Morphed Pic Shared as Aaj Tak Crediting PM Modi for Olympics Medal

Aaj Tak had created the original graphic during the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup and not 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

A morphed graphic claiming that Hindi news channel Aaj Tak credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for India's first medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics has gone viral.

We found that the original graphic was shared two years ago during the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup. It had the photos of anchor Sweta Singh and PM Modi and the caption questioned whether the Prime Minister would make India win in the tournament.

CLAIM

The text on the viral graphic, which had the photo of anchor Sweta Singh and PM Modi, said in Hindi, "पीएम मोदी ने जिताया पहला ओलंपिक पदक". [Translation: PM Modi made India win the first Olympic medal.]

Social media users who shared the graphic criticised the channel for the same and it was massively shared on Facebook.

Archives of more such posts on Twitter and Facebook can be found here, here and here.

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

Upon conducting a reverse image search, we came across a similar graphic posted on Aaj Tak's official Facebook page on 9 July 2019.

The graphic was posted on the day India was supposed to play the semi-final match against New Zealand in the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup. India lost the match and failed to go to the finals.

The text in the graphic said in Hindi, "क्या पीएम मोदी जिताएंगे वर्ल्डकप?". [Translation: Will PM Modi make India win the World Cup?]

The channel has been called out multiple times for not crediting the players.

On comparing the viral image with the original one, we found that the former had the text edited and three medals – gold, silver, and bronze – were superimposed on the symbol of the cricket world cup.

We also checked for the show 'Khabardar' on Aaj Tak's YouTube channel and found that the channel did a show on the 2020 Tokyo Olympics on 24 July, however, the show was hosted by anchor Chitra Tripathi and not Sweta Singh. Also, the show did not carry the viral photo.

The 2020 Tokyo Olympics started on 23 July and India has so far secured one silver medal in weightlighting that went to Saikhom Mirabai Chanu.

Evidently, an old graphic was morphed to falsely claim that news channel Aaj Tak credited PM Narendra Modi for India's Olympics medal.

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