy the major chunk ofimports, averaging about a quarter of the total imports during major part ofthe last decade. It is used for direct consumption as well as for manufactureof other products. Being a key source of energy, it plays a critical role inIndia’s commercial activity. Unless alternate solutions are found &domestic production increased, the import of petroleum will continue toincrease. Similarly, most of the other top imports – machinery, coal, transportequipment, chemicals, Iron & Steel, Resin etc. are used as raw materialsfor various industries aiding the commercial activity. A larger portion of importsof Gold & Precious/Semi-precious stones goes into export of finishedJewellery.  Hence apart from the Electronicgoods, most of the other top imports are used for further commercial activity.
Areduction in these imports, as indicated in the earlier
story might not be feasible unless alternatives are found.
Onthe other hand, increasing the export of services may help in balancing thevalue of imports and thereby the trade deficit. However as highlighted in thestory, most of the exports do not matchup to the higher value of imports.
Focusing on specific industries like Software, Engineering goods, Gems & Jewellery etc. where India has expertise could yield better results.
Featured Image: India’s trade balance

created: November 4, 2019


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Soldiers are paid a Siachen Allowance of Rs 14,000 a month - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
February 15, 2016
The tragic death of 10 soldiers posted on the Siachen Glacier has renewed debate on the harsh climatic conditions in such high altitudes and the related health effects. The Indian Soldiers posted on the Siachen Glacier are paid a special allowance of Rs 14,000 per month. The 7th Pay commission has proposed an increase of 50% in this allowance. Soldiers at such high altitudes require 55 items out of which 20 are imported.
The Indian troops have been deployed at Siachen Glacier at an altitude of about 20,000 feet for decades to protect the borders. The soldiers brave the harshest climatic conditions to guard the strategic border post. Such harsh conditions result in multiple health related issues. As per a DRDO bulletin, high altitude is characterized by hypoxic environment, cold and ultraviolet (UV) radiations, which causes adverse effect on work efficiency and cognitive functions of an individual along with acute mountain sickness, and sometimes debilitating frostbite or life threatening diseases like high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) and cerebral edema (HACE). The Life Sciences wing of DRDO is focused on developing diagnostic, preventive & treatment protocols for acute mountains sickness, HAPE and other such conditions faced by soldiers posted on the glacier.
The Indian Army extends various types of allowances to the soldiers. They are also paid a Siachen Glacier Allowance. Officers/Sepoys posted to the Siachen Glacier are paid a special monthly allowance apart from their monthly salary. The current Siachen allowance for Junior Commissioned Officers (JCO) and others is Rs 14,000 per month. The Seventh Pay Commission has proposed to increase this amount to Rs 21,000 per month.
More soldiers died from the threat of the harsh climatic conditions and accidents related to that than the enemy bullet. A total of 879 soldiers have died on the Siachen Glacier since 1984 till date due to climatic conditions, environmental and other factors. 33 of them are Officers, 55 of them are JCOs and the rest of 791 are Sepoys/Jawans.
Various wings of the DRDO like the Defence Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR) and Defence Food Research Laboratory (DFRL) produce & supply food for soldiers posted on high altitudes like Siachen. These wings of the DRDO develop various food materials suitable to Siachen and other such high altitude regions.
The soldiers posted on the Siachen Glacier and other such high altitude areas require 55 items of clothing and mountaineering equipment. Out of these, 20 items are imported. The Indian Army is authorized to maintain two sets of special clothing and mountaineering equipment for Siachen and  High Altitude areas. Out of these, one set is authorized to the troops in the field formations and the second set is maintained as reserve. The items are imported from various countries like Switzerland, Canada, Italy, Singapore, Austria, France, Norway, United Kingdom, Poland, Sweden, Australia and United States of America.
Items used by the soldiers include the following. The Army needs about 27000 sets of these items each year.
The government takes steps for up gradation and search for newer items which will save lives and increase the combat efficiency of troops deployed in areas like Siachen. To promote indigenous production clothing and other material, a seminar with Indian Technical Textile Association was held in 2015 followed up by trial of items in Siachen Glacier and sharing of trial reports with Indian Industry for further improvement to meet the stringent requirements of such areas.
More than 7500 crore rupees were spent in importing such equipment in the last 4 years.
Featured Image:”AFP PHOTO / Indian Defence Ministry”

