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History of Indian Parliament Elections (Lok Sabha)- Factly
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
June 18, 2019
The Indian parliament follows a bicameral system. It has two houses, namely the Rajya Sabha (Upper House) & the Loksabha (Lower House). The party (or a coalition) that gets a majority in the Loksabha gets to form the central government. The term of office is for a maximum period of 5 years or until such time the party (or a coalition) enjoys a majority in the Loksabha, whichever is earlier. Here is a look at the history of Lok Sabha Elections since independence. The data is sourced from the statistical reports of the Election Commission of India.
The Constituent Assembly, consisted of indirectly elected representatives and was set up for the purpose of drafting a constitution for India. It remained in being for almost three years, acting as the first parliament of India after independence in 1947. The Assembly was not elected on the basis of universal adult suffrage; also Muslims and Sikhs were given special representation as minorities. The Constituent Assembly took almost three years (two years, eleven months and seventeen days to be precise) to complete its historic task of drafting the Constitution for Independent India.
It was the first ever election in the Indian Republic. Elections were held for 489 seats.The total number of eligible voters were about 17.3 crore. The Indian National Congress (INC) won 364. Only two other parties won double digit seats.The CPI with 16 seats and the Socialist Party with 12 seats. The Congress polled closed to 45% of the total vote. The Bharatiya Jan Sangh (BJS), the previous avatar of the BJP won only 3 seats. Independents won the second highest number of seats after Congress. Jawaharlal Nehru was elected the Prime Minister.
Out of 494 seats, the Indian National Congress (INC) won 371. Only two other parties won double digit seats.The CPI with 27 seats and the Praja Socialist Party (PSP) with 19 seats. The Congress polled closed to 48% of the total vote. The BJS won only 4 seats. Once again, the Independents won the second highest number of seats after Congress. Jawaharlal Nehru was again elected the Prime Minister. There was no official Leader of Opposition during the second Loksabha (LoP).
Out of 494 seats, the Indian National Congress (INC) won 361. In these elections, four other parties won double digit seats (CPI, Jan Sangh, Swatantra Party & PSP). The Congress vote share was reduced to about 45% from 48% in the previous election. Jawaharlal Nehru was elected the Prime Minister. But after he passed away in 1964, Gulzari lal Nanda was made the interim PM who was succeeded by Lal Bahadur Shastri who held the post for about 19 months before his death. Indira Gandhi then took over in 1966.
The size of electorate in this election was about 25 crore. The Congress party under Indira Gandhi’s leadership won a 4th successive term to office by winning 283 out of 520 seats. But the vote share of Congress went down to about 41%. In these elections, six other parties won double digit seats with C Rajagopala Chari’s Swatantra Party winning 44 seats and emerging as the single largest opposition party. Indira Gandhi became the Prime Minister for the second time.
This was the first election after Indira Gandhi broke away from the Congress. Her party won a whopping 352 seats out of 518 with the other faction of Congress under Morarji Desai winning only 16 seats. Indira Gandhi became the Prime Minister for the third time. It was during this time in 1975, that the emergency was imposed in the country that had a huge impact on the politics of India thereafter.
These were the first elections after the emergency. Bharatiya Lok Dal (or the Janata party) emerged victorius in these elections defeating the congress for the first time.The BLD was formed at the end of 1974 through the fusion of seven parties opposed to the autocratic rule of Indira Gandhi, including the Swatantra Party, the Utkal Congress, the Bharatiya Kranti Dal, and the Socialist Party. In 1977, the BLD combined with the Jan Sangh and the Indian National Congress (Organization) to form the Janata Party. The newly formed Janata Party contested the 1977 elections on the BLD symbol and formed independent India’s first government not ruled by the Indian National Congress. The BLD won 295 of the 542 seats while congress could win only 154. Morarji Desai became the Prime Minister, but had to step down in 1979 after couple of parties in the Janata alliance pulled out. He was succeeded by Charan Singh.
After the failure of the Janata experiment, Congress(I) under the leadership of Indira Gandhi bounced back to power winning a handsome 353 of the 529 seats on offer. The parties of the earlier Janata coalition could not repeat their performance in the previous election. There was no Leader of Opposition (LoP).
After Indira Gandhi was assasinated,the anti-Sikh riots broke out in 1984. They were a series of pogroms directed against Sikhs in India, by anti-Sikh mobs, in response to the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. Riding on the wave of sympathy, the Congress party under Rajiv Gandhi’s leadership (son of Indira Gandhi) came to power in a landslide victory.The Congress won 404 of the 514 seats. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) made its electoral debut winning 2 seats, one in Gujarat and another in Andhra Pradesh (Now Telangana). Rajiv Gandhi became the Prime Minister
The Bofors scandal,LTTE and other issues worked against the Congress. There was a hung house for the first time with no party getting a majority. The Congress won 197, The Janata Dal 143 and the BJP 85 out of 529 seats. The BJP made impressive gains. The Janata Dal formed the National Front government with outside support from BJP and the left parties. Vishwanath Pratap Singh (VP Singh) became the Prime Minister. His rival in the Janata Dal, Chandra Shekhar broke away in 1990 and formed the Samajwadi Janata Party. As a result, VP Singh had to step down. Chandra Shekhar then became the Prime Minister in 1990 with the external support of Congress. Even this experiment lasted only for a shortwhile forcing general elections in just 2 years.
Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in the run upto the 1991 general elections by the LTTE. These elections were also termed as the ‘Mandal-Mandir’ elections after the two most important poll issues; the Mandal Commission fallout and the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid issue.While the Mandal Commission report implemented by the VP Singh government gave 27 per cent reservation to the Other Backward Castes (OBCs) in government jobs, the Mandir issue referred to the debate over the disputed Babri Masjid structure at Ayodhya, which the Bharatiya Janata Party was using as its major electoral issue.The Mandir issue led to numerous riots in many parts of the country and the electorate was polarized on caste and religious lines. No party could get a majority. Congress emerged as the single largest party with 232 seats while the BJP won 120 seats out of 521 seats. P V Narasimha Rao headed a minority government and was the first person from South India to occupy the Prime Minister’s chair. He is credited with ushering in economic reforms and also identifying Manmohan Singh who went onto become the Prime Minister.
The Indian National Congress came into the election on the back of several government scandals and accusations of mishandling. There were various factions within the congress. The BJP grew from strength to strength and emerged as the single largest party in a hung house. The BJP won 161 eats, Congress 140 and the Janata Dal 46. The rise of regional parties started with this election. The regional parties won 129 seats. Prominent among them were TDP, Shivsena & the DMK. As per the prevailing custom, the President invited BJP to form the government. The BJP attempted to build a coalition, but could not go far and Atal Bihari Vajpayee had to resign as the PM in 13 days. His resignation address in the Loksabha is well known. The Congres Party declined to form the government but chose to extend outside support to Janata Dal and other smaller parties that formed into the ‘United Front’. Out of nowhere, H D Devegowda became the Prime Minister and he lasted for 18 months before he had to step down and make way for I K Gujral. He also could not last long following differences within the Janata Dal.
The BJP emerged as the single largest party with 182 seats out of 543. Congress won 141 and the other regional parties won 101 seats. The BJP formed the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) with other regional parties. Atal Bihari Vajpayee was sworn in as the Prime Minister for the second time. His government could not last long and he had to resign after 13 months in office after the AIADMK withdrew support. The NDA lost by just one vote when Dr. Giridhar Gamang, the then Chief Minister of Odisha and also a MP, voted against the NDA. The nuclear tests at Pokhran, The Kargil war were some of the important incidents in this term.
These elections were held in the backdrop of the Kargil war. The BJP again emerged as the single largest party with 182 seats while the congress could win only 114. This time the regional parties won 158 seats. The BJP was able to form a more stable NDA this time around and this was the first time that a non congress alliance lasted a full five year term. Atal Bihari Vajpayee was sworn in as the Prime Minister for the third time.
The BJP went in for early elections alongside launching an ‘India Shining’ campaign. Though it could win the middle class vote, the poorer sections voted for the Congress and other regional parties resulting in the defeat of the NDA. The BJP could win only 138 seats while the Congress improved its tally to 145. The regional parties again ruled the roost with 159 seats. The BJP conceded defeat and the Congress then formed the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) with support from other parties and outside support from the left parties. Sonia Gandhi refused to become the Prime Minister amidst the controversy about her foreign origin. Manmohan Singh was chosen as the Prime Minister.
The Congress led UPA implemented a lot of its promises including the enactment of Right to Information (RTI) & the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS). It also waived off farm loans in 2008. Against this background, it went into the polls in 2009. The NDA on the other hand was led by L K Advani. The Congress won 206 seats, a huge improvement from 2004. The BJP could win only 116. The regional parties won 146 seats. The UPA came to power for the second term in a row. Dr. Manmohan Singh was sworn in as the Prime Minister for the second time.
The second term of the UPA proved to be a disaster with numerous allegations of corruption & scams. 2G, Coal Block, Adarsh, Commonwealth Games to name a few. The silence of the Prime Minister and the perception that he had no real power made matters worse. The BJP was successfully able to project Narendra Modi as the man of the hour and also as its Prime Ministerial candidate. Rahul Gandhi could not match Narendra Modi. The BJP won majority on its own with 282 seats while the Congress recorded its worst ever performance with just 44 seats. This was the first time since 1984 that a party won a majority on its own.
Riding the wave of Nationalism, popular schemes and the lack of an alternative leader who can match Narendra Modi, the BJP romped home with an increased mandate. Narendra Modi led BJP won 303 seats on its own and crossed the 350 mark with its NDA allies. Narendra Modi became only the 3rd person in India’s history to have secured a single party majority two times in a row, after Jawaharlal Nehru & Indira Gandhi. The Congress received a drubbing again winning only 52 seats. Congress President Rahul Gandhi even lost the election from Amethi.


