Did The Wife Of Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Carry The Ramayana?

Construction of the first Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi is still underway.

Fact Check India: A 2016 video of an event featuring spiritual leader Morari Bapu is being shared on Facebook with a false claim that the wife of Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan carried the Ramayana on her head at the first Hindu temple in the country.

The 55-second clip shows a religious procession taking place indoors where a woman can be seen carrying a holy book on her head.

The caption with the video claim, “Sultan Sheikh Mohhammed, as promised to Narendra Modi, built the first Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi. The Sultan’s wife, accompanied by the Sultan and religious speaker Morari Baapu, carried a copy of the holy Ramayana to the temple. A sight to behold.”

(Translated from Hindi text: सुल्तान शेख मोहम्मद ने अबू धाबी में, प्रधान मंत्री नरेंद्र मोदी से अपने वादे के अनुसार पहला हिंदू मंदिर बनवाया । सुल्तान की पत्नी बेगम सिर पर पवित्र रामायण की प्रति लेकर मंदिर की ओर जा रही हैं, और साथ में सुल्तान शेख मोहम्मद, राम कथा वाचक मोरारी बापू भी दिखाई दे रहे हैं। सच में अद्भुत दृश्य। यह एक दुर्लभ चित्र है |)

You can view the video here.

With Rs 27.4 cr, BJP Accounts For 50% Of Total Spending On Google, Facebook Ads

BOOM summarised Google and Facebook’s ad reports from February to highlight overall expenditure by parties.

Fact Check News: As India went to polls for the final phase, an overall amount of Rs. 54.8 crore has already been spent on political ads on Google and Facebook and its sister platforms by political parties across the country.

The Bharatiya Janata Party and its members have spent around Rs. 27.4 crore, which makes up around 50% of the overall amount spent on social media political ads. The Indian National Congress takes the second place with an expenditure of Rs. 5.6 crore.

Political Marketing In The Digital Arena

The staggering amount of money spent on Facebook and Google is a clear indication that when it comes to political marketing, digital platforms are not to be ignored.

In less than six years, the percentage of population in India having access to internet has more than doubled (from 15% to 34%), and it seems unlikely that this exponential growth is going to slow down anytime soon.

Since mid-February 2019, Facebook and Google started publishing reports on political marketing in India on their respective platforms, to step up their efforts at providing transparency on… continue reading full story

NaMo TV Goes Off Air As Lok Sabha Elections Come To An End

NaMo TV was part of the BJP’s campaign for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and was in our lives for a limited period only.

Fact Check India: NaMo TV, a free-to-air BJP-sponsored channel that had appeared across several DTH providers in the run up to the Lok Sabha elections, has been taken off air as polling concluded.

On March 26, 2019, NaMo TV, which borrows Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s name and face, silently went on air across major direct-to-home (DTH) service providers like Tata Sky, DishTV, Siti Cable, d2h and Videocon.

While its initial release stirred up a controversy with regards to its ownership, BJP confirmed its affiliation to the channel three days after it went on air with a tweet.

Throughout the course of the Lok Sabha elections, the channel aired Modi’s rallies and speeches, along with films with patriotic overtones and a special broadcast of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley speaking about the achievements of the BJP. In between the rallies and movies, it also aired advertisements related to the BJP.

NaMo TV Reloaded

This was not the first time this channel had made an appearance on our television screens.

In 2012, in the run up to the Gujarat Vidhan Sabha elections in December, a channel called NaMo Gujarat was launched for a limited period of time. The channel was dedicated solely to then Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi, and was taken down abruptly towards the end of polling

Sanjay Dutt Converting To Islam? No, That’s Bad Photoshop

BOOM ran a reverse image search and found that the original image of Dutt neither has him wearing a skull cap, nor is he seated in front of a lavish spread.

Fact Check: A morphed image of actor Sanjay Dutt wearing a taqiyah (skull cap) and sitting in front of a lavish Iftar spread, is viral on Facebook, with claims that the actor converted to Islam.

The image, which has been shared in a Bengali Facebook group named “Zakir Naik’s Supporters’ Group” has received more than 2500 reactions from users, who welcomed the move.

It has been captioned as, “Let Allah show him the road to Islam and let him be encouraged to embrace the religion. Ameen.”

