A news has been going viral on social media of a bus conductor in Karnataka named Madhu NC clearing the prestigious Civil Services exam.
The viral news suggests Madhu NC who was employed at the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) recently cleared the Union Public Service Commission’s (UPSC) Civil Services Main exam in January 2020.
The news was widely shared on social media by eminent personalities including actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha and several others:
Exceptional! Commendable! A true story of determination, focus, commitment, of a bus conductor #MadhuNC, Bangalore. He studied for just 5hrs a day & passed the #UPSC civil services main exam. This he did while still continuing with his 8hr job. It’s a dream many wish to join the
— Shatrughan Sinha (@ShatruganSinha) January 31, 2020
Take a bow, Mr. Madhu NC!
A bus conductor with BMTC, studied five hours daily to clear the UPSC Civil Services exam. He’s just cleared the Mains and is looking forward to the interview!
Wishing you the best for your UPSC journey!https://t.co/wi8OHzNgNA
— Shobha Karandlaje (@ShobhaBJP) January 28, 2020
Meet this bus conductor who studied 5 hours daily to clear the UPSC exams
Read more at:https://t.co/v3APXiheRd
— Harini Calamur (@Calamur@mastodon.social) (@calamur) January 28, 2020
‘Greatness requires internal toughness’.
It is a matter of great delight to see a living testimony of this quote.
My best wishes to Madhu NC for his UPSC journey! Keep inspiring!
@BangaloreMirrorhttps://t.co/z4Ff0286Us
— Dr. Ashwathnarayan C. N. (@drashwathcn) January 28, 2020
Several prominent news organisations also fell for the viral news:
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the above posts and found the news to be untrue.
Bangalore Mirror was the first to report the viral news about the BMTC conductor who cleared his IAS examination but later took down the article.
On further investigation, we scanned through the result announced by UPSC on January 14, 2020 and did not find the name of the candidate.
Clarifying in a tweet, Banglore Mirror stated that the bus conductor who claimed to have cracked the IAS Mains exam was lying.
We’ve come to know that the BMTC bus conductor who claimed to have cracked the IAS Mains exam was lying. We have reason to believe that the roll number he showed us didn’t belong to him. (1/2)
— Bangalore Mirror (@BangaloreMirror) January 30, 2020
We are taking down the story till it becomes clear why he lied to BMTC and us. We would like to apologise to our readers. It was such a story of grit and determination that even the BMTC MD stepped in to help. Alas, it was too good to be true. (2/2)
— Bangalore Mirror (@BangaloreMirror) January 30, 2020
Editor of Bangalore Mirror, Ravi Joshi, took to Twitter to issue a clarification about the fake news.
We’ve come to know that the BMTC bus conductor who claimed to have cracked the IAS Mains exam was lying. We have reason to believe that the roll number he showed us didnt belong to him. @bangaloremirror is taking down the story till it becomes clear why he lied to BMTC and us
— Ravi Joshi (@Joshi_Aar) January 30, 2020
In a series of tweets, he said, “We’ve come to know that the BMTC bus conductor who claimed to have cracked the IAS Mains exam was lying. We have reason to believe that the roll number he showed us didn’t belong to him. @bangaloremirror is taking down the story until it becomes clear why he lied to BMTC and us.”
Reportedly, BMTC is now probing how the conductor misrepresented his results and investigating the matter further.
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