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History of infectious disease outbreaks in India
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 22, 2020
COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc across the globe resulting in more than 1.6 lakh deaths. However, there are other infectious diseases that have a higher mortality than COVID-19. Here is a look at the major  infectious disease outbreaks in India.
COVID-19 has resulted in an unimaginable situation with lockdowns andmovement restrictions being imposed in many countries. With over 24
lakh confirmed cases and 1.6 lakh deaths, the whole world has come to a standstill and countries areleft with no other choice but to take stringent measures to contain the virus.The pandemic has also challenged the healthcare systems across the globe.
While COVID-19 is unprecedented in terms of the scale & spread, studies show that, in the last three decades alone, more than 30 new infectious agents or pathogens have been detected worldwide. Around 60% of these were found to have zoonotic origin, carried and spread by animals. In 1520-21, smallpox microbes carried by explorers resulted in the death of around 10-15 million people, thereby causing the end of Aztec civilization.
Eventually, with the establishment of germ theory and identification ofmicrobes as cause of many infectious diseases, vaccines and antimicrobials weredeveloped which helped in bringing infectious diseases under control. On onehand, old world communicable diseases such as plague, small pox, leprosy, and choleraare slowly disappearing while on the other, new and previously unknowncommunicable diseases such as SARS, Influenza, and COVID-19 have emerged. Inthis story, we take a brief look at some of the major outbreaks in India fromthe 19 century.
In the 19th Century
Cholera
In the 19 Century, as is evident from studies, British colonized India was hit drastically by Cholera pandemicmultiple times- in 1817, 1829, 1852, 1863, 1881, and 1899. The pandemic hadmostly affected slum dwellers and the poor in rural areas, predominantly inregions in the Northern India including Punjab, Delhi, and United Province(current Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand). It slowly spread to other provinces,affecting Madras presidency the most in 1877. In 1899, cases were reported frommajor provinces of Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay. Each time the pandemic hit, itspread to other countries including the US, China, Arabia, Persia, and Russia.
A large scale cholera outbreak was also witnessed in 1992 in the southern peninsular India.Cholera outbreak in Orissa post floods in 2001 affected 34,111 people including 33 deaths.
Plague (1895-96)
In 1895-96, plague pandemic gripped the cities of Bombay and Calcutta that had seaports which were believed to be the port of entry of the infection. It later spread to other parts of the country and continued till 1918. In the span of ten years between 1898 and 1908, around 5 Lakh people succumbed to the infection.
In the 20th  Century
Influenza (1918-20)
The 20 century witnessed the most devastating pandemic that resulted in the death of 20 to 50 million people worldwide due to the Spanish Flu or the Spanish ‘Influenza’ caused by one of the H1N1 strains of influenza viruses. It emerged in 1918 and during autumn of the same year, a second severe wave of the flu re-emerged and affected the whole world. The second wave began in Bombay in India and spread to north India and Sri Lanka, and then across the world. In terms of fatalities, India was a focal point of the epidemic, with an estimated death toll of 10 to 20 million people. One of the reasons for the epidemic to have subsided later in India is the weather. Humidity acts as a barrier to the survival of influenza virus and its transmission.
Polio (1970-90)
Between 1970-90, polio epidemic had made its way to India. India was the worst affected developing country until the late 1990s. Post-polio paralysis was prominent among children. Both rural and urban areas were significantly affected. India accounted for 40% of the polio cases reported globally. Even though oral vaccines were introduced in India in the 1960s, India was declared polio free in January 2011.
Smallpox (1974)
Smallpox epidemic broke out in India in 1974 in West Bengal, Bihar, andOrissa. Nearly 85% of the cases reported globally were from India. Around15,000 people lost their lives to the worst smallpox epidemic of the 20 century. Thousands of survivors suffered from blindness and disfigurement. The WHOlaunched the smallpox eradication program. It was declared eradicated in 1980by WHO.
Plague outbreaks (1994, 2002, 2004)
In 1994, plague broke out in Surat, Gujarat that lasted for only a little over two weeks. Nevertheless, the unprecedented panic and global repercussions it caused made it significant. Only around 1000 cases were reported including 53 deaths. Fear of quarantine and panic resulted in population exodus and internal migration.
In the 21st Century
Later in 2002, pneumonic plague occurred in Himachal Pradesh with 16 cases and 4 deaths. 8 cases along with 3 deaths due to bubonic plague were reported in Uttarakhand in 2004. Thus, it is evident that the fatality rate is high even though only a small number of cases were reported.
SARS (2003)
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, popularly known as SARS, caused by SARS-CoV virus (to which virus causing COVID-19 is related) is considered thefirst severe infectious disease that broke out in the current century. Theepidemic emerged from the Guangdong province of China. The infection spread to other countries and over 8000 cases were reported with 774deaths. Use of facial masks, disinfecting surfaces, and washing handsfrequently were the precautions taken, like in the case of current coronavirusinfection. Only 3 cases were reported in India.
Meningococcal meningitis (2005)
Meningococcal meningitis epidemic in India broke out in 2005 with the majority of the cases being reported from Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Maharashtra. Around 408 cases were reported with 48 deaths, giving a Case- Fatality Rate of 11.9%. Measures were taken for early detection, case management, and surveillance to contain the infection. The outbreak was also reported in 1966 and 1985 with 616 and 6133 cases, respectively. The Case- Fatality Ratio was 20.9% in 1966 and 13% in 1985.
Japanese Encephalitis (2005)
Mosquito-borne flavivirus disease, Japanese encephalitis, affects the brain causing swelling. The virus causing the infection belongs to the same genes as the viruses that cause dengue and yellow fever. In 2005, Uttar Pradesh reported 1145 cases from 14 districts and Bihar reported 90 cases. Around 296 persons affected lost their lives- one-fourth of the total affected. Cases of encephalitis continue to occur annually predominantly in the north (Uttar Pradesh).
Chikungunya (2006)
In 2006, Chikungunya outbreak was witnessed in India. Around 15 lakh caseswere reported across the country. Majority of the cases were reported fromsouthern states, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, andGujarat. Aedes mosquitoes were found to be the vectors of the disease. Chikungunya related deaths were underreported due to varied reasons. Mosquito breeding siteselimination along with other vector control measures, awareness, etc were takento contain the outbreak. Dengue outbreak was also witnessed in the same year with 10,344 cases and 162 deaths.
H1N1 Flu (2010 & 2015)
In 2010, H1N1 Flu, also known as Swine Flu, resulted in the death ofaround 18,500 people worldwide. Around 27,000 confirmed cases including 981deaths were witnessed in India. The flu re-emerged in 2015 with 30,000 cases across the country and1,731 deaths. Rajasthan, Maharashtra, and Gujarat were the worst affected.
Nipah pandemic (2018)
In 2018, Kerala reported 19 cases of Nipah virus including 17 deaths. The outbreak was contained intwo districts. The disease, as the numbers show, has an extremely highmortality rate.
COVID-19
India has reported more than 18,000 confirmed cases including around 600deaths due to COVID-19. As on 18 April 2020, the Ministry of Health stated thatthe mortality rate for COVID-19 in India stood at 3.3%. Elderly peopleand those with co-morbid conditions are at a higher risk.
Apart from the current COVID-19 pandemic that is posing a threat, thereare many other infectious diseases as well which continue to claim lives inIndia, such as malaria and tuberculosis, which are observed to have a highermortality rate.
Malaria and TB continue to claim many lives in India
India continues to report thousands of cases of malaria and dengue every year. In 2018 alone, 228 million cases of malaria were reported globally, according to WHO. 85% of the cases were reported in 19 countries in Sub- Saharan Africa and India. Same is the case with deaths due to malaria. 2% of the global deaths due to malaria are reported in India. India also accounted for 3% of the total malaria cases in the world and 47% of the total P.vivax cases of malaria.
Tuberculosis or TB resulted in the death of 4.4 Lakh people in 2018 according to National Tuberculosis Control Programme Report. Globally, 15 lakh deaths were reported in the same year. Tuberculosis claims more lives than any other infectious disease worldwide. One of India’s SDG target is to be TB free by 2025.
According to CDC,the top ten diseases causing death in India are the following
Featured Image:Disease outbreaks in India

source: news-factly

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

author: Sai Krishna Muthyanolla


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Service Tax history
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
June 4, 2016
With the introduction of the Krishi Kalyan Cess, the service tax rate is now 15%. Service Tax was first introduced in 1994 when Dr. Manmohan Singh was the Finance Minister. The initial rate was only 5% and was levied on only 3 services.
With the introduction of Krishi Kalyan Cess, the Service Tax rate in India is now 15%. There are a wide variety of services on which this tax is levied and the service tax revenue has become a very important source of indirect tax revenue for the Government of India. Service Tax was first introduced in 1994 when Dr. Manmohan Singh was the Finance Minister.
Introduced in 1994 after the recommendation of Tax Reforms committee
Service Tax was first introduced in 1994. During his budget speech for the financial year 1994-95, the then Finance Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh emphasized the need for service tax. He said that though the services sector accounted for 40% of the GDP, it was never taxed. Based on the recommendations of the tax reforms committee, he proposed to impose service tax of 5% only on 3 services namely telephone bills, non-life insurance and tax brokers.
From 3 services in 1994 to a negative list regime
The service tax regime started with 3 services under the tax net in 1994 and progressively increased to 119 different services in 2011-12. In 1996, 3 more services namely advertising agencies, courier agencies and radio pager services were added to the list. In 1997, this number increased to 15 and services like air travel agents, mandap keepers, man power recruitment agencies were brought into the tax fold. This number increased to 119 in 2011-12. The latest to be included in 2011-12 were services of air conditioned restaurants and hotel accommodation.
From 2012, there has been a paradigm shift in the levy of service tax. Instead of levying tax on certain services, tax was imposed on all services except those listed in the negative list. The negative list in 2012  had 39 different services that were exempt from service tax. Since then, the list is modified each year.
Tax rate increased three times in 22 years
The service tax rate increased from 5% in 1994 to 15% in 2016. In other words, service tax rate has tripled in 22 years. The service tax rate was more or less constant at 5% from 1994-95 to 2002-03, though the number of services under the tax net increased in each year. In 2003, the service rate was increased by 60% from 5% to 8%.  In the next year, it was increased from 8% to 10%.  Education cess was first introduced in 2004 by the UPA 1 government. In 2004, a 2% education cess on the amount of service tax was introduced. Hence the net tax rate became 10.2%.
In 2006, the service tax rate was increased from 10% to 12%. In addition, a Secondary & Higher Education Cess of 1% on service tax was introduced. The net service rate became 12.36%. It remained at 12.36% till 2009 when it was brought back to 10.3% under the expectation of introducing GST from 2010. In 2012, the base service rate was increased again from 10% to 12% while the overall service tax rate increased to 12.36%. It remained at 12.36% till 2015 when the NDA government increased the service rate to 14% including the education cess. In addition, Swachh Bharat Cess of 0.5% was also introduced taking the effective service tax rate to 14.5%. In 2016-17, while the base rate remained unchanged, Krishi Kalyan Cess of 0.5% was introduced taking the service tax rate to 15%.
Service Tax revenue increases by over 500 times in 22 years
From a mere Rs 407 crore in 1994-95, the service tax revenue has increased to Rs 210000 crore in 2015-16, an increase of more than 500 times. The service tax revenue started to increase steadily once the rate was revised from 5% to 8%. Except in 2009-10 when the service tax revenue decreased on account of a reduction in the tax rate, the service tax collection in rest of the years was always more than the previous year.


