2020 has been an extremely fruitful year for us at OpIndia. It has been a year of growth and prospects. It has been a year where we bettered our own performance and continued to get undying support from the ones who matter: our readers.
These are the top 10 articles that you helped go viral and made them the most read this year. You can click on the preview images or the link below the images to read the respective articles:
1. The curious case of ‘Drone Boy’ who has made 600 drones using broken mixer grinders and televisions. A fact-check
In 2020, social media was abuzz with tales of Prathap NM, a young man who was dubbed as the drone boy, and a drone scientist. Stories of how Prathap had won numerous gold medals in various drone expos around the world, has been invited to 87 countries, and has been offered work by various govts apart from Indian govt, apart from PM Modi asking DRDP to hire him, were plenty. Not just the social media, but mainstream media too jumped on the bandwagon.
OpIndia did a fact-check and conclusively proved that his stories were just that – stories.
There was no evidence of drone scientist Prathap NM making any drone, winning any award and medal. All the stories about him on various websites were based on other websites carrying the same stories. It was a cycle of fake news that continued till we broke it. There were several loopholes in claims in regard to his achievements, and most importantly, his claim is remarkably similar to the story of another drone boy.
Click on the image to read the full story:
2. China launches ‘crusade’ against Christianity, begins to remove crosses from churches across the country
In May 2020, the Chinese government decided to forcefully remove more than two thousand crosses from churches across China as part of a government campaign to regulate “excessive religious sites”. The Communist Party of China (CPC) decided to pull down crosses atop of churches across the country as part of its post-coronavirus crusade against Christianity. The campaign was aimed at eradicating Christian landscape and its symbols from China.
On Easter Sunday 2020, the Chinese authorities ripped down the cross that used to surmount the tympanum of a church in the diocese of Xinxiang in Henan province.
Our report on China’s Crusade became our second most read article of the year.
Click on the image to read the full story:
3. Here is why Aaditya Thackeray is called Baby Penguin by some
Dharmendra Mishra, legal head of Yuva Sena, the youth wing of Shiv Sena had filed a complaint against a Netizen for referring to Aditya Thackeray as ‘Baby Penguin’. In this article, we explained why Aditya Thackeray was called so by some people.
Click on the image to read the full story:
4. Indian Army to take over Narela quarantine facility after Tablighi Jamaat attendees defecate in the corridor
The gross misbehaviour of the Tablighi Jamaat members in quarantine facilities continues unabated as they excreted in the corridor of the Narela quarantine centre in April 2020.
A request was then made to the Indian Army to take over the medical screening setup. The Indian Army then confirmed that it was in the gradual process of assuming the responsibility of screening duties in the Narela camp.
Click on the image to read the full story:
5. Hathras gang rape: Victim cremated, accused arrested. All you need to know about the case
19-year-old girl was was allegedly raped by four men in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras on 14th September 2020. She succumbed to her injuries on 29th September, 2020 in Delhi. Amidst the cacophony of the media and the vulturism of politicians, the truth was getting lost.
We brought to our readers an unbiased chronology of facts, right from the time the girl was allegedly brutalised to the time the accused were arrested in the case.
Click on the image to read the full story:
6. As India fights Wuhan Coronavirus, here is a list of prominent Hindu Temples and religious leaders helping India through donations and welfare
In times of national crisis, we often hear from liberals and those under the influence of Secularism that it would be better to construct hospitals than Temples. An attempt is made to portray the resources invested in Hindu Temples as a wastage when these resources could have been spent on other avenues. Under ordinary circumstances, apart from hospitals, much hue and cry being raised that the resources could have been allocated to the construction of schools instead.
Despite the fact that the construction of Temples and building schools and hospitals are not mutually exclusive, a dedicated attempt is made in order to guilt-trip Hindus. However, as it turns out, apart from the exhaustive social work that Temples are involved in, during times of crisis, they are at the forefront of making donations to institutions in order to combat the crisis. The Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic has been no different.
In the wake of the crisis, numerous temples across the country came forward to contribute generously, both in terms of food and welfare, to help the country.
We compiled a list back then that can be read here.
Click on the image to read the full story:
7. PMNRF vs PM CARES: PMNRF always had Congress President on its managing committee while PM CARES is far more democratic
After Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the PM CARES Fund to fight the Wuhan Coronavirus, a lot has been discussed about the similarities and differences between PM CARES Fund and PMNRF.
In this article, we spoke about how the PM CARES Fund was car more democratic then PMNRF, and how, the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund used to have the President of Congress party in its managing committee.
Click on the image to read the full story:
8. Wife of late Wajid Khan writes on her sufferings in an inter-faith marriage, says anti-conversion law should be nationalised
Months after music composer Wajid Khan of the Sajid-Wajid fame passed away due to coronavirus related complications, his wife Kamalrukh Khan shared her first-hand account of life in an inter-faith marriage. In a lengthy post on Instagram captioned “Live and let live should be the only religion we all practice”, Kamalrukh revealed how her resistance to convert to Islam drastically widened the divide between her and her late husband.
She also demanded that the law against Grooming Jihad be nationalised.
Click on the image to read the full story:
9. Rajdeep Sardesai issued an unconditional apology to an IPS officer in November 2019 for spreading fake news in 2007
Rajdeep Sardesai had to apologise to Rajiv Trivedi for a program titled “30 minutes – Sohrabuddin, the inside story”, which was aired on CNN-IBN (now CNN-News18) channel on 13 May 2007. In the program, it was accused that Hyderabad Special Investigation Unit SP Rajiv Trivedi had helped the Gujarat police in nabbing Sohrabuddin. Rajdeep Sardesai had reported that Rajiv Trivedi had provided cars with fake number plates which were used to transport Sohrabuddin to Ahmedabad.
Click on the image to read the full story:
10. Nikita murder case: Tauseef decided to kill her after watching Mirzapur
Tauseef, the accused who brutally shot dead Hindu girl Nikita Tomar in Mewat, revealed that he was inspired by online web series ‘Mirzapur’ where the lead actor is shown murdering a girl for rejecting his proposal.
Click on the image to read the full story:
And with that, Team Opindia wishes you all a happy, prosperous, opinionated and media-lies-free (sorry for the joke) 2020! We promise to bring to you news that matters, that the mainstream media ignores, in 2021 as well!