created: February 15, 2016


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Some old and unrelated images are being passed off as those from the recent Uttarakhand forest fires - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 6, 2021
A post accompanying a set of images of forest fires is being shared across social media platforms claiming these images show the recent forest fires of Uttarakhand. Through this article, let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Images of recent forest fires in Uttarakhand.
Fact: While some of these images represent the ongoing Uttarakhand forest fires, some represent old incidents of Uttarakhand forest fires whereas few images have nothing to do with Uttarakhand. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
Image 1:
Reverse image search of the photo led us to a 2016 Indian Express news article which carried images of forest fires in Himachal Pradesh & Uttarakhand. According to this article, the image shows a forest fire near Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, and the photo is credited PTI.
Image 3:
Reverse image search of this photo led us to a news article by India Today dated 05 April 2021 which published the same image. As per this article, the image shows ‘Forest workers trying to create a barrier to limit fire in a forest in Tehri region in Uttarakhand’, and the article credited PTI as the image source.
Image 4:
Reverse image search of the image in the post led us to a 2011 news article by The Atlantic which carried the same image. As per this article, the image shows a wildfire near Bastrop State Park, Texas back in 2011.
Image 5:
Reverse image search of the image in the post led us to a 2018 news article by The Indian Express which published the same image. As per the article, the image shows the forest fire of Uttarakhand. Although the article did not report the timing of the forest fire, going by the date of the publication of the article, we can infer that the image is not related to a recent forest fire in Uttarakhand.
Image 6:
Reverse image search of the photo led us to a 2019 India Today news article that published the same image. According to this article, the image shows a forest fire in an area bordering Bandipur in Karnataka, the article credited the image to PTI.
Image 7:
Reverse image search of this photo led us to an article by DownToEarth dated 06 January 2021 which published the same image. According to this article, the image shows a forest fire at the Kedarnath wildlife sanctuary.
Image 9:
Reverse image search of this photo led us to a 2018 news article that published the cropped version of the same image. Although the article did not state any particulars about the image, going by the date of publication of the article, we can infer that the image has nothing with the recent forest fires in Uttarakhand.
Images  2,  8, 10 & 11:
Reverse image search of these photos yielded few recent social media posts and news articles which shared these images attributing them to the ongoing Uttarakhand forest fires. These social media posts and news articles can be seen here, here , here, and here. However, we could not independently verify the sources of these images.
In view of the ongoing forest fires in Uttarakhand, misleading posts like these are being shared across social media platforms.
To sum it up, some old and unrelated images are being passed off as those of the recent Uttarakhand forest fires.


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Some old visuals are being linked to the current Russia-Ukraine crisis - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
February 25, 2022
Update (MARCH 9, 2022):
A video is being shared with a claim that it shows a soldier giving an emotional message to his family during the Russia-Ukraine war.
Claim: Video of a soldier giving an emotional message to his family during the Russia-Ukraine war.
Fact: The video is an old one and does not show a real incident. It is a clip from a short film. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
The same clip can be seen in a short film on YouTube. The ‘Dubai International Film Festival’ has posted a similar video on YouTube, in November 2015, with the title – ‘DIFF 2015 – Dialing’. The actor in the video has also clarified multiple times on his Instagram that the video is from his film.
Update (MARCH 8, 2022):
Another video is being shared with a similar claim – “Ukraine soldiers going to war emotional”.
Claim: Video of Ukrainian soldier getting emotional before going to war.
Fact: The video is not related to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. It is an old video. The video shows a US Marine returning home and meeting his newborn baby. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
The video was found to be posted by the ‘Today’ show Twitter account in October 2018. Also, the same video can be seen on the ‘NBC News’ website with the title – ‘Marine returns home, meets new baby boy in tearful video’. So, the emotional person in the posted video is not a Ukrainian soldier.
Marine returns home after a 6-month deployment and meets his newborn son for the first time #MorningBoost pic.twitter.com/ggljGpSnkN
Many social users are sharing different images/videos saying that they show heartbreaking visuals related to the current Russia-Ukraine (2022) crisis. The visuals are being shared in the context of Russia’s recent announcement of military operations against Ukraine. Let’s fact-check the claims made in the posts.
Post 1:
Claim: Recent heartbreaking video of Ukrainian soldiers.
Fact: The posted video is not a recent one. Similar visuals can be found in the trailer of a documentary film called ‘The War of Chimeras’ (2017). Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
The trailer of a documentary film called ‘The War of Chimeras’ can be watched here. The documentary film was reportedly shot during the years 2014-15. Similar visuals from 2014 can be seen here. The visuals are from Sofia square in Kiev (Ukraine), but are not related to the current crisis.
Post 2:
Claim: Picture of a child injured in the attacks on Ukraine.
Fact: The picture is not from Ukraine. It shows a child injured in the attacks in Syria. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
The same photo can be found in the ‘BBC’ article published in January 2018. In the article, the photo has the following description – “At least 25 civilians were reported killed in air strikes in Eastern Ghouta last week”. ‘The Sun’ has also published the same photo and wrote – “An injured child in a Syrian hospital”.
Photo 3:
Claim: Recent photo of Ukrainian Christians praying in the snow for their country in the phase of war.
Fact: While the picture is from Ukraine, it is not a recent one. The same picture can be found on the internet at least from 2019. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
The same photo can be found in an article published by the ‘International Mission Board’ on its website in September 2019. The description of the photo is given as – “On Our Knees – Ukrainians kneel and pray in the snow in Kharkov’s city square.”
Photo 4:
Claim: Picture of the day: A man draped in the Ukrainian flag embraces a woman wearing the Russian flag.
Fact: The picture was not taken in the current scenario of the Russia-Ukraine crisis. It is an old photo. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
The same photo can be found in ‘The Washington Post’ article published in December 2019. The description of the photo is given as – “Juliana Kuznetsova embraces her fiance at Belarusan singer Max Korzh’s concert in Warsaw on Nov. 27.” More details about the photo can be also read here.
However, several media agencies have reported that civilians were injured in multiple recent attacks by the Russian forces on Ukrainian cities. Some of the visuals of people who were injured in the recent attacks can be seen here, here, and here.
A few images of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in military uniform are also being shared claiming that he is at the forefront alongside the Ukrainian army and fighting against the Russian forces.
Claim: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in military uniform fighting alongside the Ukrainian army.
Fact: These images of Zelensky in military uniform are old and from his different visits to the border regions. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
On reverse image search, the first image in the post is found in a Reuters article attributing it to his visit to the Donbass region, Ukraine on 09 April 2021. The second image is found in an article published by the Guardian on 11 April 2021. The third image on reverse search was found on Getty Images that states “Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visits the front-line positions of Ukrainian military in Donbass, Ukraine on 06 December 2021.” All this indicates that the images of President Zelensky in military uniform are old and not taken in the aftermath of the Russian armed forces invasion of Ukraine.
To sum it up, these images/videos that show emotional visuals are not related to the current Russia-Ukraine 2022 crisis.