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Hoarding that shows Kejriwal congratulating Delhi for installation of dustbins is morphed - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
August 5, 2021
A post is being widely shared on social media claiming that Arvind Kejriwal’s was congratulating the people of Delhi through a hoarding for the installation of new dustbins in Kirti Nagar. According to the image og the hoarding in the viral post,  Kejriwal is alleged to be saying , “Congratulations Delhi as 10 new dustbins have been installed in Kirti Nagar Industrial Area”. Let us fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Hoarding of Arvind Kejriwal congratulating Delhi for installing 10 dustbins in Kirti Nagar Industrial area.
Fact: The Hoarding is morphed and is not genuine. There are no recent news articles or any credible information about Arvind Kejriwal congratulating people through a hoarding for the installation of 10 dustbins. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When the image is observed closely, we found several inconsistencies. One, the ‘Bhadhai Ho Delhi’ title written (in Hindi) on top of the hoarding. The ‘Ho’ part written (in Hindi) looks like it was pasted onto the reflection of light falling on the hoarding. This shows that the text has been digitally added at the top of the image.
Two, the left part of the image. When the left top corner of the supposed hoarding is zoomed in, we can see different shades of blue – the upper region has a darker shade than the lower region. There are also remnants of a previous text on the far left side of the image.
Three, the contrast and sharpness of the text in the image. When the image is zoomed in, the difference in the sharpness between the title, the Delhi Government logo, and the text on the lower half of the hoarding can be seen clearly. This proves that the entire text is not part of the image and has been added digitally.
Four, the alignment of the text. When the hoarding is looked at closely, the text printed on the lower half of the hoarding is not properly aligned to the edge of the border of the hoarding.
When reverse image search is done on the cropped image of Arvind Kejriwal, an article was found with same images of Arvind Kejriwal. The article was titled, ‘After massive COVID-19 mismanagement in Delhi, AAP govt runs full-page advertisements across the country to boost Kejriwal’s image’ and published on 09 July 2021. In the article, the Delhi Government was criticised for carrying full-page ads on newspapers like Times of India. The image of Kejriwal could have been picked up from these ads.
The image of Arvind Kejriwal in the advertisements matches with his image in the alleged hoarding. The design looks identical except the areas where the text has been altered. Further, there are no recent news articles or any credible information that say such hoardings have been put up by the Delhi government.
To sum it up, hoarding showing Kejriwal congratulating Delhi for installation of dustbins is morphed.

created: August 5, 2021


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Hoardings of Aditya Thackeray were put up in multiple languages, not just in Urdu - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
September 9, 2021
A social media post accompanying an image of hoarding of Aditya Thackeray with the caption ‘Salaam Worli’ written in Urdu is being shared widely.  The post alludes to a shift in his party’s inclination towards the Muslim community. Through this article, let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Aditya Thackeray’s hoarding with Urdu caption, alluding a shift in his party’s inclination towards the Muslim community.
Fact: This hoarding was put up back in 2019, as part of the general election campaign when he contested from the Worli constituency. However, hoardings were not just put up in Urdu but in multiple Indian languages like Telugu, Gujarati, etc. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
Upon reverse image search, we found multiple 2019 news reports which reported similar hoardings of Aditya Thackeray with captions in multiple languages. As per the ANI tweet, Shiva Sena has put up posters of Aditya Thackeray which say, ‘How are you Worli?’ in different languages in Worli, when he contested from this constituency in the 2019 Maharashtra assembly election. The tweet shared images of hoardings in Urdu, Telugu, Gujarati, etc.
Mumbai: Shiv Sena puts up posters of Aditya Thackeray which say 'How are you Worli?' in different languages. He is contesting #MaharashtraAssemblyPolls from Worli constituency. https://t.co/kurUjKEGT7 pic.twitter.com/CpgCaGr1r1
Multiple news agencies have also reported Aditya Thackeray’s multilingual posters as part of the election campaign back in 2019. These news articles can be read here, here, and here. These articles prove that Aditya Thackeray’s hoardings were put up not only in Urdu but also in multiple other languages.
From the above information, we can infer that the old hoarding of Aditya Thackeray in one particular language is being taken out of context to allege a change in his party’s inclination from one community to other.
To sum it up, ‘How are you Worli?’ hoardings of Aditya Thackrey were put up in multiple languages, and not just in Urdu.

created: September 9, 2021


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Home Ministry moves to collect data on attacks on RTI activists, Journalists, Whistleblowers and Social activists - Factly
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
July 23, 2015
The National Crime Records Bureau under the Ministry of Home Affairs has circulated a new template to all states for capturing statistics related to crime. The new template now has a section to capture the attacks on RTI/Social Activists, Journalists & Whistle blowers. While this is a welcome first step, there are certain issues with the current template and it needs to be refined further.
While in one Central Indian State the art of getting rid of whistleblowers is dangerously progressing towards becoming a science, the Government of India has initiated the exercise of collecting data on attacks on Whistleblowers, media persons, social activists and RTI activists from across the country.
Every year the Government of India collects data from the police station level across the country including Jammu and Kashmir about the occurrence of various crimes under several Central and State laws during the previous year. The focal point for collecting such information is the Delhi-based National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) at the Centre and its counterparts in the States- State Crime Records Bureaus and their feeders- District Crime Records Bureaus. The NCRB publishes a wealth of information about the occurrence of and actions on crime in its Annual Crime in India Reports (CIR). The CIR for 2014 is due soon. The Police Station forms the basic unit for reporting crime statistics across the country.
The NCRB has circulated a new template to all States, Union territories and Cities for capturing statistics relating to the occurrence of crime. The data for cities and Union territories often has to be collected separately because they have Police Commissionerate systems unlike other parts of the States which come under the respective Police Departments. The latest version of the data collection template mentions three new categories of crime statistics.
Official efforts to collect data about attacks on RTI activists, whistleblowers and media persons are a belated but commendably important first step towards recognising that phenomenon. However there are some technical problems in the manner of collection of such information:
1) If an RTI activist/ social activist, media person or whistleblower is murdered (Heavens forbid!), then that case will be counted under the Crime Head- Murder (Section 302) of the template. . If not, the deceased will be counted in the larger category of ‘murders’ that gives no breakups regarding the identity of victims.
2) Will a first time user of RTI who is attacked (and survives) for his/her intervention be treated as an RTI/Social Activist is a moot question. The recent instance of the alleged murder of an RTI user who filed his first RTI application to inquire about police action against a suspected bootlegger in Gujarat may not even qualify for inclusion in this category.
The Police Official at the police station who is in charge of supplying such data on a monthly basis to the NCRB will wield a lot of discretion in counting such numbers unless the template is refined further to reflect all attacks- murderous and grievous ones separately, for RTI users/activists, social activists, media persons and whistleblowers.
3) Recording of attacks on whistleblowers may not be easy. While a citizen who blows the whistle on wrongdoing in government may file a complaint about a resultant attack, an internal whistleblower, namely an employee of a government office may not be able to get a complaint registered by the police without adequate support from sympathizers or influential people. Indeed we do not have enough data on how many internal whistleblowers have made complaints about attacks on them to the police till date. The Vyapam scandal in Madhya Pradesh has opened only a peephole into this macabre tradition (and not merely phenomenon) of silencing those who speak the truth.
4) It is quite possible that some cases of attacks may go unregistered by the police at first instance. In such cases if the ‘sufferer’ (and not victim or survivor – because ‘suffering’ reflects the truth of his/her experience and not just its aftermath) or the witness move the Magistrate’s Court through a private complaint under the Criminal Procedure Code, such instances may not necessarily be reflected in the statistics sent by the police to the NCRB.
5) As the Government of India (GoI) drags its feet on ensuring effective whistleblower protection for internal and external whistleblowers, seeking to amend the Whistleblowers Protection Act, 2014 (WBP Act) instead of implementing it, who will the Police Official responsible for sending the data to NCRB, recognise as a whistleblower is a big question. GoI succeeded in pushing through a very retrograde set of amendments to the WBP Act during the budget session of the Lok Sabha (Lower House of Parliament).  Will the Rajya Sabha (Upper House) support it or reject it remains to be seen in the monsoon session, which began today.
It is very commendable that the Government and the NCRB have started collecting monthly data on attacks on social activists, RTI activists, and whistleblowers and media persons. However, citizens, activists, civil society organizations and the media must come forward to suggest to the NCRB how better to record and collect information about attacks on them. Police Officials who record complaints about crime and report crime statistics must be trained to faithfully account for every instance of such attack reported to them and not merely where an activist is the sufferer. It is important to provide practical guidance to them for recognizing each case in a sensitive manner rather in a lackadaisical routine fashion.
Sufferers of such attacks or their witnesses who move the police or the courts for redress must ensure that the reason for the attack – whistle blowing, RTI or social activism or media intervention must be clearly mentioned in such complaint to unequivocally establish the link between the activism and the attack.
The NCRB must pay immediate attention to refining its template to cover all kinds of attacks on these categories of persons to be separately and accurately reflected in the statistics instead of being mixed with the general figures about crime. NCRB must work with knowledgeable civil society actors, academics and media persons to develop guidelines for police officials who record and transmit such data. For example, attacks on activists who struggle against corruption, gender, caste, religion or language or disability-based discrimination or the rights of children or for protecting the environment or those who expose illegal mining, land mafia, sand mafia and all other kinds of mafia which have become so common place in India, must be faithfully recorded and reported instead of sidelining the issue. The UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders provides a comprehensive list of such activists who work for accountability and social justice. These categories must be incorporated in the guidelines to capture all instances of attacks on individuals who are engaged in such activities. These portions of the monthly reports must be sent to the National Human Rights Commission and the sector specific Commissions such as those established for protecting the rights of vulnerable groups such as women, children, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, religious minorities and the differently-abled. This will help them to take suo motu cognizance of such cases and demand immediate action by the police under their supervision.
Further, the template must be refined to include fields regarding the progress of the investigation and the prosecution in such cases on a monthly basis. All this information must be proactively disclosed through the websites of the respective Police Departments (State and District Level and if available Police Station level) as well as the NCRB.
You may have many more useful suggestions for the NCRB on this issue. Please send your suggestions by email to: dct@ncrb.nic.in or send them a post card or letter with your suggestions at this address: National Crime Records Bureau, East Block-7, R. K. Puram, New Delhi- 110 066. You could also fax your suggestions to the Director, NCRB at- 011-26197984.
Featured Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy | The Hindu


