in a Couple of DaysBack there was a claim massively viral on social media suggests that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has “inducted” 22-year-old Prathap NM from Karnataka, who builds drones from e-wastes, into the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Infographics created by fake news portal Postcard News in both English and Kannada are doing the rounds.
However, in a recent fact-check conducted by OpIndia, it seems all of Prathap NM’s tales have been bluff and that there is no ounce of truth in any of it.
ads
600 Drones From E-Waste
Most of the internet stories on Drone boy are based on a report by Edexlive published in December 2019. Edexlive is an initiative of The New Indian Express. It features a photograph of Prathap ‘with his drone during one of the expo’. The photograph, which is carried by dozens of websites, is reproduced below.
Here, we see an impressive looking drone along with Prathap. But after the first glance, one can see that the drone is branded with the name ACSL on several places. This ACSL happens to be a Japanese company, that makes unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones. It can easily be seen that it is actually the logo of ACSL on the drone photographed with Prathap. A little bit of online search shows that it is the PF-1 drone made by ACSL, and it’s not a drone made from recycled parts by the drone boy. The photograph also has a person with an ACSL branded shirt, and the ACSL Logo can also be seen in the wall of the stall, and on the TV mounted on the wall. All these point towards the possibility that Prathap had attended some exhibition where ACSL had showcased its drones, and got himself photographed with one of the drones made by the Japanese company.
One redditor had sent a mail ACSL asking to know whether Prathap works for the company or had developed drones for them, in reply, the company categorically stated that he has never been involved in any product development of the company. They said that they were not even aware of his before they received the e-mail. They also confirmed that the PF-1 drone seen in the photo with Prathap was developed in-house in Japan, and they have IP patents and rights for the same. This proves that Prathap had just got photographed with Jagdeepa ACSL drone, and he is not associated with its development.
Despite supposedly making 600 drones using e-waste, it is a big surprise that not a single photo or video of the drones made by the drone boy is available on the Internet. All photos of drones that appear with him on various websites are commercial production drones made by various companies.
Medals and Rewards
As per reports, Prathap has won Albert Einstein Innovation Gold Medal in the International Drone Expo 2018 held at Hanover in Germany, a gold medal in the International Drone Expo held in Germany, secured the first place in CeBIT Drone Expo-2018 at Hanover, Germany, and also bagged the gold medal in International Robotic Exhibition held at Tokyo, Japan, in December 2017.
The tales of help In flood relief
Prathap had told that he had utilized his drone to help people during the floods. He had only released a picture of a set of hands operating a drone. On closer observation, this drone yet again belonged to a branded company.
Apart from this, Drone Prathap’s several tales of the benefits of his drone were proved to defy logic and physics in many ways. It now needs to be seen if he would be made to pay for his misdeeds.
In conclusion, there is no evidence of drone scientist Prathap NM making any drone, winning any award and medal. The awards and medals he has won do not exist in reality. All stories about him on various websites are based on other websites carrying the same. There are several loopholes in claims in regard to his achievements, and most importantly, his claim is remarkably similar to the story of another drone boy.
Now the trend of trolling this drone boy as starting in social media and even Kannada actor Jaggesh have posted related to this story
But Drone Prathap put of this allegation and agreed to produce proofs in press meet and take legal action on false news
