The trap of fake news
Since the last two days, there is a news from Kerala that’s making rounds across the social media. The tweet titled as ‘Hindu woman brutally attacked, and god’s statue desecrated in Kerala’ has originated from Shanknaad. ‘Why is Bollywood silent over this?’ is the next query put up by this originator of the news. The same Shankhnaad had tweeted a very instigating and provocative message during Kathua rape case stating Hindu temples were being destroyed in the region when people took out a march demanding justice for the little girl raped and murdered. Ironically enough, a lot of ‘important’ and ‘prominent’ people in the society have responded to this tweet. General public is comparing the fake news of vandalizing of Hindu temple against the Kathua rape case, to debate on ‘secularism’ being the weakest link. This tweet is used to defend unimaginable arguments on the social media. It’s vileness is unbelievable.
But tragically and ironically enough, this news and images of a woman being attacked is not even a news from India. The fake news buster website ‘Alt News’ published that this story is fake and put out an article exposing the origin of this story. It was shocking. Shankhanaad has used the news and images/pictures of a woman being attacked in Chittagong in Bangladesh. It is more than six months old.
This lady, the resident of Bangladesh was being attacked by her neighbours Pradeep Ghosh and Biswajeet. They had barged into her house to assault her, and had harmed the Gods’ idols and other holy articles she had kept in her house. This news was published in Bangladeshi facebook page.
The team Shankhnaad, took this news and turned it around to suit its vile narrative to mislead the people who believe just about everything that gets circulated on the social media. A group called ‘We support Narendra Modi’ had shared this widely too. Shankhnaad is known for its appetite of generating and sharing fake news. Their fake news stories often get deleted if people call out their fake news game in large numbers. By then the news would have travelled far and wide.
Some groups are sharing this incident that occurred in 2015, and are linking this to something more gruesome that happened now. A news about a girl called ‘Geetha’ being raped is being circulated now. However, there has been no official confirmation yet on this incident. After the Kathua rape case, even the most secular and progressive minds are sharing this news, responding to it and are falling into the trap created by the radical forces. In the recent times, a website called ‘Post Card’ was also in news for the same reason. It had tried to create unrest in the society by convoluting the news of a jain monk injured in accident, as that of a monk being attacked by Muslims.
A case was registered against the owner of Post Card, he was arrested and later released. But ironically enough, leaders of a particular party stood by him, defended him and called it an attack on the freedom of press. Among those who defended Post Card was Mysuru-Kodagu Member of Parliament Pratap Simha. In just three days after he openly defended Post Card, Pratap Simha was made member of committee which was to be the watch dog of the media. The situation is now very conducive for anyone to create and circulate fake news. A few outfits that are closely linked with political forces are carrying out this work in connivance with the radical organisations that already exist. They work in tandem with fake news sites like Post Card, Shankh Naad etc. Their main agenda is to diver people from more important issues where the government is failing. On one hand Modi government has been unsuccessful in delivering a good administration. The effect of note ban still continues to haunt people. People are not getting money in the ATMs. Petrol and diesel rates are skyrocketing day by day. And during times of distress such as this, fake news generating and circulating sites have the main job of diverting people’s attention from basic things such as livelihood, to a sense of feeling communally insecure.
India lost good reputation after Kathua incident occurred. Our country had to lose its face before other countries and international agencies. People condemned it across gender, religion and faith. This incident was denounced not because it was a case or rape alone, but for the obvious seeds of communal disharmony it carried in itself.
Some lawyers taking to streets to defend the accused, and people’s harsh criticism to this; prompted sites like Post Card and Shankh Naad to create and circulate fake news. Their intention was to silence the protests by way of raising questions like ‘why are the Kathua sympathizers not criticizing this?’
Not only that, they even tried creating a narrative that the girl was not raped at all in Kathua case. All this was a part of creating a supporting space, among people for the rape accused. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already announced a vigilance committee to check the circulation of fake news. Though Shankh Naad and Fake News are spreading lies and canards at the drop of a hat, the committee has displayed a very selective blindness towards them. Because all these lies and baseless rumours help the Sangh Parivar and the current party that’s in power in the centre. Hence, the government is also being blind to this.