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‘Honda’ is not giving away 372 free ‘Activa 5G’ Scooters on its 72nd Anniversary - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
January 8, 2020
FACTLY has received a message on its Whatsapp number from many users asking to check the authenticity of the message that ‘Honda’ is giving away 372 free ‘Activa 5G’ Scooters on the eve of the company’s 72nd Anniversary. The users are asked to avail themselves of the offer by clicking on the link given in that message. The same message (archived) is also being shared on Facebook. Let’s check to what extent it is true.
‘Honda’ is giving away 372 free ‘Activa 5G’ Scooters on the eve of the company’s 72nd Anniversary.
Fact: ‘Honda’ company is not giving any free scooters. The message is just a giveaway ‘scam’. So, those who participate in the scheme by clicking the link will not get any free scooter. Hence, the claim is FALSE.
The message says that ‘Honda’ is giving away 372 free ‘Activa 5G’ Scooters on the eve of the company’s 72nd Anniversary and the scooter can be obtained by clicking on the link ‘activa.specialoffer.xyz’.
Hints that the message is just a ‘scam’:
Also, it can be found that a similar message – ‘300 Free Honda Activa 5G Scooters to celebrate DIWALI’ went viral in October 2019.
To conclude, the news that ‘Honda’ is giving away 372 free ‘Activa 5G’ Scooters on its 72nd Anniversary is fake.
Did you watch our video on the 10 Most Ridiculous Fake News of the Year 2019?

created: January 8, 2020


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Hong Kong Government did not approve any map that includes China-occupied regions as part of India - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
June 23, 2020
A screenshot of a tweet purportedly posted by Chief Executive of Hong Kong, Carry Lam Cheng is being shared on social media claiming that the Republic of Hong Kong is going to approve a new map that includes Chinese-occupied areas: Aksai chin, Thag La ridge, Khinzemane and Tibet Autonomous region as parts of India under Union Territory Ladakh. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Hong Kong approved a new map that includes China-occupied regions under India’s territory.
Fact: Hong Kong Legislative council has not approved any such map including China-occupied regions as part of India. The photos shown in the post were related to the ‘National Anthem ordinance’ passed by the legislative council of Hong Kong. In the photo, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng is seen signing that ordinance. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When searched for the information with the keywords, It is found that the Hong Kong Legislative Council has not approved any such map including China-occupied regions in India’s territory. Hong Kong is a metropolitan area that is a Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China. More information about the Hong Kong legislative council could be seen here.
On reverse image search, similar photos as those shared in the post were found in a Press Release of Hong Kong Government with the title ‘CE signs National Anthem Ordinance’. This Ordinance was introduced to promote and protect China’s National Anthem in Hong Kong. Complete information about this ordinance could be seen here. Nothing related to India’s map was mentioned in this Ordinance.
The tweet shown in the post was not posted by the Carry Lam Cheng (Chief Executive of Hong Kong). It’s a fake account created in the name of Carry Lam Cheng (@carrylamcheng). Carry Lam Cheng doesn’t have an official Twitter account. In 2014, the same fake account created in the name of Carry Lam, posted tweets from India. Except for the tweets posted by this fake account in recent times, all the other posts are related to India. In 2014, a reply to the tweet posted from this account showed the profile name as ‘@dreamer_patel7’. Also, the official website of Chief Executive of Hong Kong,  shared only the Facebook and Instagram accounts links of  Carry Lam Chieng.
To sum it up, Hong Kong has not approved any map that includes China-occupied regions as part of India under Union Territory Ladakh.
Did you watch our new video?


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Honor-killing victim photo shared as that of a martyr in Pulwama attack - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
February 20, 2020
An image showing a toddler, in the arms of a woman, touching the photo of a man in the frame is being shared on social media. The claim about the image is that the man in the photo frame is a Pulwama martyr. Let’s try to analyze the claim made in the post.
The man in the photo frame is a martyr in Pulwama attack (2019).
Fact: The man in the photo frame is Pranay Kumar. He is a victim of ‘honour-killing’ in 2018 in Nalgonda district of Telangana. So, the claim is FALSE.
When the photo is subjected to reverse image search technique, many search results were obtained. The search result of ‘Telugu Adda’ had the image in its video and had the title ‘Amrutha, Pranay son Nihaan Pranay 1st birthday celebrations’. Many other search results that had a similar title and had the same photo in videos. They can be seen here and here.
When searched with the text ‘Amrutha Pranay’, an article of ‘The Hindu’ was found. According to the article, on 14 September 2018, Pranay Kumar, a ‘Dalit’ was murdered by people hired by his father-in-law Maruthi Rao (a ‘Vysya’) for marrying his daughter Amrutha against his wishes. So, the man in the photo frame is ‘Pranay Kumar’ and he is a victim of honour killing.
Also, in the photographs of the CRPF jawans who have martyred in the Pulwama attack, the image of the man seen in the posted photo is not found.
To conclude, the man in the photo frame seen in the image isn’t a Pulwama martyr. He is a victim of  ‘honour-killing’ in Telangana.
Did you watch our new video in the DECODE series?

created: February 20, 2020


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Horns blowing Dhoom movie soundtrack was not played when the ship was freed in Suez Canal - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 1, 2021
A post accompanying the video of the ship that got stuck in the Suez Canal sailing back into the waters, with horns blowing Dhoom movie soundtrack in the backdrop is being shared on social media. The post claims that ‘Dhoom Horns are been blown as the ship finally leaves the Suez Canal’. Through this article let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Dhoom movie soundtrack horns were blown when the ship that got stuck in Suez Canal started sailing back into the waters.
Fact: Horns blowing Dhoom movie soundtrack was not played while the ship which got stuck in Suez Canal was freed. This soundtrack was digitally added to the video. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Reverse image search of the video in the post led us to a news video by TeN TV which reported the freeing of the boat that got stuck in the Suez Canal. This video has the same visuals as in the video shared in the post. However, in the news video, we can just hear only the regular horns of ships and the sound of water but not the Dhoom movie soundtrack.
Even in other news video reports about the refloating of the ship, we can only hear regular horns but not the Dhoom movie soundtrack. These reports can be seen here and here. Also, there are no news reports about the Dhoom soundtrack being played when the ship was freed.
In view of the refloating of the ship which got stuck in the Suez Canal, posts like these are being shared on social media with misleading claims.
To sum it up, horns blowing Dhoom movie soundtrack was not played when the ship was freed in Suez Canal.


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‘Hospital staff killing patients?’: Except for one, the other two clips in this video are old & unrelated - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 28, 2021
A video is being shared on social media with a claim that it shows how hospital staff is killing patients. It is being shared in the context of the current COVID-19 situation in the country. Let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Video shows how hospital staff is killing patients in India currently.
Fact: Except for the first clip in the posted video, none of the other two clips are related to any recent incident. The first clip shows a woman complaining about the death of her father due to the negligence of a hospital in Karnataka. The second clip is being shared by Bangladesh social media users at least since May 2020 whereas the last clip is related to an incident that happened at a hospital in Patiala in August 2020. So, both the clips in the posted video, which show patients allegedly being beaten are old & unrelated. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
The posted video has three different clips. Let us try to find out the context of each clip separately.
Clip 1:
The logo of ‘NewsFirst Kannada’ can be seen in the video. So, when we searched on their YouTube channel, the same video clip of a woman complaining about the death of her father due to the negligence of the hospital was found. Several videos on the same incident can be seen on the ‘NewsFirst Kannada’ YouTube channel. An article with the title – ‘Neglect of treatment at Oxford Hospital: Allegation’ (in Kannada) was published by ‘Prajavani’ on the same incident in Karnataka. The other two clips in the posted video were not found related to this incident.
Clip 2:
We could not find the exact context of this clip. But the same video was found to be shared with several claims on Facebook by users from Bangladesh in May 2020. Some of those old posts can be seen here and here. So, it can be concluded that the video is old and not related to the current COVID-19 situation.
Clip 3:
The third clip in the posted video is related to an incident that happened at a private hospital in Patiala in August 2020. According to ‘The Tribune’ article, two hospital staff members reportedly thrashed a person suffering from depression. The police have arrested the staff who were involved in the incident. So, it is an old incident from Patiala and not related to the other clips in the posted video.
To sum it up, except for one clip where a woman can be seen complaining about the negligence of the hospital, the other two clips in the posted video are old and unrelated.