created: February 25, 2022


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Sonia Gandhi is not the world’s 4th richest lady and India was termed as the 4th superpower in the category of space - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
June 17, 2022
Update (17 June 2022)
Another claim stating that Sonia Gandhi is richer than Queen of England is also doing rounds on social media. The claim further accounted Sonia Gandhi’s assets to be worth Rs. 12,000 crores and ranked her 12 in the list.
However, we could not find any such survey report with the name (Servants, learnt from google translate) mentioned in the viral post. Further there are no credible reports saying Sonia Gandhi is richer than the queen of England. In fact she did not feature in any list of richest persons reported by reputed agencies (here & here).
As mentioned below, a similar claim went viral previously after a few news agencies published articles with similar claims. However, few of these agencies later on took down these claims related to Sonia Gandhi, as their sources for the claim were called into question.
As far as the claim of her not owning a house is concerned, according to the latest (2019) election affidavit , Sonia Gandhi declared assets worth Rs. 11.82 crores. Further, she does not own a house in India, however, she holds a share in ancestral property in Italy.
First Published (April 2019)
A post is being shared on Facebook by many users claiming that while Sonia gained (by becoming the 4 richest lady in the world) under the Congress rule, India gained (by becoming the 4 superpower in the world) under the Modi rule. Let’s try to analyze the claim made in the post.
Sonia became the world’s fourth richest lady under the Congress rule whereas India became the world’s 4 superpower under the Modi rule
Fact: Sonia with the declared assets of approximately Rs. 12 crores (in 2019) is not even  Top 25 Richest Women in the World, released by Forbes. Also, there is no Super Power list released by any credible organization. India became the 4 superpower, only in the category of space, after successfully conducting Mission Shakti. Business Insider released a list of Powerful nations in which India stands at 15 position. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
The declared assets of Sonia Gandhi can be found through her 2019 election affidavit. In 2014, she had declared assets worth of approximately 9 crores (which is around 1.5 million dollars). In 2019, she declared assets worth around Rs. 12 crores. Sonia Gandhi did not even find a place in the 2014’s Top 25 Richest Women in the World. The 25 Richest Woman on that list has a net worth around 5.2 billion dollars, which is much higher compared to Sonia Gandhi’s assets. So, the claim about Sonia Gandhi being the 4 richest in the world is FALSE.
Some organizations like Business Insider and Huffing Post has placed Sonia Gandhi in top positions on their lists (4th position on the Business Insider list) but they have been contradicted. AltNews, in an article, has analyzed the Business Insider list and concluded that the data on Sonia’s assets have been taken from dubious sources whereas Huffing Post has removed Sonia Gandhi from its list after the backlash and clarified that they could not verify the amount.
Coming to the Superpower list, FACTLY did not find any superpower list,  but India was termed as the fourth space superpower, after the successful destruction of the satellite under Mission Shakti. When searched for a superpower ranking list, only a list of powerful nations published by Business Insider was found. Also, in that article, India was placed at the 15 position, not at the 4 position.
Finally, SoniaGandhi is not the world’s 4th richest lady and India was termed as the 4thsuperpower only in the category of space.


