In the age of social media, it’s very easy to fake news. Now, the faking news industry has taken a leap forward with the AI generated fake videos (deepfakes) which appear realistically similar to events that never actually happened. So, I thought, let’s give it a shot! To make an impact, in addition to appearing credible, the fake news has to be exciting or controversial. Here are a few news headlines from ‘The Faking Times’ with a distinct idiotic flavor:
1. Say Yes To No: The YES Bank board approves the proposal for change in its name to ‘NO Bank’.
2. GST Portal hacked: Indian economy comes to a standstill
3. LIBRA’s successful launch: Mark Zuckerberg named the new Fed chief
4. Modi: 2 planning DeMo: 2: To encourage digital transactions in India, all lower denomination currency up to Rs. 100 will be taken out of circulation
5. India’s Justice system put in ICU: Modi government amends criminal law overturning a basic legal principle of presumption of innocence until proved guilty
6. World staring at deep economic recession: Donald Trump finally accepts the undeniable reality of climate change
7. Dhirendra Jha’s book ‘Ascetic Games’ exposes the murky world of Sadhus: Got banned by the Modi government after it became a bestseller
8. Chinese Renminbi finally breaks the hegemony of U.S. Dollar: Global Political Turmoil Expected
9. The latest WikiLeaks expose: American President Donald Trump offers Modi a US green card in return for becoming his election advisor.
10. Finance Minister of India, Nirmala Sitharaman grudgingly acknowledged that there is some truth in former CEA Arvind Subramanian’s conclusion about India’s GDP growth figures.
11. India finally achieves zero fiscal deficit target: A temple trust donates a tiny bit of its gold reserves to the Indian government.
12. Fearing arrest, all former nominee and independent directors of crisis-hit IL&FS (including RC Bhargava, the chairman of Maruti Suzuki India Ltd) have fled India.
13. The Chinese President Xi Jinping meets North Korean leader Kim Jong-un: The latter agrees for complete Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula subject to removal of US economic sanctions against China.
(Disclosure: The list of faking news can go on and on, but I have deliberately left it at thirteen…)
(Warning: According to a study published in the journal Nature, there is a scientific reason behind the unlucky thirteen and therefore to avoid bad luck, anybody reading an online article containing a list of 13 must either like it or share it on the social media. You are strictly advised not to take any chances. Good Luck!)