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How are various Companies spending CSR money? - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
March 2, 2016
Large Companies are spending their CSR money on a variety of activities. Most of them have their own foundations or trusts through which these programs are implemented. It is also observed that quite a few companies have contributed to premier educational institutions like the IITs, IIMs and even private educational institutions.
As Factly reported earlier, a total of 6338 crore rupees were spent on CSR activities by 460 different companies in 2014-15. This story looks at the activities of some of the top spenders in 2014-15.
Companies to report CSR activities in their Annual Report
The CSR rules mandate each qualifying company to constitute a CSR committee and formulate a CSR Policy. The rules prescribe the list of CSR activities that can be undertaken. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has also issued a circular in 2014 clarifying various issues about CSR activities. All the qualifying companies are required to report annual expenditure under CSR in a prescribed format in the Annual Board Report.
Reliance Industries Limited
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC)
Infosys
Wipro
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)
Mahindra & Mahindra
Hindustan Unilever
TATA Steel
General Observations
The following are some of the observations.
Though this is only the first year of mandatory CSR expenditure, the activities undertaken by various large companies does give a fair idea of which way this might go in the future. The government would do well to review these activities and issue further guidelines on what could be taken up and what cannot be.
(This is Part 2 of the series on CSR Expenditure by various Companies. In Part 1, we looked at the overall CSR expenditure of 460 companies in 2014-15)


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How did the Moon form? - Infographic - Factly
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
July 29, 2015
Sources:


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How does the Level Indicator in Battery Work? - Factly
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
September 10, 2015
Ever wondered how the level indicator on a Battery works? Here is how.

created: September 10, 2015


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How does Indian Railways make money?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
February 18, 2017
How does Indian Railways make money? Here is a short explainer video on the revenue sources of Indian Railways

created: February 18, 2017


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How does the 2019 Lok Sabha election schedule compare with 2014?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
March 11, 2019
The Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the schedule of the 17th Lok Sabha elections yesterday. The elections would be held in 7 phases starting 11th April 2019. The counting will take place on 23rd May 2019. Here are some of the highlights.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the schedule of the 17th Lok Sabha elections yesterday. The elections would be held in 7 phases starting 11th April 2019. The counting will take place on 23rd May 2019.
About 10% increase in total eligible voters
The 16th Lok Sabha is set to expire on 03rd June 2019 while the 15th Lok Sabha expired on 31st May 2014. This time around, the elections will be conducted in 7 phases compared to 9 phases in 2014. The last phase of voting as well as the date of counting in 2019 are one week later in May compared to the same month in 2014.
In terms of the total electorate, it has increased from 814.5 million in 2014 to 900 million in 2019, an increase of 10.5%. However, the electorate in the 18-19 age group or the first time voters decreased from 23 million in 2014 to 15 million in 2019, a decrease of more than 30%. The number of other gender voters has marginally increased. Though there has been a 6-fold increase in the registration of overseas electors compared to 2014, this is still negligible compared to the total number of overseas electors across the world. The number of service electors has also registered an increase of more than 25%, from 13.28 lakh in 2014 to 16.77 lakh in 2019. The number of polling stations for the 2019 elections has crossed the million mark, an increase of 11.6% compared to 2014.
Three States will go for a 7-phase election
This time around, three different states will have elections in all the 7 phases. Bihar, Uttar Pradesh & West Bengal will go for polls in every phase. In 2014, none of the states had a 7-phase election. Only Uttar Pradesh & Bihar had a 6-phase election in 2014, the most for any state. 22 States/UTs will go for polls in a single phase, the same as 2014. Four (4) states will go for polls in 4-phases in 2019 compared to none in 2014. Anantnag constituency in Jammu & Kashmir will go for polls in 3 different phases (3rd, 4th and 5th phase). In other words, different assembly constituencies in Anantnag will go for polls in 3 different phases. This is a rare occurrence.
Elections in 12 States/UTs will be complete sooner than the dates in 2014 while they will be completed later in the rest of the States/UTs. Elections in Andhra Pradesh & Telangana will get over 20 days earlier compared to the dates in 2014.
Other important updates
The following provisions will also be applicable in the current elections.
Mandatory counting of VVPAT slips:  VVPAT slips will be counted for one (1) randomly selected polling station of each Assembly Segment of Parliamentary Constituency. This is in addition to the provisions of Rule 56(D) of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961 where candidates can seek counting of VVPAT slips by applying to the returning officer.
Photographs of Candidates on EVMs: The photograph of candidate will also  be printed on the ballot paper to be displayed on the EVM (Ballot Unit) and on Postal Ballot Papers. This will help avoid any confusion when candidates with same or similar names contest from the same constituency.
Any of the eleven (11) identity documents can be produced: Voters who are not able to produce the EPIC can produce one of the following alternative photo identity documents for establishing their identity.
Voter Helpline (1950): Voter helpline (1950) has been activated across the country to cater to the voters queries.  Voter Helpline App has also been launched. SMS facility has been made available on 1950 to enable electors verify their names on the Electoral Roll (Voter List).
cVIGIL App: cVIGIL app is available on google playstore  where citizens can record on his Android mobile and report to election authorities any violation of Model Code of Conduct, any incident of intimidation or inducement within minutes of having witnessed them and without having to go to the office of the returning officer.  If the complainant desires to remain anonymous he has the option to do so. cVIGIL provides time stamped evidentiary proof of the Model Code of Conduct/Expenditure Violation, having live photo/video with auto location data. The status of cVIGIL is shared with the cVIGIL complainant within 100 minutes.


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How does the beetle get its shimmering colors - Factly
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
July 30, 2015
Source :  http://www.webexhibits.org/causesofcolor/15A.html
http://www.qualcomm.com.au/products/mirasol-display-technology


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Prime Minister’s Office Petitions
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 24, 2016
Being the most important government office in the country, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) receives a lot of petitions/letters each day. But how does the PMO deal with such petitions? Here is a look at the guidelines followed in dealing with such petitions.
Being the most important government office in the country, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) must be receiving a lot of petitions/complaints/ representations/letters each day. Technology has also made it easier to lodge such petitions. But how does the PMO deal with the many petitions that it receives? What is the procedure followed? Factly filed an application under the RTI act to find out.
Two categories of Petitions
As per the reply received from the PMO’s public wing, there are certain guidelines to deal with the petitions received in the public wing.  All the petitions received in this wing are categorized into
How is the categorization done?
As per the existing guidelines, the following types of petitions are categorized as non-actionable petitions.
Only four different types of petitions are considered as actionable petitions.
As per the guidelines, in case of a doubt about categorization of any petition, the Under Secretary (Public) will decide if it’s to be acted upon or not.
What happens then?
As per the guidelines, all non-actionable petitions are filed and no acknowledgement is sent to the petitioner. But in case of actionable petitions, the following actions are taken.
How many such petitions does the PMO receive?
Though the latest information is not available, a total of 1,07,775 petitions were received in the public wing in the 18 month period between 1 May 2013 and 31 October 2014. This is an average of 6000 petitions a month or 200 such petitions a day.
Featured Image:By Shivang Dubey (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons


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How is a Film Certified by the Censor Board (CBFC)?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
October 14, 2015
The issue of Film Certification has been discussed time & again in the context of the role of the Censor Board. But how does the Censor Board certify a film? What is the process followed? Who certifies a film and how?
Indian Film Industry is the largest, making over 1250 feature films every year and a much larger number of short films every year. There has always been a lot of discussion over film certification; more so lately after the censor board issued a list of banned swear words. This drew a lot of ire from the filmmakers that such actions are against the freedom & creative liberty. In this multi-part series on CBFC, we start with taking a look at what CBFC is and how the films are certified.
Why is Film Certification Necessary?
The Supreme Court in a judgment in 1989 said, ‘Film censorship becomes necessary because a film motivates thought and action and assures a high degree of attention and retention as compared to the printed word. The combination of act and speech, sight and sound in semi darkness of the theatre with elimination of all distracting ideas will have a strong impact on the minds of the viewers and can affect emotions. Therefore, it has as much potential for evil as it has for good and has an equal potential to instill or cultivate violent or good behaviour. It cannot be equated with other modes of communication. Censorship by prior restraint is, therefore, not only desirable but also necessary.’
What is Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) or the Censor Board?
Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) or more commonly known as the Censor Board is a statutory body under Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, regulating the public exhibition of films. The board, set up under the Cinematograph Act, 1952 functions with its headquarters at Mumbai. The CBFC has nine regional offices, one each at Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Thiruvananthapuram, Hyderabad, New Delhi, Cuttack & Guwahati. Currently headed by Pahlaj Nihlani, the members of the panel are appointed by the Central Government for a period of 2 years by drawing people from different walks of life.
At present, films are certified under 4 categories: U, UA, A& S.
Number of Films Certified
According to the official figures from CBFC, a total of 40,325 certificates were issued by CBFC between 2009 & 2011. (Data is only available up to 2011 on the CBFC website)
The Process for Certification of Films
The Cinematograph Rules explicitly state the process to be followed by a producer to get his film or video film certified, including the materials to be submitted and the fees to be paid.
Time limits for the Certification Process:
Rule 41 of the Cinematograph rules prescribe the following time limits for the certification process:
The following documents show the entire process step by step for the film Munna Pandey Berozgaar. These documents have been obtained under the RTI act by Media Watch India, a non-profit working for accountability in the Media.
Sample Form 1A – Munna Pande Berozgaar:
Sample Examining Officers Response – Munna Pandey Berozgaar:
Voluntary and Recommended Cuts List – Munna Pandey Berozgaar:
Cuts Verification by Examining Committee – Munna Pandey Berozgaar:
Sample Examining Officers Response – Munna Pandey Berozgaar:
Sample Final Certificate – Munna Pandey Berozgaar
The complete document for the Certification of the film, Munna Pandey Berozgaar can be found here.
The Guiding Principles in Certifying Films
The Cinematograph Act lays down that a film shall not be certified if any part of it is against the interest of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency or involves defamation or contempt of court or is likely to incite commission of any offence.
The Central Government has issued a detailed list of guidelines, which include some of the following:

created: October 14, 2015


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How is a Film Certified by the Censor Board (CBFC)?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
November 20, 2015
The issue of Film Certification has been discussed time & again in the context of the role of the Censor Board. But how does the Censor Board certify a film? What is the process followed?
Read the detailed story here.

