Fake news spreads unabated on social media after LS polls

Agencies
May 26, 2019

New Delhi, Mar 26: Posts containing fake news continued to flourish on social media platforms after the end of the Lok Sabha elections that saw the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) returning to power.

Celebrations followed the results that pave the way for Modi to become the Prime Minister of the country for the second consecutive term. Some distributed ladoos to celebrate the victory. A few others spread fake news.

A post claiming that "Welcome Modi Ji" has been written on all the city buses of London soon started doing the rounds on social media platforms.

The claims were found to be fake by fact-checking platform BOOM. The images used for the posts originated in 2015, when a bus named "Modi Express" was launched by the Indians living in the UK, the fact checkers found.

Some even circulated a video on Facebook that claimed that a Gujrati man got so elated with Modi's re-election that he showered cash on people in Milton, Canada. The caption that accompanied the video claimed that the man made a lot of profit after the share market responded positively to Modi's re-election.

BOOM traced the viral video to the Instagram account of a Detroit, US based man. It found that the video, originally shot in New York, was uploaded much before the election results in India were declared and it had nothing to do with the celebration of BJP's victory.

On May 23, the day the results of the Lok Sabha polls were declared, a video that showed Modi with his mother went viral on Facebook. While social media users claimed that the video was shot after BJP's landslide victory in the elections, fact checking website Alt News traced the video to 2014.

BOOM also found that following the victory of the BJP, a quote that was falsely attributed to Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan in the past resurfaced on WhatsApp.

"I would leave India if Modi becomes the PM of this country," the actor was falsely quoted as saying in the post that demanded that the actor should now "apologise or leave the country as PM Modi is back".

BOOM traced the quote to a fake tweet and fake news report that celebrated the 2018 April Fool's Day with the false information.

These posts, however, are only the tip of the iceberg. Many more fake posts are doing the rounds on social media with some even falsely claiming that six lakh votes polled in favour of Congress President Rahul Gandhi in Kerala's Wayanad mysteriously disappeared from the records.

According to BOOM Founder Govindraj Ethiraj, the spread of fake news reached an "all-time high" in the run up to the 2019 general election.

The flow of fake news after the election results suggests that the tide of misinformation on social media is unlikely to stop any time soon.

"The biggest challenge to fighting fake new is that over 300 million of the 550 million smartphone and broadband users in the country are low on literacy and digital literacy and are especially gullible," leading tech policy and media consultant Prasanto K. Roy earlier told media.

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Agencies
July 20,2020

New Delhi, Jul 20: Reiterating that China has still occupied India's territory, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that he has fabricated a fake strongman image to come to power which has now become India's biggest weakness as he has to protect the idea of 'Chhapan Inch'.

Taking to Twitter, the Congress leader posted a video message and wrote, "PM fabricated a fake strongman image to come to power. It was his biggest strength. It is now India's biggest weakness."

In the video message, speaking on "China's Strategic Game Plan" the Congress leader said: "What is China's strategic and tactical game plan? It is simply not a border issue. The worry I have is that the Chinese are sitting in our territory today. Chinese don't do anything without thinking about it strategically."

"In their mind, they have mapped out the world and they are trying to shape the world. That's the scale of what they are doing. That's what Gwadar is, that is what belt and road is. It is a restructuring of the planet. So when you are thinking about the Chinese you have to understand that that is the level at which they are thinking," he added.

Now at the tactical level, they're trying to improve their position. Whether it is Galwan, whether it's Demchok or whether it is Pangong Lake. The idea is to position themselves, he said.

"They are disturbed by our highway they want to make our highway redundant and if they are thinking larger scale, they want to do something with Pakistan in Kashmir. So it is not simply a border issue. It is a border issue designed to put pressure on the Prime Minister of India," the Congress leader said.

"And they are thinking of putting pressure in a very particular way. And what they are doing, is that they are attacking his image. They understand that it in order for Mr Narendra Modi to be an effective politician; in order for Mr Narendra Modi to survive as a politician, he has to protect the idea of--Chhapan Inch. And this the real idea the Chinese are attacking. They are basically telling Mr Narendra Modi that if you do not do what we say, we will destroy the idea of Mr Narendra Modi as a strong leader," he added.

Gandhi continued saying, now the question is, how will PM Narendra Modi react. Will he take them on? Will he take on the challenge and say absolutely not, I'm the Prime Minister of India. I do not care about my image I'm going to take you on. Or will he succumb to them?

"The worry I have so far is that the Prime Minister has succumbed. The worry I have is, the Chinese are sitting in our territory today and the Prime Minister has said publicly they are not, which to me tells me that is worried about his image and defending his image," said Gandhi.

"And if he allows the Chinese to understand that they can manipulate him because of his image, the Indian Prime Minister will no longer be worth anything for India," he added.

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Agencies
May 19,2020

Lucknow, May 19: The administration of the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGI) has ordered a probe into the cardiac procedure conducted on a corona positive patient in the hospital.

The patient underwent a cardiac procedure without being tested for corona before the surgery. He later tested positive for COVID-19, leading to panic among the staff and other patients.

The medical staff that came in contact with the patient were quarantined on Monday while the area was sanitized.

As per orders from the State Medical Education Department, even in emergency cases, patients are to be screened for Covid-19 before procedures are done.

According to the SGPGI administration, the incident took place late on Sunday night.

In an official statement, director, Prof R.K. Dhiman said, "The 63-year-old patient was a case of complete cardiac blockage and needed an urgent temporary pacemaker. The patient was admitted to the holding area of the institute and later shifted to the MICU for permanent pace making."

He said that when the patient's corona status was found to be positive on the Hospital Information System, she was shifted to the Rajdhani COVID Hospital.

The Director said, "Though the involved areas have been sanitized and healthcare workers were quarantined as per protocol, a probe has been ordered to investigate the lapses."

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News Network
May 10,2020

New Delhi, May 10: India's COVID-19 count crossed 60 thousand on Sunday, with Maharashtra being the worst-affected due to the infection so far, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The number of total confirmed cases in the country rose to 62,939, including 19,358 patients who have been cured and discharged or migrated, according to the Ministry.

The total number of active cases in the country, therefore, stands at 41,472.

The number of deaths in the country due to the infection reached 2,109 on Sunday.

While Maharashtra, with 20,228 cases is the worst-affected state, it is followed by Gujarat with 7,796 and the national capital, Delhi, with 6,542 cases. Tamil Nadu, is marginally behind Delhi with 6,535 cases.

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