At the same time, those members of media who went to bust the fake news and rumours are being hounded by the government. For all these reasons, just as the media needs to have its own regulatory mechanism to check the genuinity of the news, even the readers need to apply the same to their discretion.
The alert citizens need to check the veracity of whatever news is circulated in the social media before believing it or circulating it further. The social media today is a massive khedda of fake news. And the casualties would be everyone who consumes it and circulates it. Sometimes even the most alert citizens may suffer owing to this. Hence it is everyone’s duty to fight against such divisive forces to keep the society healthy and safe for our children.
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Texas halts H-1B visas at state universities, agencies; to affect Indians
Houston (US) (PTI): Texas Governor Greg Abbott has ordered state agencies and public universities to immediately halt new H-1B visa petitions, tightening hiring rules at taxpayer-funded institutions, a step likely to impact Indian professionals.
The freeze will remain in effect through May 2027.
The directive issued on Tuesday said that the state agencies and public universities must stop filing new petitions unless they receive written approval from the Texas Workforce Commission.
The governor's order, in a red state that is home to thousands of H-1B visa holders, comes as the Trump administration has initiated steps to reshape the visa programme.
“In light of recent reports of abuse in the federal H-1B visa programme, and amid the federal government’s ongoing review of that programme to ensure American jobs are going to American workers, I am directing all state agencies to immediately freeze new H-1B visa petitions as outlined in this letter,” Abbot said.
Institutions must also report on H-1B usage, including numbers, job roles, countries of origin, and visa expiry dates, the letter said.
US President Donald Trump on September 19 last year signed a proclamation ‘Restriction on entry of certain non-immigrant workers’ that restricted the entry into the US of those workers whose H-1B petitions are not accompanied or supplemented by a payment of USD 1,00,000.
The H1-B visa fee of USD 1,00,000 would be applicable only to new applicants, i.e. all new H-1B visa petitions submitted after September 21, including those for the FY2026 lottery.
Indians make up an estimated 71 per cent of all approved H-1B applications in recent years, according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), with China in the second spot. The major fields include technology, engineering, medicine, and research.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is the second-highest beneficiary with 5,505 approved H-1B visas in 2025, after Amazon (10,044 workers on H-1B visas), according to the USCIS. Other top beneficiaries include Microsoft (5,189), Meta (5,123), Apple (4,202), Google (4,181), Deloitte (2,353), Infosys (2,004), Wipro (1,523) and Tech Mahindra Americas (951).
Texas public universities employ hundreds of foreign faculty and researchers, many from India, across engineering, healthcare, and technology fields.
Date from Open Doors -- a comprehensive information resource on international students and scholars studying or teaching at higher education institutions in the US -- for 2022-2023 showed 2,70,000 students from India embarked on graduate and undergraduate degrees in US universities, accounting for 25 per cent of the international student population in the US and 1.5 per cent of the total student population.
Indian students infuse roughly USD 10 billion annually into universities and related businesses across the country through tuition and other expenses – while also creating around 93,000 jobs, according to the Open Doors data.
Analysts warn the freeze could slow recruitment of highly skilled professionals, affecting academic research and innovation.
Supporters say the directive protects local jobs, while critics caution it could weaken Texas’ competitiveness in higher education and research.
The order comes amid broader debate in the US over skilled immigration and state-level interventions in federal programmes.
H-1B visas allow US companies to hire technically-skilled professionals that are not easily available in America. Initially granted for three years, these can be extended for another three years.
In September 2025, Trump had also signed an executive order ‘The Gold Card’, aimed at setting up a new visa pathway for those committed to supporting the United States; with individuals who can pay USD 1 million to the US Treasury, or USD 2 million if a corporation is sponsoring them, to get access to expedited visa treatment and a path to a Green Card.