(Translated from Bengali – “আল্লাহ তাকে হেদায়ত দান করুক এবং ইসলাম ধর্মে আসার তাওফিক দেন আমীন”.

You can view the archived version here.

Controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik is wanted in India on money laundering and hate speech charges. He fled to Malaysia in 2016.

The photograph was uploaded earlier this month on another Facebook page with the claim that the actor fasts throughout the holy month of Ramzan.

No, SRK Did Not Say ‘I Would Leave India If Modi Becomes PM’

Shah Rukh Khan had clarified in 2014, when a similar tweet from a fake handle was viral on social media.

Fake News India: A fake quote that was falsely attributed to actor Shah Rukh Khan in the past has resurfaced on WhatsApp with a demand that the actor should now ‘apologise or leave the country as PM Modi is back’.

In an image doing the rounds on WhatsApp, Khan has been falsely credited for saying, “I would leave India if Modi becomes the PM of this country.”

The image further goes on to urge users to share it as much as possible so that Khan is compelled to offer for an apology, now that PM Narendra Modi has been voted back to power.

The text reads: Shah Rukh Khan, you once said that “I would leave India if Modi becomes the PM of this country.” So Mr Khan, I guess you would be a Man of your words. Show us that you got *****. Share this picture so much that this douche apologises for his words.“

This is not the first time that the actor has been attributed with a false quote. In February this year, following a terror attack on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama, Khan had been in the centre of a viral fake post that quoted him as saying, “If Pakistanis are boycotted, then I will leave the country.” Read BOOM’s debunk here.

Gau Rakshaks In MP Attack 3 For Allegedly Carrying Beef, Force Them To Say ‘Jai Shree Ram’

Madhya Pradesh police told BOOM that the trio – two Muslims and a Hindu – were allegedly carrying beef. The victims and attackers have been arrested.

Fake News: Self proclaimed gau-rakshaks or cow vigilantes beat up two men and a woman on suspicion of carrying beef and forced them to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ on May 22, 2019 in Madhya Pradesh’s Seoni district.

While the woman and one of the men are Muslims, the other male victim is a Hindu.

Madhya Pradesh police have arrested the trio for allegedly carrying beef. Cow slaughter is illegal in the state. Meanwhile five people have been arrested for carrying out the attack.

Th shocking incident came to light after two videos of the incident went viral on social media on May 24, 2019.

One of the videos show the attackers pinning the male victim against a pole and assaulting him with a wooden stick. The other video shows a man, under duress from the attackers, hit the woman with a slipper while they force them to say ‘Jai Shri Ram’.

BOOM was tagged by a few of our readers on Twitter to verify the video. We reached out to Superintendent of Police, Madhya Pradesh who directed us to speak to officials at the Dunda police station.

BOOM contacted the Dunda police station where another police official told us more about the incident on… continue reading full story

How the PMK and DMDK performed in the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections

The PMK and the DMDK, which contested in eight and four seats respectively, drew a blank in the Lok Sabha Elections.

Tamil Nadu News: Even as Tamil Nadu saw a sweeping victory by the DMK in the Lok Sabha Elections on Thursday, the performance of the AIADMK’s alliance partners like the PMK and DMDK have posted unimpressive vote-shares for the parties. The PMK, a party predominantly representing the Vanniyar community in Tamil Nadu, was the second major alliance partner of the ruling party in Tamil Nadu, contesting seven seats in the alliance. However, it failed to win even a single seat in the polls, posting a vote share of 5.42%.

The PMK, which had a vote share of 4.4% for eight seats in 2014 has posted a marginal rise to 5.42% across seven seats. The party was part of the NDA in Tamil Nadu in 2014, which also comprised of the DMDK and the MDMK.

However, the sole MP from the party and former Union Minister Anbumani Ramadoss lost his seat by a margin of over 70,000 votes to the DMK’s Senthilkumar who won 5.74 lakh votes in the Dharmapuri Lok Sabha constituency. The DMK beat the party’s other six candidates in Arakkonam, Chennai Central, Cuddalore, Dindigul, Sriperumbudur and Villupuram (VCK’s Ravikumar stood on the rising sun symbol) with wide margins.

