Free Solar Panels Scheme And Other News You Almost Believed

Here’s this week’s round-up of the News You Almost Believed.

A message promising people free solar panels distributed by the government under a scheme initiated by Prime Mintier Narendra Modi, is viral on social media. But BOOM found that the message is fake and no such scheme exists. Read the detailed story here.

A photo of a priest performing a religious ceremony in front of the Agni-V missile is being shared with a claim that it shows a traditional Hindu pooja performed for the successful launch of the Chandrayaan 2. The photo is being shared in light of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launching Chandrayaan 2 spacecraft on July 22, 2019. But BOOM found that the photo is old and is being shared with a false claim. Read the whole story here.

A video of a customer losing his cool at a bakery manager in Karachi, Pakistan, is being shared with a false caption that claims the incident took place at Pista House bakery in Hyderabad, India. Read more about it here.

A video showing Indian heptathlete Swapna Barman’s mother break down while watching her daughter excel at a track and field event is being shared on social media with a caption which reads ‘when Hima Das won gold’. BOOM found that the video was actually an year old and showed Indian heptathlete Swapna Barman’s mother break down while watching her daughter at the athletics event. Read the detailed story here.

Shocking closed circuit television (CCTV) camera footage showing a couple brazenly abduct a sleeping toddler is being shared online as an incident from Madhyamgram in West Bengal. Footage shows a couple entering the railway station premises and stealthily picking up a child lying next to its family asleep on the platform and walking away. A fact-check revealed that the video is not actually from the Madhyamgram Railway Station but is from Delhi's Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station. Read more details about the story here.

Multiple videos claiming leading Bollywood actors met Tabrez Ansari’s family, who was lynched by a mob in Jharkhand are viral on social media. The videos, which have been made in the format of a news bulletin with unrelated footage, narrate how actors Aamir Khan, Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan went to Jharkhand to meet the bereaved and share their grief. But BOOM found that the claim is false. BOOM contacted members of the Ansari family who denied any such claim. Read the whole story here for more details.