created: November 20, 2015


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How is double rainbow formed - Factly
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
July 22, 2015
Source:
https://www.quora.com/How-is-a-double-rainbow-formed
http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/cld/cldtyp/lw/nbstr.rxml


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How is the President of India Elected?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
October 21, 2015
The election to the President of India is an indirect election. The people do not elect the President directly. He is elected by MPs & MLAs who are in turn elected by people. The election process is based on the concept of Electoral College and the value of vote of MPs & MLAs is different.

created: October 21, 2015


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This is how the Seating arrangement in the Lok Sabha works
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 24, 2019
Now that the elections are complete, the focus will turn to the first sitting of the 17th Lok Sabha. Seat allotment in the Lok Sabha sometimes could be a contentious affair. Seats in the front row are the most sought after. But who decides the seating arrangement in the Lok Sabha?
After the 2014 Lok Sabha elections resulted in a drubbing for the Congress party, there were reports that the party was demanding two extra seats in the front row of the Lok Sabha.  History might repeat again with Congress ending up with just 52 seats in the 2019 general elections. Getting front row seats is an issue of prestige for most parties and senior members of the house. Then, how is the seating arrangement in the Lok Sabha decided?
The Lok Sabha Chamber Seating Capacity
The Lok Sabha chamber has a seating accommodation for 550 Members. The seats are divided into six blocks, each with eleven rows. Block No. 1 on the right-hand side of the Speaker’s Chair and Block No. 6 on the left-hand side have 97 seats each. The remaining 4 blocks have 89 seats each. A seat is allotted in the chamber to each Member, including Ministers who are Members of Lok Sabha. The seats on the right-hand side of the Speaker’s Chair are occupied by the Members of the ruling party and those on the left-hand side by Members belonging to the Opposition Parties/Groups. The Deputy Speaker occupies the first front row seat on the left side.
Who decides the seating arrangement?
As per Rule 4 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha, The members shall sit in such order as determined by the speaker of the house. The speaker is guided by the direction 122(1)(a) of the ‘Directions by the Speaker’. This direction clearly authorizes the speaker to allot seats in the house in proportion to the strength of the Party and the total number of seats available in the Chamber.
How is this allotment done?
The following formula is applied to decide allotment of seats for parties that have a strength of 5 or more members in the house.
If we take the front row of seats for example, there are a total of 20 front row seats across the six blocks. Going by the above formula, the BJP has 303 in the 17th Lok Sabha and together with its allies, the NDA has more than 350 members in the house. The NDA, therefore will be entitled to 13 front row seats out of the available 20.
Going the same formula, the Congress which has 52 members in the house after the Lok Sabha results is entitled for only two front row seats. Similarly , the other parties will be allocated seats in each row accordingly.
What happens after that?
Similar process is followed for each of the rows. After the number of seats to be allotted to each party is worked out, they are released to the party. Based on the recommendations received from the party, seats are allotted to the individual members  with the approval of the Speaker.
What about parties with fewer than 5 members?
Seat allotment to members belonging to smaller parties (with strength of less than 5 members) and independents is done by the speaker as per her discretion in accordance with established principles like
This is the reason why people like H D Deve Gowda & Mulayam Singh Yadav were given front row seats in 2014 even though their respective parties did not have the required numbers.


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How is Security Deployment Plan for Elections made?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 25, 2019
How is the security deployment plan made for elections? What factors are taken into consideration?
The near free, fair & peaceful conduct of elections in the country is testimony to the efforts of many organizations led by the Election Commission of India (ECI). Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) join the State Police for security during elections and ensure peaceful conduct of elections. Last year, the ECI has also announced honorarium to the personnel of CAPFs & State Armed Police force (SAP) deployed on election duty in recognition of their efforts and in response to a long pending demand.
CAPFs considered as main force multipliers
According to the ECI, during Elections, the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) are considered the main force multipliers due to their perceived neutrality, superior training and discipline, and experience of dealing with very challenging situations etc.
During elections, the State Governments also deploy a large number of their existing police forces and these are further augmented by the deployment of CAPFs for ensuring free, fair and peaceful conduct of elections.
Preparation of the State Deployment Plan for Elections
State governments have to prepare a State Deployment Plan for elections taking into account the available forces of the State Government/SAP and CAPF which will be made available by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). State Deployment Plan will be prepared in consultation with the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of the State and his recommendations on the quantum of forces to be deployed to different constituencies will be taken into consideration for deployment. The State Level Force Coordinator appointed by MHA will assist the CEO in this task.
The State Deployment Plan will factor in the requirements of the different districts based on District Deployment Plans which will be prepared by every district taking into account the forces being made available by the State Government to the district, the CAPFs and other forces being made available from the State pool to the district and the available forces with the district. The District Deployment Plan shall be formulated and finalized by District Magistrate/District Election Officer and Superintendent of Police.
The Election Observer on his arrival to the district shall be briefed by the District Magistrate and Superintendent of Police and the views of the Observer if any should be considered. Both the State Deployment Plan and District Deployment Plan would be finalized at least one week before the day of poll.
The following factors may be considered for identifying Sensitive and trouble prone areas/polling booths:
CAPF Jawan’s duty at the Polling Booth
The CAPF jawan posted at the entrance of a polling booth is expected to keep a watch of the following
The CAPF jawan reports any violation to the chief of the CAPF party who in turn alerts the returning officer.
Strong rooms are also guarded by the CAPFs
Strong Rooms (place where the EVMs are stored after elections and before counting of votes) are also guarded 24/7 by the CAPF guards. They are part of a three-tier system of security put in place to guard the strong rooms. The three tier security works the following way.
Long Pending demand of Honorarium accepted by the ECI
The ECI has accepted a long pending demand of extending honorarium to the security personnel deployed on election duty. The honorarium will be at the minimum rate of
If the duty exceeds 15 days, then an enhancement of Rs 1250, Rs 1000 and Rs 750 per additional week will be made for the three categories mentioned above.
The expenditure will be borne by the Central Government in case of an election to the Lok Sabha and by the State Government in case of an election to the State Assembly. The expenses will be shared on a 50:50 basis in case of simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha & the State Assembly.
Featured Image:Security at Polling Booth


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[Infographic] How many Animals are killed in Train Accidents?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
July 12, 2019
The Ministry of Railways has provided data on the number of animal deaths in train accidents. More than 35000 animals died in train accidents in the last three and a half years.
A question was raised in the Lok Sabha to the Ministry of Railways regarding the    number of animals that were killed annually in train accidents across the country.
In response, the Minister of Railways, Piyush Goyal provided the following numbers on     3rd July 2019. A total of 35,732 Animals & 65 Elephants have been killed from January 2016 to June 2019. Here is a slideshow of infographics.


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How many Geographical Indications are registered in India?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
October 1, 2019
A number of GIs are
registered in India for varied products. But what type of products hold the
most GIs? Which state has the maximum number of registered GIs?
From Kashmir Pashmina to Kerala’s AranmulaKannadi, Mizo Chilli to Makrana Marble of Rajasthan, there are hundreds ofunique products registered in India holding the Geographical Indication (GI)tag. Not only are these products are the origin’s claim to fame, they alsoattract consumers from different parts of the globe because of theirdistinctive features. In an earlier story, we explained what GIsare, their significance and the relevant rules in India. This story attempts toanalyse the different GIs registered in India across various regions andcategories.
A total of 361 products have been registered in India’s GI Registry
The Geographical Indications Registry has a total of 361 GIs registered in India as of September 2019. Theregistration of GIs began in the financial year 2004-05 after the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration & Protection) Act, 1999 came into effect fromSeptember 2003. The first applicant for the status was West Bengal for DarjeelingTea. Darjeeling Tea has received the GI status for both the product name aswell as the logo. The latest additions to the list are Srivilliputtur Palkovawhich is a sweet made of milk from Tamil Nadu and Kaji Nemu, a variant of lemonfrom Assam. As of 10 May 2019, the GI Registry had received a total of 646 applications since thebeginning.
Maximum number of GIs were registered in the year 2008-09
The data on registration of GIs in India is maintained for each financial year. In the first financial year 2004-05, when the registrations began, only Darjeeling Tea, Aranmula mirror and Pochampalli Ikkat were registered. The greatest number of entries to the registry was witnessed in 2008-09 with 45 products securing the GI tag. Between April 2016 and March 2017, 33 products have received the GI tag. In the year 2019-20, as of September 2019, 18 products have been registered under GI. The following chart shows the number of products that received the GI tag in India every year.
Products from foreign countries have also been registered in India
There are 15 products in the register, outof the total 361, whose origin is another country. These products areregistered in India to ensure recognition and protection of their rights. Theseproducts are mainly wines and spirits. A total of 9 countries- UK, USA,Ireland, France, Italy, Mexico, Thailand, Peru and Portugal have registeredproducts in India. The number of GIs from each of these countries and the listof products is given in the table below.
Karnataka with 45, has the largest number of GI tags in India
GIs from just a single state have beenregistered from almost all the states in India except Haryana, Jharkhand andPunjab. If the origin of a GI is from multiple states, these have been recordedas India for the purpose of this analysis. There are 11 products which havebeen marked as India. A few examples are Monsooned Malabar Arabica Coffee andMonsooned Malabar Robusta Coffee from Kerala and Karnataka, Warli Paintingalong the Western states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Dadra and Nager Haveli andDaman & Diu and Phulkari handicraft from Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan.
Karnataka has the largest number of registeredGI tags. 42 products have been registered from Karnataka in addition to 4products registered from multiple states where Karnataka is one of the states. FollowingKarnataka is Tamil Nadu with 35 products and Maharashtra with 30 products.While Haryana and Punjab have products registered along with other states,Jharkhand has no GIs registered under its name either singly or with otherstates. The chart below shows the number of GIs from each state and unionterritories in India as of September 2019.
209 GIs registered in India are handicrafts followed by 109 agricultural
products
GI registry has classified the productsinto four categories- agricultural, manufactured, handicraft, natural and foodstuff. The category wise analysis of the registered GIs shows that 209 of themare handicrafts and 109 are agricultural products. These two categories alongamount to 58% and 30% of all the GIs registered respectively in India tilldate.  The remaining 12% constitutes 24manufactured products, 17 food stuff and 2 natural products. The two naturalproducts are Makrana Marble of Rajasthan and Chunar Balua Patthar from UttarPradesh.
The Common GI logo
The Department for Promotion of Industryand Internal Trade under Ministry of Commerce and Industry, in June 2019released a notification stating the guidelines of the common GI logo and tagline on all GIsof India. The logo consists of a ‘G’ and ‘I’ bearing the three colours of theIndian flag. The tagline in English is ‘Invaluable Treasures of IncredibleIndia’ along with the same in Hindi.
The usage of this logo helps consumersacross the globe to identify the authentic GI products of India. It also helpsin promotion and marketing of Indian products. Foreign GI products are notpermitted to use this logo.