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Morphed image shared as Sonia Gandhi with ‘How to Convert India into Christian Nation’ book - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
June 2, 2021
A post is being widely shared on social media claiming that on zooming the right side of a Sonia Gandhi’s image, one can see a book titled ‘How to convert India into Christian Nation’. In the image being shared, one can also see ‘Holy Bible’ book and a replica of Jesus Christ. Let us fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Sonia Gandhi’s image with ‘How to Convert India into Christian Nation’ book.
Fact: According to pictures in various news articles and Rahul Gandhi’s Twitter post, we can conclude that the image has been morphed. When the left-hand side part of the image is zoomed in, we can see a watermark named ‘@noconversion’, by which we can conclude clearly that this image had been morphed. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When google reverse image search was performed, we found news articles containing similar images of Sonia Gandhi. One such news article from the Hindustan Times says that Congress President Sonia Gandhi hits out at the Central Government over the recent farmers’ protest. According to the caption of the image present in the article, the image was a screenshot from the video posted by @INCIndia (official twitter handle of Indian National Congress). The same image has been used in various news articles at various times, which can be seen here, here and here. Upon careful observation in all the images in the articles, there is no presence of the books ‘How to convert India into Christian Nation’ or ‘Holy Bible’ or the replica of Jesus Christ.
Taking cue that Sonia Gandhi’s image in the above article was a screenshot from a video, we searched for videos containing a similar image. We found Rahul Gandhi’s Twitter post which had a video, and the frames of the video had the same images that were in the news articles. Even in that video, there is no presence of books ‘How to convert India into Christian Nation’ or ‘Holy Bible’ or a replica of Jesus Christ.
‘बदलाव की बयार है।’
कांग्रेस अध्यक्ष श्रीमती सोनिया गांधी जी का बिहार की जनता के नाम संदेश आपसे साझा कर रहा हूँ।
नए बिहार के लिए एकजुट होकर महागठबंधन को जीताने का समय है। pic.twitter.com/ptmzjEjQuh
When the image in the post and the image in the news articles were compared side by side, we can see that the image in the post was morphed.
When the left-hand side part of the image in the post is zoomed, we can see a watermark named ‘@noconversion’, by which we can conclude clearly that this image had been morphed by someone with that social media handle.
To sum it up, this image of Sonia Gandhi with ‘How to Convert India into Christian Nation’ book is morphed.


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Sourav Ganguly did not tweet saying ‘Congressmen are always known to follow double standards’ - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 6, 2019
A Facebook post with the screenshot of a tweet by Twitter handle ‘@SirSGanguly’ that has the username ‘Sourav Ganguly’ and profile picture of ex- Indian cricketer from West Bengal and now BCCI Chairman Sourav Ganguly is making rounds on social media claiming that the tweet is from the official Twitter account of Sourav Ganguly. The message in it is in Hindi and its English translation is- ‘When a Bihar man raped (a girl), all the Biharis were made to go out of Gujarat, but thousands of Bangladeshi and Rohingya terrorists, rapists, murderers who engaged themselves in smuggling, rioting, looting and other crimes were made the sons-in-law here (West Bengal). Congressmen are always known to follow double standards’. Let’s analyze the authenticity of that claim.
In the comments section, it can be seen that the users are commending Sourav Ganguly for that message in the tweet.
Sourav Ganguly tweeted saying ‘Congressmen are always known to follow double standards’.
Fact: The official Twitter handle of Sourav Ganguly is ‘@SGanguly99’, not ‘@SirSGanguly’. The Twitter handle ‘@SirSGanguly’ wasn’t found to exist. So, the tweet is not from the official account of Ex- Indian cricketer Sourav Ganguly. Hence, the claim is FALSE.
The tweet in the screenshot had the Twitter handle ‘@SirSGanguly’. So when searched for that account on Twitter, a message ‘This account doesn’t exist’ was displayed.
The official Twitter handle of Sourav Ganguly is ‘@SGanguly99’. So, the tweet was definitely not made by him.
To conclude, Sourav Ganguly did not tweet saying ‘Congressmen are always known to follow double standards’.
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created: December 6, 2019


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Source of Income in Election affidavit – What did some of the prominent candidates in Karnataka mention?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 28, 2018
What is the source of income of some of the prominent candidates who contested in the Karnataka elections? We analyse the source of income as mentioned in their affidavits.
The Government of India had notified  new rules in April 2017 making important additions to the disclosures to be made by candidates contesting the Lok Sabha, Assembly and other State or National elections. A long pending demand to include the source of income of the candidates as a part of the disclosure was met through the changes. The changes notified by the government were necessitated by a PIL (WP (Civil) 784/2015) filed by a Lucknow based NGO ‘Lok Prahari’.  One of the pleas in the PIL was that sources of income of the candidate, spouse and dependents must also be disclosed in the affidavit along with other details. Relevant changes were made in the forms like Form 2B & Form 26 to be filed by the contesting candidates.
We look at the sources of income as mentioned in their affidavits by some of prominent candidates of the recently concluded Karnataka elections and if these disclosures are adequate.
Siddaramaiah – Congress
The Congress CM candidate Siddaramaiah mentioned salary, rental & agricultural income as his sources of income while mentioning income from interest as the source of his spouse’s income.
Yeddyurappa – BJP
The BJP CM candidate also mentioned salary, rental & agricultural income as his sources of income. As per the affidavit, his spouse does not have any source of income.
Kumaraswamy – JD(S)
Of the three CM candidates, only Kumaraswamy mentioned the amount of annual income in addition to the sources of incomes. As per his affidavit, salary & agricultural income account for his sources while the sources of income of his spouse include director remuneration from a company and pension.
B Sreeramulu – BJP
B Sreeramulu who contested against Siddaramaiah in Badami mentioned his salary as a MP, distributorship of M/s Den Networks & agriculture as his sources of income. He did not mention any amount.
D K Shiva Kumar – Congress
D K Shiva Kumar who was widely hailed as the man who ensured that the Congress MLAs were together, mentioned salary, capital gains, agricultural income & other sources as his source of income. He also did not mention any amount.
G Parameshwara – Congress
G Parameshwara who was sworn in as the Deputy CM mentioned agriculture, LIC agent as the source of his income. He also did not mention any amount.
Gali Somasekhara Reddy – BJP
One of the brothers of Gali Janardhan Reddy, Somasekhara Reddy of the BJP mentioned his MLA pension & income from interest as his sources of income. He did mention the amount of income. He is also a co-accused in the cases relating to the mining scam.
Are these disclosures adequate?
The real usefulness of these disclosures is when the law enforcement agencies consider the rise in assets of the candidates who re-contest election and if such a rise is commensurate with their source of income. Even for candidates who are contesting for the first time, the assets declared should be commensurate with the disclosed sources of income. Unless that happens, these disclosures will remain a formality. Even the Supreme Court in its judgment in the PIL filed by Lok Prahari directed the government to have a permanent mechanism to inquire/ investigate into the disproportionate increase in the assets of legislators during their term.
For instance, if we look at the candidates mentioned above, the value of assets has increased for all the candidates compared to 2013, except for Sreeramulu.
Featured Image: Kanataka Elections


