Truth Vs Hype

Former Telecom Minister A Raja and DMK MP Kanimozhi were acquitted by the court in the 2G scam along with all other accused despite CBI claiming that they have sufficient evidence of distortion of rules and of bribery. Justice OP Saini shredded both arguments to bits in his order. On Truth vs Hype, we discuss how did a case that seemed like slam dunk, fall apart.

In June this year, 15-year-old Junaid was stabbed and killed on a moving train as it made its way from Delhi to Haryana. An NDTV investigation traces the multiple weak links in the Haryana police probe into the Junaid murder which raises serious questions over whether justice is being sabotaged in one of the most horrific crimes in recent memory.

On Truth vs Hype this week, we find out if the Narendra Modi election blitz in Gujarat overcome the chinks in the BJP's armour.

A field test rates the ground networks that will decide the outcome in North Gujarat's Mehsana district, traditionally a BJP stronghold and now considered a battleground because of the Congress's alliance with caste leaders like Hardik Patel and Alpesh Thakor.

Indian or Bangladeshi? NDTV uncovers the pitfalls and contradictions behind Assam's stepped up anti-foreigner drive.

On this episode of Truth vs Hype, we take a look at Delhi's air pollution crisis. We analyse the multiple factors that have coalesced into making Delhi's air into an unbreathable cloud of poison and the countless government agencies responsible - leading to a nightmare of maximum agencies but minimum action.

Tipu Sultan, the 18th century ruler of the Mysore kingdom, has once again emerged at the heart of a polarising debate. As his anniversary nears with celebrations organised by the Congress government of Karnataka, the BJP has raised objections, calling him a tyrant and a bigot. The Congress has ardently defended the king. We examine how a complex historical figure has been stripped of nuance and oversimplified - for narrow political gains.

Controversy over linking Aadhaar to the delivery of cheap rations to the poor has escalated after the death of an 11-year-old girl in Jharkhand last week. Since then more deaths have been reported, some linked to the absence of Aadhaar, others to the holes in India's safety net. The government has tried to deflect blame from Aadhaar, or from official incompetence, claiming these deaths are due to poor health or disease. We examine whether this is truth or hype.

This week, one of the government's signature schemes - the Swachh Bharat Mission - turns three years old. We examine the data and travel to the ground to investigate the claims of a scheme on which an estimated Rs 50,000 crore have already been spent.

It's been almost a month since the murder of Bangalore-based journalist and activist Gauri Lankesh. As the protests against the cold-blooded murder waned, so has the progress into the murder by the investigating agencies. At Truth vs Hype this week, we go back to killings of three other rationalists and dissenters - Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare and MM Kalburgi - to analyse how the cases throw up common finding such as threats by Hindu extremist groups, forensic reports confirming same weapons used and shootings by hit squads on motorcycles. Despite a clear crime pattern, has the trail for these murders run cold?

Uttar Pradesh has started implementing its promised loan waivers to farmers - with thousands receiving certificates of just a few rupees, the smallest being of just one paisa. The government clarified that these are farmers who have repaid most of their loan and what has been refunded is only the balance - even if it is an insignificant amount. But we found on the field that even farmers who have debt running into thousands were handed a refund certificate of a fraction of that amount. The waiver, which cost the state Rs 36,000, was meant to benefit 86 lakh farmers. But has it turned into a a potential public relations disaster in the first round itself?

India has described Myanmar's Rohingyas as a security threat, and has ordered their deportation. A Home Ministry advisory says they are vulnerable to being drawn to terrorism. But what is the basis for this sweeping generalisation? Does the track record of the estimated 40,000 Rohingyas in India suggest they are a terror threat? An NDTV multi-city investigation tracked police records at key Rohingya settlements, and found little evidence of terrorist links, or of greater criminality.

For a while, the fact that Prime Minister Narendra Modi followed abusive handles on Twitter has been a matter of concern. That blew into outrage when some of those handles tweeted venom after the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh. The BJP responded, saying being followed by the PM is not a "character certificate". We examine whether that claim is Truth or Hype. And appeal to the PM: please unfollow #HandlesOfHate.

Was demonetisation a 99 per cent failure? That is the conclusion drawn by much of the analysis after the Reserve Bank of India or RBI revealed that 99 per cent of cash banned by the government has come back into the system. In response, the government has moved the goalposts, and come out with a deluge of data to show that notes ban has been a success -- from reducing terrorism, to a greater formalisation of the Indian economy. We sift through the numbers to test if these new claims are truth or hype.

As the High Court rebukes the BJP government of Haryana for the violence that erupted after self-styled godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was convicted, we trace the chain of culpability to the very top and ask why, despite evidence of repeated incompetence, is the BJP still backing Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.

Confronted with more and more evidence that demonetisation may have dented the economy, the government has put out a confusing jumble of numbers to show that the move to scrap Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes has led to a surge in India's tax base. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech said that 56 lakh people filed Personal Income Tax Returns after notes ban - a big jump from same period last year. The latest Economic Survey says 5.4 lakh new taxpayers were added after notes ban. The Finance Minister earlier suggested that 91 lakh new taxpayers were added as a result of demonetization. 56 lakh, 5.4 lakh, 91 lakh - what is the correct number? What sense do we make of it? And do these numbers reflect a big increase, or has the data been cherry-picked? We try and decode the mystery math on a special edition of Truth vs Hype.

In the second part of our investigation into the fatal risks faced by construction workers in India, we uncover how even government commissioned projects are unsafe for workers - whether it's big projects like the Metro, or government housing colonies. We also posed tough questions, based on our findings, to India's labour minister, asking him what steps the government will take to ensure safety at worksites.

Millions of men and women build the homes of our dreams. Every year, hundreds of them die in fatal accidents or are injured - all because of the lack of safety on worksites and a shocking absence of government oversight. These fatal accidents are rendered invisible, because there is no official national-level record of construction workers' deaths or injuries. Over a five-month long investigation, through RTI's, police records, and NGO surveys, we have put together a first-of-its-kind national record of the deaths and injuries of India's construction workers on worskites. The results - though far from perfect - show the number of deaths are 10 times more than the only government estimate that exists. We also air undercover video from construction sites which have witnessed deadly accidents, to show how - despite having witnessed deaths - those worksites are still blatantly violating basic safety measures.

On Truth vs Hype, we examine the two big lessons from Nitish Kumar's abrupt decision to dump his ally, Lalu Yadav and join forces with the BJP. Does it mark the increasing irrelevance of so-called secular politics, (not secularism itself - an important principle in Indian public life)? Two, does it underline the utterly cynical and power centric nature of Indian politics, even when it comes to someone like Nitish Kumar, considered amongst India's more principled politicians?

Facing heat for not able to back its promises of job creation, the Centre and the BJP have repeatedly cited the success of MUDRA - a scheme meant to promote lending to small businesses. BJP President Amit Shah has claimed that in the two years since its inception, the MUDRA scheme has helped 7.28 crore people become self-employed. This number, if true, is nothing short of a revolution. But these numbers do not reflect in the job surveys that instead show the job market shrinking. This week on Truth vs Hype, we try to analyse the data, and hit the ground to discover how MUDRA may be simply re-branding an existing process as a new breakthrough. We also met top MUDRA officials who admit not having any data on how many jobs MUDRA has created.