created: October 1, 2019


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How many of benefits for COVID-19 Central relief Package are new?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 2, 2020
The Finance Minister announced a Rs. 1.7 lakh crore package to help the poor & vulnerable tide over the lockdown crisis due to COVID-19. A slew of measures was announced under this package. How many of these measures are new and how many are existing benefits?
Inthe wake of the spread of COVID-19 in India, the government of India had announced a nation-wide lockdown, effective from the midnight of 24 March 2020, for aperiod of 21 days which was later extended to 03 May 2020. It is now extended for two more weeks with certain relaxations.
Oneof the key influencing factors for this decision making is the economicsituation. The nation-wide lockdown has brought the whole nation to astand-still with little or no economic activity. This economic situation has affected people from different walks of life.
Respectivestate governments have announced various measures to help poor & vulnerablecitizens during the turbulent times. Factly has earlier written a story on this.  Similarly, even the centralgovernment has also announced measures during the lockdown.
Oneof the key measures was the relief package announced by Finance Minister,Nirmala Sitharaman for those impacted by the lockdown. We take a look at thisrelief package and ascertain, if these are new benefits that the government hasannounced specific to the lockdown.
Rs.
1.7 lakh crore relief package announced by the Centre
On 26 March 2020, the Union Minister of Finance, Ms. Nirmala Sitharaman announced a relief package worth Rs.1.7 lakh crores to aid the poor during the lockdown due to COVID-19. This package was announced under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana.
Thekey relief measures & assistance announced as part of this package includethe following.
Therelief measures announced in this package are meant to address the needs of thevarious marginalized sections. Few of the already existing schemes areleveraged to transfer benefits announced under the relief package. However, ithas to be noted that some of these measures are not fresh & specificmeasures, but are existing schemes recalibrated to provide relief.
Wetake a look at each of these relief measures in detail.
New
Insurance scheme for health workers fighting COVID-19
Incontext of COVID-19, the government has announced a new Special insuranceScheme specifically for the health workers engaged in fighting COVID-19 duties. They include – Safai karmacharis,ward-boys, nurses, ASHA workers, paramedics, technicians, doctors and other specialistswho are in COVID-19 duties.
Thehighlights include:
Thisscheme is totally a new one and tailor made in respect to COVID-19. MOHFW hasreleased the relevant
guidelines for this insurance scheme.
Although the initial announcement has particularly specified healthcare workers in Government hospitals and Health Care centres, the detailed guidelines issued also included those working in Private facilities and who are in COVID-19 duty.
Not
all the Cash transfer benefits announced in the Relief Package are new ones
Aspart of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package, there are different cashbenefits announced by the government. The beneficiaries include – farmers,women, widows and others.
Rs.
2000 benefit extended to farmers is not a new one
Thecentre has announced the first instalment of Rs. 2000 to be paid under PM KisanYojana for 2020-21 would be moved forward to be paid out in April 2020. Thefirst instalment was due between April and July which has now been paid inApril.  The government estimates that 8.7crores farmers would be benefitted by this.
PMKisan Yojana is an existing scheme under which, the farmers who are thebeneficiaries listed under this scheme are entitled for an annual amount of Rs. 6000 which is paid out in three instalments every 4months.
Hence,this not a new benefit being announced to the farmers. The first instalment isbeing paid early in the wake of COVID-19. These farmers would have eventuallyreceived Rs.2000 irrespective COVID-19. The overall benefit announced by centrefor this comes up to approximately Rs. 17.4 thousand crores.
Rs.
500 per month to women holding Jan Dhan accounts
Womenare one of the most effected and vulnerable sections of the population duringthe lockdown.  As a part of the reliefpackage, central government has announced ex-gratia of Rs. 500 to women accountholders under PM Jan Dan Yojana. This would be provided for a period of threemonths, i.e. a total amount of Rs.1500 per account holder.  The government estimates a total of 20.4crores beneficiaries for this cash benefit totalling to Rs. 31 thousand crores.This is a new and additional benefit announced by the centre.
Cash
support to Senior Citizens, widows and physically disabled
Anothercash benefit announced as part of the relief package is Rs.1000 to be paid to seniorcitizens (above 60 years of age), widows and the people under Divyang category i.e.physically disabled. The government has estimated that there are around Rs. 3crore such aged, widows and people under Divyang category.  The amount of Rs.1,000 is the overall paymentfor the next three months.
Thisis a new benefit announced and not related to any existing scheme and theamount of Rs.1000 would be paid out in two instalments of Rs. 500 each. As perthe estimated number of beneficiaries, this comes to around Rs. 3 thousandcrores.
Payment
into PF account for low wage earners
Wageearners who earn less that Rs.15,000 per month are eligible for a cash transferinto their PF accounts.  The caveat hereis that they ought to be employed with businesses whose workforce is less than100 with 90 % of the employees having salary less than Rs.15,000 per month. Thestated intent by the government is to support those who are at the risk oflosing employment.
Theproposition by the government is to pay 24% of the monthly wages into the PFaccounts for next three months. Government has allocated Rs.5 thousand croresfor this.
Furtherin respect to EPF, government has announced that it will make
amendments to include ‘Pandemic’ as one of the reasons to allowfor non-refundable advance of 75% of amount or three months wages (whichever islower) from their PF accounts. About 4 crore workers who are registered underEPF can take benefit from this.
Increase
in MNREGA wages from 01 April 2020
UnderPM Garib Kalyan Yojana, Centre has announced that MNREGA wages would beincreased to Rs. 202 from Rs. 182 per day, i.e. an increase by Rs.20.  As per the statement, it would be an annualbenefit of Rs. 2000 per year per beneficiary provided they are given 100 daysof employment.  Approximately 13.62crores families may benefit from this measure.
However,any amount received through MNREGA would be based on the work done and Rs.2000additional benefit per year is assuming that the families work for 100 days.  The government has not highlighted how itplans to provide work under MNREGA especially during the lockdown.
State
Governments directed to utilize amount available in Construction workers
welfare funds for aiding construction workers
Constructionworkers are directly impacted by the lockdown. They also forma a major portionof the migrant Labour. To provide relief for them, during this period, theCentre has directed the State governments to utilize the funds available underWelfare Fund for Building and Other Constructions Workers.
Thisis an existing fund which is constituted under The Building & Other Construction Workers Act,1996. Furthermore, asper The
Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Cess Act, 1996,cess can be levied and collected to provide funds for the Building & Otherconstruction Workers welfare boards in the aforementioned act.
Thegovernment states that there are around 3.5 crores registered workers underthis fund. Prior to the announcement of this relief package, Labour Ministryhas issued an advisory on 24 March, to the State governments to use the Cess Fund for the welfare ofConstruction workers. About Rs. 52 thousand crores are available in the fund. Inher announcement, the Finance Minister has stated that it would advise thestates to use Rs. 31 thousand crores from the fund.
Furthermore,the government has also directed the State Governments to utilize the fundsavailable under District
Mineral Fund for purpose of developing facilities for medical testing,screening and others for preventing the spread of COVID-19.  The details of the amount allocated under thishas not been provided by the government.
Provision
of Rice & Pulses and other non-cash benefits announced
Additional
Food Grain & Pulses provided free of cost
Asper the National
Food Security Act, the beneficiaries are entitled to Rs.5 kgs of grain perperson every month.  As per the reliefpackage announced by the government, the beneficiaries would be receiving anadditional 5 kgs of grain (Rice /wheat) and 1 kg of pulses for a period ofthree months without any additional cost. Nearly 80 crore individuals areexpected to benefit from this. The government has allocated Rs.45 thousandcrores for this.
Gas
cylinders free of Cost
8crore poor families can receive Gas cylinder free of cost for three months. Thebeneficiaries under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana would be receiving threecylinders during the period April-June 2020.  This would cost the government around Rs.13 thousandcrores.
Increase
in ceiling on lending in SHGs
Thereare around 63 lakh Self Help Groups (SHGs) in the country that support 6.85crore households. As part of the COVID-19 relief package, government hasincreased the limit on the collateral free lending to Rs.20 lakhs from theearlier limit of Rs.10 lakhs.  However,this does not have any bearing on the cost incurred by the Central Governmentdue to this package.
Only
about 1 lakh crores of the 1.7 lakh crores new benefits
Ashighlighted through the story, few of the relief measures announced as part ofPM Garib Kalyan Yojana as a COVID-19 relief measure are newly announced by thegovernment, while few of them are already existing benefits.
Thenew benefits announced by the Governments come to around Rs. 1 lakh crores.
Thetotal announced package by the Central government was Rs.1.7 lakh crores. Thebalance includes already existing benefits and funds.
Therefore, although the overall package announced by Centre is Rs.1.7 lakh crores , the actual worth of benefits specifically made as relief due to lockdown amounts to around 60% of the package announced.
Featured Image: New benefits of COVID-19 Central relief Package