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Source of Income is now on the Affidavits of Election Contestants. Does it serve the purpose?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
November 9, 2017
The Himachal Pradesh & Gujarat Assembly elections are the first major elections to be held after the change in rules where a contesting candidate has to disclose the sources of income in addition to information on income & assets. Do these disclosures serve the purpose?
The Government of India had notified  new rules in April  2017 making important additions to the disclosures to be made by candidates contesting the Lok Sabha, Assembly and other state or national elections. A long pending demand to include the source of income of the candidates as a part of the disclosure was met through the changes. The Himachal Pradesh & Gujarat elections are the first major elections to take place after these changes were notified. Are these changes good enough? What do the affidavits tell us now?
What were the major changes?
A Lucknow based NGO ‘Lok Prahari’ filed a PIL (WP (Civil) 784/2015) in the Supreme Court (SC) with a plea that sources of income of the candidate, spouse and dependents must also be disclosed in the affidavit. The SC in 2016 had issued notices both to the central government and the ECI. The ECI had written to the government last year recommending a change in the existing rules. The case is currently reserved for judgment.
In April this year, the government had notified new rules that mandate all election contestants to disclose the following apart from the existing information.
The most important change of course is the addition of a new clause in form 26 that makes it mandatory for the disclosure of sources of income of both the contestant and his spouse. This is to be done in addition to the disclosure of assets and the profession of both the contestant & spouse. The changes also mandate that social media accounts of all contesting candidates be disclosed in the affidavits.
How do the affidavits look now?
Factly looked at the affidavits filed by the Chief Ministerial candidates of both the BJP & the Congress in Himachal Pradesh, Mr. Prem Kumar Dhumal & Mr. Virbhadra Singh. Congress’s Virbhadra Singh mentioned salary, bank interest and agriculture/horticulture as his sources of income while his spouse’s sources of income include interest, pension & agriculture/horticulture.BJP’s Prem Kumar Dhumal also mentioned salary & interest on savings as his sources of income while his spouse’s sources of income are mentioned as interest on savings & share holdings.
The richest candidate in the Himachal Pradesh elections Balbir Singh Verma of the BJP mentioned business, agriculture, horticulture, rent & hotel as his sources of income. Congress’s Vikramaditya Singh, son of the present CM Virbhadra Singh and the 2nd richest candidate in Himachal elections mentioned agriculture, horticulture & business as his sources of income.
It has to be noted that none of the affidavits had other information as notified in April 2017.
Are these changes enough?
For starters, the sources of income might provide the citizens an opportunity to understand whether the value of assets accumulated by these candidates are commensurate to their income. But the real change will be when the relevant agencies work in co-ordination with each other to assess the value of assets of a candidate, increase in assets from previous elections and whether these are commensurate to their sources of income. Unless that happens, these disclosures will become a mere formality.