The DMDK, which was bargaining hard with both the AIADMK and the DMK for seats prior to the polls, was defeated by spectacular margins in all four seats; its vote share dropping to 2.19% from 5.19% in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

The party was embarrassed after simultaneous backchannel talks with the DMK and the AIADMK were ‘exposed’ by… continue reading full story

Public anger, infighting and lack of vision: TN BJP leaders introspect loss

A senior office bearer in the TN unit points out that the BJP leadership in the Centre was impatient with Tamil Nadu.

Tamil Nadu News: For the last two days, BJP cadre and supporters across the country have been celebrating the party’s stunning win in the Lok Sabha elections. But amidst this celebration, the BJP’s Tamil Nadu unit is squirming in discomfort. Not only did the party lose the Kanyakumari seat that it had won in 2014 but it also saw its vote share dive from 5.56% in 2014 to 3.66% in 2019.

‘Central leadership ignored TN’

Tamil Nadu is a state where the BJP faces the people’s unrestrained anger. AIADMK leaders believe that having the BJP as part of the alliance spoilt whatever chances of victory they had. Other than being unpopular in the state, BJP leaders say that the lack of a sustained growth plan also impacted the party’s prospects.

Surprisingly, two BJP leaders TNM spoke to argue that the Dravidian ideology in the state and Tamil pride are not the biggest hurdles for the party in the state. They believe that ensuring mainstream media starts supporting the BJP’s ideologies can help change perceptions.

Speaking to TNM on the condition of anonymity, a BJP leader says, “We could have done well in Tamil Nadu if the Centre had played its cards right. Honestly speaking, president Amit Shah did not pay Tamil Nadu the attention he gave to West Bengal, Odisha and North Eastern states. He did not think any investment would yield rewards here. So, there was not enough money and… continue reading full story

Unbearable stench, filthy water: In Hyd’s Peerancheruvu, a dumpyard plagues residents

While the authorities maintain that the dumping ground is closed, when TNM visited the spot, we found three vehicles busy dumping more garbage there.

Telangana News: A pungent smell hangs in the air at Peerancheruvu on the outskirts of Hyderabad as one passes through a massive dumpyard. The stench is so strong that many need to cover their nose and mouths as they walk past. This is the situation for hundreds of locals who reside here. When authorities allegedly burn the garbage, it only gets worse.

“The smoke from this dumping ground as a result of the garbage burning has made it hard to even breathe,” says Chandrashekhar Reddy, General Secretary of Indus Valley, a colony in the area. “There is smoke every day and it is really harmful, especially for the many children who live in this area,” he adds.

Locals say that the dumpyard in question is part of a campus owned by SELCO, an energy company, but had been abandoned for several years before subsequently becoming a dumping ground. Though within the confines of the city’s Outer Ring Road (ORR), Peerancheruvu is yet to be added to the jurisdiction of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), but continues to have municipality status on paper.

According to Chandashekar, appeals to the authorities have gone in vain. “We have spoken to the Rajendranagar MLA Prakash Goud and he promised us that he will take care of it, but there has been no action,” he said.

The dumpyard is not only affecting the air quality but the groundwater as… continue reading full story

Inter-state gang transporting ganja from Vizag to Agra via train held in Secunderabad

Three people have been arrested for allegedly smuggling 136 kg of ganja.

Telangana News: The Government Railway Police at the Secunderabad Railway Station on Monday arrested three for allegedly smuggling ganja from Visakhapatnam to Agra, by train. The accused who arrived in Secunderabad via Duronto Express from Visakhapatnam, reportedly shifted to a first-class coach of the Rajdhani Express, which was on its way to New Delhi. 136 kg of ganja, estimated to be worth over Rs 20 lakh, was seized from their possession.

The GRP said that they climbed aboard the train at around 10 am on Monday when it reached Secunderabad, based on a tip-off. The accused were identified as Rajesh, Ayush and Shaik. Visuals show that the accused had stuffed the contraband into suitcases and bags, up to the brim.

Speaking to the media, G Ashok Kumar, superintendent of Railway Police, said that Shaik was working in Vizag as an AC coach attendant, while both Rajesh and Ayush hailed from Uttar Pradesh. Investigation officials also said that they planned to sell the substance in Uttar Pradesh, and mainly in Agra.

“They were travelling in A-1 coach of the Rajdhani Express from Visakhapatnam to Agra for selling the contraband to customers. They were apprehended at Secunderabad railway station along with four trolley bags five luggage bags containing 136 kg of ganja approximately worth of Rs… continue reading full story