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How many times is the President’s Rule imposed so far?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
June 20, 2018
According to a RTI response from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), President’s rule was imposed 115 times till 2016. The indiscriminate use of article 356 has come down following the landmark judgment of the Supreme Court in the SR Bommai case.
When President’s rule was imposed in Uttarakhand in March 2016, it became the 115 instance of imposition of President’s rule since 1950. While the use of article 356 has considerably come down in the last two decades, it still continues to grab headlines.
Article 356 of the Indian Constitution
Article 356 of the Indian constitution provides for imposition of President’s rule in states, provided the President is satisfied that the governance in states cannot be carried out in accordance to the constitution. In other words, it is supposed to be used sparingly when no party/alliance is able to form a government or a government has lost majority in the house or if there is a widespread breakdown of law and order. The president usually acts on the advice of the union cabinet. Over the years since independence, article 356 was used when different political parties/alliances were in power at the center.
President’s rule was imposed in 12 states in 1977
As per the response to a RTI application by Factly, Article 356 (imposition of President’s rule) was first used in June 1951 in Punjab. Since then, it has been used 115 times till date. President’s rule was imposed in 12 states in 1977 after the Janata alliance came to power. This remains the record  for a single year till date.  Second in the list is 1980 when the president’s rule was imposed in 9 different states after Indira Gandhi came back to power. Other notable years include 1992 when it was used in 6 different states and 1971 when it was used in 7 states including thrice in Orissa.
President’s rule was imposed 63 times in 20 years between 1971 and 1990
The imposition of President’s rule in states has varied across various decades. It was used 20 times between 1950 and 1970. Between 1971 and 1990, it was used 63 times, an average of 3 times a year. In fact, it was used 49 times between 1970 and 1980, highlighting the polarized political atmosphere during those times. Article 356 was used as a political tool during those times.
Between 1991 and 2010, it was used 27 times. Only in 1991 and 1992, it was used 9 times. The indiscriminate use of Article 356 came down significantly following the Supreme Court’s landmark judgment in the S R Bommai case in 1994. Between 2011 and 2016, it has been used 5 times including 3 times after the BJP came to power in 2014.
This is the first part of a two part series on imposition of President’s Rule in India. In the second part, the details of states where President’s rule was imposed most number of times, number of days of President’s rule in those states etc. are analysed.
Featured Image: President’s Rule


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How much Currency is in circulation now?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
October 9, 2017
One of the stated goals of demonetization was to reduce the amount of cash in the economy. Eleven months into demonetization, the amount of currency in circulation is now at 88% of the pre-demonetization levels.
The government has on multiple occasions said that a less cash economy was one of the goals of the demonetization. Recently, the Prime Minister in his address to Company Secretaries at the inauguration of the golden jubilee year of ICSI also mentioned that the cash to GDP ratio has come down to 9 per cent, from 12 per cent before demonetization. But what is the amount of currency in circulation eleven (11) months after demonetization? Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) weekly statistical supplement shows that the total currency in circulation & currency with public, both are at 88% of the pre-demonetization levels as of September 2017.
RBI’s Weekly Statistical Supplement (WSS)
The RBI releases a WSS that contains numbers about RBI’s assets & liabilities, foreign exchange reserves, business of the scheduled commercial banks, numbers about the money stock, currency in circulation etc. among other things.
As per RBI’s definition, Currency in Circulation includes notes in circulation, rupee coins and small coins. Currency with Public is currency in circulation minus the cash with banks.
Demand deposits with banks include all liabilities (excluding inter-bank) that are payable on demand. Time deposits with banks are liabilities (excluding inter-bank) which are payable otherwise than on demand like fixed deposits etc.
Currency in Circulation is at 88% of the Pre-Demonetization levels
The total currency in circulation just before the announcement of demonetization, as of November 4, 2016 was Rs 17.97 lakh crore. This continuously decreased as old notes were being deposited in banks and reached a minimum of Rs 8.98 lakh crore on January 06, 2017. This was the only occasion since October 2016 when the currency in circulation went below Rs 9 lakh crore. Since January 2017, the currency in circulation increased continuously as new notes were brought into circulation. The currency in circulation crossed Rs 15 lakh crore in June 2017 and was at Rs 15.88 lakh crore by the end of September 2017. This is slightly more than 88% of the currency in circulation just before de-monetization.
Proportion of the Currency with Public back to Pre-demonetization levels
Just before demonetization, the proportion of currency with the public out of the total currency in circulation was 95.7%. In other words, out of every Rs 100 in circulation, Rs 95.7 was with the public and the rest Rs 4.3 with the banks. This came down to the lowest of 76.8% towards end of November 2016 when people were depositing all their old notes with the banks. As with the trend of total currency in circulation, the proportion of currency with public slowly increased to 90% in January 2017 and is back to 95% as of mid-September 2017.
Total Deposits in Banks increase by over Rs 6 lakh crore
One major fall-out of demonetization is the enormous increase in the amount of deposits in banks. Just after demonetization (as of November 11, 2016), the total deposits in banks (time & demand together) accounted for a little over Rs 108 lakh crore. This went up to a high of Rs 115.5 lakh crore as of March 31, 2017 (the extended last date for exchange of old notes). Thereafter, the total deposits have again decreased to reach Rs 114.5 lakh crore as of mid-September 2017. Between November 2016 & September 2017, time deposits have increased by over Rs 4.5 lakh crore while demand deposits increased by over Rs 1.5 lakh crore.
Featured Image: Currency in circulation

created: October 9, 2017


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How much did the Government actually spend on the Yoga day?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
August 6, 2015
The International Yoga Day, celebrated on the 21st of June caught everybody’s attention. The highlight was of course the Mass Yoga Demonstration wherein more than 35000 people participated. Since then, social media has been agog with varied estimates of the amount spent on this celebration. After some research & filing RTI applications, it is now clear that a total of 32.75 crore rupees was spent on the celebration.
The Central Government ensured that the entire world took notice of the ‘International Yoga Day’ on 21 June. The mass Yoga Demonstration at Rajpath with more than 35000 participants did catch the eye of the local & global media. Since then, social media has been agog with all kinds of numbers about the amount spent by government on the extravaganza. Factly dug into the details to find that a total of 32.75 crore rupees was spent by the Government for this celebration.
International Yoga Day & Events
The first International Day of Yoga was celebrated all over the Country and abroad on 21 June, 2015.  The following events were organized as a part of these celebrations
Total Expenses
According to the data available with the Government, a total of 32.75 crore rupees was spent on various activities. Expenditure on Publicity through Print & Electronic media including the government owned Doordarshan & All India Radio was 8.28 crore rupees. The Mass Yoga demonstration at Rajpath costed 7.59 crore rupees. The International Conference on Yoga costed 1.83 crore rupees. The Ministry of External Affairs spent 8 crore rupees for related activities in various Indian Missions across the world.
Apart from these, the Council for Research in Yoga & Naturopathy (CCRYN) provided assistance of up to 1 lakh rupees per district for the celebration, a total of Rs 6.7 crore. The Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga (MDNIY) produced a film and booklets on Yoga with an expenditure of Rs 34.8 lakh.
The government has also said that no separate funds have been released to states apart from the CCRYN assistance.
Expenses for the Mass Yoga Demonstration at Rajpath
The Mass Yoga Demonstration at Rajpath led by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi was a much talked about event. The event saw more than 35000 participants in a Mass Yoga demonstration.
According to information provided to Factly by Ministry of AYUSH under RTI, the vendor for managing the event at Rajpath was M/s. Arch Concept Pvt. Ltd. The vendor was paid a total of Rs 3.67 crore for the arrangements. The major expenditure for the event included the following.
Yoga Mats
There was a lot of discussion about the Yoga Mats procured for the event. There were discussions whether these were procured from China or in India. While it is not clear where they were procured from, the RTI reply suggests that the vendor Arch Concept procured 36000 yoga mats. The total expenditure (including tax) for these 36000 Yoga Mats was 1.02 crore rupees.
Payment to Ernst & Young (EY)
The RTI reply suggests that payments to the tune of 1.32 crore rupees were made to EY. The reply from the ministry does not specify the kind of services provided by EY. It could be for the managing the entry passes & ticket strips.
T-Shirts by National Textile Corporation
A total of 25000 T-Shirts were procured from the government owned National Textile Corporation at a cost of 49 lakh rupees.
Payments made to Guinness World Records Limited
A total amount of 11900 Pounds (12.05 lakh rupees) was made to Guinness World Records Limited for the commercial services provided. It may be recalled that two new Guinness World Records were set on this day. A separate payment of 450 pounds was also made for ‘Fast Track’ service.
NSS Volunteers
The National Service Scheme Regional Center in Delhi provided 1000 volunteers for the event. A total of 22.5 lakh rupees were paid to NSS.
PS: It may be recalled that the Government celebrated the ‘Good Governance Day’ on 25th December, the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. To check if the government was equally enthusiastic in promoting the ‘Good Governance day’, Factly filed an application under RTI with the Directorate of Advertising & Visual Publicity (DAVP) asking details of the amount spent on promoting the ‘Good Governance Day’. The DAVP spent a paltry 2.52 lakh rupees in promoting the ‘Good Governance Day’. This is 0.3% of the 8.28 crore rupees spent in promoting the Yoga day.

created: August 6, 2015


text:
How much did the Government actually spend on the Yoga day?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
August 4, 2015
The International Yoga Day, celebrated on the 21st of June caught everybody’s attention. The highlight was of course the Mass Yoga Demonstration wherein more than 35000 people participated. Since then, social media has been agog with varied estimates of the amount spent on this celebration. After some research & filing RTI applications, it is now clear that a total of 32.75 crore rupees was spent on the celebration.

created: August 4, 2015


text:
How much do people spend on same day travels
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 16, 2016

created: December 16, 2016