created: November 9, 2017


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South Central Coalfields Limited (SCCLCIL) Recruitment notification offering 88,585 jobs is fake - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
August 20, 2019
A job notification is being shared widely on social media with a claim that South Central Coalfields Limited (SCCLCIL), a subsidiary of Coal India Limited, has announced recruitment for 88,585 vacancies. Let’s try to find the authenticity of that notification.
Recruitment notification for 88,585 jobs in South Central Coalfields Limited (SCCLCIL), a subsidiary of Coal India Limited, has been released.
Fact: Coal India Ltd. has issued a public notice stating that they do not have any subsidiary with the name ‘South Central Coalfields Limited (SCCLCIL)’ and called the job notification as ‘fake, fraudulent and fabricated’. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
The full text of the recruitment notification being circulated on social media can be read here.
When searched on Google about the notification, it was found that even prominent newspapers like Times Now News (archived link), India Today (archived link), News18 (archived link), First Post (archived link) and DNA India (archived link) have also posted that SCCLCIL, a subsidiary of Coal India, is recruiting for over 88,000 posts.
In the notification, it is given that the applicants should apply on the SCCLCIL website: http://scclcil.in. But that website shows an error message when it is opened (as of 20 August 2019). So, when searched for the notification on the Coal India Ltd. website, it was found that Coal India Ltd. has issued a public notice stating that they do not have any subsidiary with the name ‘South Central Coalfields Limited (SCCLCIL)’ and called the job notification as ‘fake, fraudulent and fabricated’. They also asked the public ‘not to fall prey to this dubious employment notice’. The same notice was also uploaded by Coal India Ltd. on its Twitter account.
pic.twitter.com/55RIQHoGNy
To sum it up, SCCLCIL Recruitment notification offering 88,585 jobs is fake. There is no subsidiary of Coal India Ltd. with that name.
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SP Divya Sara Thomas has not forced the temple priest to offer pooja to a Jesus photo - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
August 17, 2020
A few photos are being shared widely on social media with a claim that Chamarajanagar Superintendent of Police (SP) Divya Sara Thomas has forced the priest of an Anjaneya Swamy Temple in Kollegal to place the Jesus photo inside the Sanctorum of the temple and offer pooja to it. Let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Chamarajanagar SP Divya Sara Thomas has forced a Temple priest to offer pooja to a Jesus photo.
Fact: The temple priest has clarified that the SP has not forced him to do pooja to the Jesus photo. As she is Christian, she was gifted with the Jesus photo on her visit to the temple. The priest apologized if any Hindu was hurt due to his actions. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When we looked for information regarding the incident in the photo, some Kannada news articles were found in the search results. In the ‘Prajavani’ article, it can be read that the incident in the photos took place on 05 August 2020 (the day foundation stone of Ayodhya Ram Mandir was laid). When SP Divya Sara Thomas was on rounds, she was invited by the priest into the temple. As she is a Christian, the Jesus photo was placed in the sanctum sanctorum and she was gifted with the photo on her visit to the temple.
The clarification by the priest can be watched here. The priest apologized if any Hindu was hurt due to his actions.
Also, the Karnataka State Police Department on their fact-check portal clarified saying – ‘On realizing that the new SP is from a different faith the priest after completing the puja rituals gifted her a photo of Jesus Christ along with photos of hindu deities also. The SP has not forced the priest or the devotees to offer archana for Jesus Christ nor did she carry any photos on her person to the temple. The photos of the incident have been misinterpreted and is being circulated in social media with incorrect information.’
Speaking to ‘The News Minute’, SP Divya Sara Thomas said – ‘This is done by some elements intending to make mischief. My husband is a Hindu and I am Christian. I had gone to the temple but did not force the priest to perform puja’.
To sum it up, while the incident of placing Jesus photo inside the temple sanctorum is true, SP Divya Sara Thomas has neither brought the Jesus photo with her nor forced the temple priest to offer pooja to it.
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Yuri Gagarin has not been stripped of his honours by the ‘Space Foundation’ following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
March 22, 2022
A post is being widely circulated on social media claiming that Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first human who explored outer space, has been stripped of his honours by the US-based ‘Space Foundation’ amid ongoing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first human who explored outer space, has been stripped of his honours by the US-based ‘Space Foundation’ amid ongoing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Fact: In the light of current world events, the US-based ‘Space Foundation’ had recently changed their annual fundraiser’s name from “Yuri’s night” to “A Celebration of Space: Discover What’s Next”. But the ‘Space Foundation’ did not take away any honour of Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first person to fly to space. A dedicated webpage of Yuri Gagarin’s achievements is still available on the Space Foundation website. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
When we searched to check whether Yuri Gagarin has been stripped of his honours by the US-based ‘Space Foundation’, we could not find any credible information. We still found a dedicated webpage on Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin’s achievements on the ‘Space Foundation’ website. The Space Foundation website described Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin as the first human to explore outer space.  Yuri Gagarin was the first person to make a  journey to outer space on 12 April 1961.
In the light of current world events, the ‘Space Foundation’ had recently changed their annual fundraiser’s name from ‘Yuri’s night’ to “A Celebration of Space: Discover What’s Next”. Reporting this, several news websites published articles. They can be seen here and here. But apart from renaming their fundraiser, ‘Space Foundation’ did not take away any honours of the Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. ‘Space Foundation’ still regards Yuri Gagarin as the man who achieved what was at the time the biggest milestone in the Space Race.
Rich Cooper, the vice president of strategic communications and outreach at the Space Foundation, confirmed to the ‘Associated Press’ that the narrative of Space Foundation stripping of Yuri Gagarin of any honours is “totally false”. Speaking to the ‘AP’, Rich Cooper said, “No one can strip away the honour of being the first person to go to space. Yuri Gagarin is in the first sentence of the first paragraph of the first chapter of humanity’s exploration of space”. Cooper further clarified to ‘AP’ that the Space Foundation had not conferred any specific honours to Gagari but has a display for the cosmonaut at its Discovery Center in Colorado Springs.
To sum it up, Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first human who explored outer space, has not been stripped of his honours by the US-based ‘Space Foundation’ amid ongoing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.


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SIT on Black Money calls for greater vigilance in cases where multiple companies operate from the same address
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
November 3, 2015
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Black Money, in its 3rd report has called for greater vigilance of companies that operate from the same address and also in case of persons who hold directorship in more than 20 companies. As per the data in the SIT report, close to 1% of the companies registered in the country share their address with at least 19 more companies.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Black Money, in its 3rd Report has called for greater vigilance in cases where multiple companies operate from the same address and also in case of persons holding directorship in more than 20 companies. These recommendations were made by the SIT while dealing with the issue of Shell Companies and Beneficial Ownership.
Shell Companies to launder Black Money
The SIT report mentions the following from the report of the Committee headed by Chairman, CBDT on “Measures to tackle Black Money in India and Abroad” submitted in 2012.
“The primary method of generation of black money remains suppression of receipts and inflation of expenditure. The suppression could be over a range of businesses and industrial activities which are covered by what may be called ‘primary’ enactments to regulate sale receipts, actual production, charging amount in excess of statutory amounts, etc”.
The SIT report mentions that the use of shell companies to provide entries to launder black money has been observed in a number of high profile cases investigated or under investigation in the recent past.
Recommendations to detect Shell Companies
The report talks of the following twofold strategy to counter this menace. The following recommendations were also made by the SIT to proactively detect shell companies.
Proactive detection of creation of shell companies by intelligence gathering through regular data mining and dissemination of information gathered to various law enforcement agencies for active surveillance.
According to the report, the Serious Frauds investigation office (SFIO) needs to actively and regularly mine the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) database for certain red flag indicators. These red flag indicators could be based on common DIN numbers in multiple companies, companies with same address, same contact numbers, use of only mobile numbers, sudden and unexpected change in turnover declared in returns etc.
Once certain companies are identified through data mining above, the list of such high risk companies should be shared with CBDT and other agencies for surveillance.
Deterrent penal action against persons involved in creation of shell companies and providing accommodation entries.
Persons who held Directorship in more than one Company
The SIT obtained data from MCA on persons who held Directorship in more than one Company.  As per the data provided by MCA, there are 2627 persons holding Directorship in more than 20 Companies. This is in violation of Section 165 of the Companies Act, 2013.  This is also a violation of the erstwhile Companies Act, 1956. According to the report, the total number of Companies involved is 77696. This is more than 5% of all the registered companies in the country.
Multiple Companies with the Same Address
As per the data mentioned in the report, a total of 345 addresses have at least 20 Companies operating from the same address.  The total number of Companies sharing their address with at least 19 more Companies are 13581 in number.  The SIT report says that while there is no specific Act/Rule which debars Companies from having the same address; it recommends greater vigilance while examining the operations of such Companies. Almost 1% of all the companies registered in the country share their address with at least 19 more companies.
Well known practice of using same credentials
Activists from Hyderabad had exposed the real estate company Maytas Properties Pvt. Limited for such similar practices in 2009.  This company was also under the scanner in the Satyam Scam. Maytas was promoted by the sons of Mr. Ramalinga Raju, the founder of erstwhile Satyam Computer Services.  According to them, about 14 different companies were floated by different Rajus and in most of the companies; the controlling stake was with the Byrraju family of Mr. Ramalinga Raju.
Some of them share the same address and more importantly, multiple individuals and companies used the same email ID. According to the documents available on the MCA website, one particular email ID was being used by 5 different individuals and two different companies.

created: November 3, 2015


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‘Spend your CSR funds properly’ - Parliamentary Standing Committee to IRCTC - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
February 21, 2017
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Sector Undertakings advised IRCTC to spend its CSR funds properly, as per the guidelines issued by DPE, while appreciating its growth as a company.
Indian Railway Tourism and Catering Corporation Ltd. (IRCTC) is a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) under the Ministry of Railways. It was established in 1999 as an extended arm of the Indian Railways to upgrade, professionalize and manage the catering and hospitality services at stations, on trains and other locations and to promote domestic and international tourism through development of budget hotels, special tour packages, information & commercial publicity and global reservation systems. In 2015-16, IRCTC clocked a revenue of Rs 1505 crore with a profit after tax of Rs 188.6 crore as per the report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Sector Undertakings.
As per the report, IRCTC earns revenues through the following core services
IRCTC’s revenue increased from Rs 953 crore in 2013-14 to Rs 1103 crore in 2014-15. It further increased to Rs 1505 crore in 2015-16. The revenues and profits from Internet Ticketing, Tourism & Packaged drinking water is continuously increasing while the catering business is making losses.
The internet ticketing on IRCTC began in 2002 with a mere 29 tickets booked on the first day. More than 13 lakh tickets were booked on 1st April, 2015. In 2014-15, 18.3 crore tickets were booked on IRCTC for 32.88 crore passengers. The service tax component of the internet booking was shared in the ratio of 80:20 between IRCTC and the Indian Railways till 2014-15. In 2015-16, the ratio was changed to 50:50. IRCTC also made a revenue of Rs 9.65 crore by air ticket booking in 2015-16.
The parliamentary standing committee was impressed with IRCTC’s growth in the areas of packaged drinking water, internet ticketing and Tourism. It recommended that the government provide enough land for establishing more drinking water plants. But, the committee expressed its concerns about the mounting losses in the catering business of IRCTC. Though IRCTC has transferred the core catering business to Indian Railways as per the catering policy of 2010, it has been incurring losses on the departmental catering business. IRCTC currently runs food plazas, and supports the e-catering facility. The committee in its recommendations suggested that IRCTC take adequate measures for the quality of food and safety of passengers since third party vendors are now allowed to serve their food through e-catering.
The standing committee noted that the CSR policy as approved by IRCTC board was not in conformity to the CSR Guidelines issued by the DPE. The committee noted that IRCTC was spending some of its CSR money on upgradation of passenger amenities and provision of infrastructure for passengers at railway stations. This, the committee reminded is the primary responsibility of the Ministry of Railways.
The committee noted that both the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) have time and again issued clarifications that expenses incurred by Companies for fulfillment of statutory obligations would not count as CSR expenditure. Hence inclusion of the welfare of customers, consumers, railway passengers and railway employees in their CSR Policy document is not in conformity of the CSR Guidelines issued by the Government.
As per the committee’s report, some of the CSR activities undertaken by IRCTC clearly do not qualify as per the guidelines issued by government. These activities relate to provision of amenities for passengers and should have been met from the regular budget of IRCTC or the Railways, but not the CSR allocation. The committee cited activities like provision of RO treated pure drinking water facility at NRCH, New Delhi in 2013-14 and carrying out sanitation work at Delhi Cantonment Railway Station in 2014-15.
The Committee also noted that the CSR spending of IRCTC has not been satisfactory for 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2014-15, further saying that unspent funds were not carried forward. While Rs 2.25 crore was allocated in 2010-11, only 5 lakh were spent by IRCTC. In 2011-12, only 45.37 lakh were spent by IRCTC against an allocation of Rs 1.82 crore.
The committee advised IRCTC to relook at its CSR Policy and revise it in line with the guidelines issued by DPE. The committee also recommended that IRCTC should not allocate CSR funds for any activities that are the primary responsibility of IRCTC or Indian Railways. Further, the committee suggested that the CSR funds allocated for a purpose and a particular year should be spent in the same year.

created: February 21, 2017


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Sri Lankan demonstrators did not dump their former Minister along with his car into a lake - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 23, 2022
A video is being shared on social media claiming it as visuals of Sri Lankan demonstrators dumping their former minister along with his car into a lake. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Video of Sri Lankan demonstrators dumping their Ex-Minister along with his car into a lake.
Fact: The video shared in the post does show a recent incident of Sri Lankan demonstrators dumping their former minister Johnston Fernando’s car into the Beira lake. But Johnston Fernando was not inside the car during the incident. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
When we searched to check whether any such incident had taken place recently in Sri Lanka, we could find a few news reports that published the same video and reported it as the visuals of Sri Lankan protestors dumping their former minister’s car into a lake. They can be seen here and here. According to these reports, the angry Sri Lankan protestors pushed the ex-Sri Lankan minister’s car into the Beira lake amid protests against the continuing economic crisis.
Reporting the complete details of the incident, the Sri Lankan news website ‘Hiru News’ published an article on 09 May 2022. Following the attack of the ruling SLPP supporters, a large group of Sri Lankan protestors have reportedly dumped the backup vehicle of ex-minister Johnston Fernando into the Beira lake. The ‘Hiru News’ published the same video on their YouTube channel. A few other Sri Lankan news websites have also reported about this incident. They can be seen here, here and here. But it is nowhere reported that former minister Johnston Fernando was inside the car when people pushed it  into the Beira lake. If ex-Sri Lankan minister Johnston Fernando was dumped alive into the lake, several  media agencies would have reported the news.
To sum it up, Sri Lankan demonstrators did not dump their former minister along with his car into a lake.


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Staged video of a man refusing to marry for failure to meet dowry demand is shared as a real incident - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
March 11, 2022
A social media post accompanying a video, wherein a Bihari man threatens to call off the marriage if his demands for dowry were not met is going viral on social media. In this video, the groom can be heard saying that he is a government employee, and his father is a teacher. Through this article let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Video of a groom in Bihar threatening to cancel the wedding if his demands for dowry were not met.
Fact: This is a staged video created with actors. The creators of the video clarified the same. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
A Facebook search with relevant keywords led us to the lengthier version of the viral video on a Facebook page called Divya Vikram. And the admin of the page identifies himself as a video creator in the bio section of the page. However, the page did not mention that this is a staged video.
There are many such videos on this page. In fact, there are a couple of other videos of the same couple featured in the viral video. One of the videos shows the same couple getting engaged in a garlanding ritual and the other video shows the man in a total drunken state in his own wedding.
However, these are staged videos. In their correspondence with Altnews, a fact-checking agency, the admin of the above-mentioned Facebook page clarified that the viral video of a man demanding dowry is a staged drama. He further informed that the couple seen in the viral video are actors and are married to each other in real life.
Even in our correspondence with the admin of the ‘Divya Vikram’ Facebook page, they clarified that the viral video is actually staged drama and not a real incident. He further said that they created the video for the purpose of social awareness.
Earlier, multiple news agencies have reported the same viral video as a real incident, and this ensured its virality. Later on, a few news agencies clarified that it is a scripted video following fact-checks debunking the claim.
To sum it up, a staged video of a man refusing to marry if his demands for dowry were not met is shared as a real incident.