Is Nobel laureate Amartya Sen dead? Fake Twitter account’s claim goes viral; Fact Check

News about veteran Indian economist and Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen’s death started circulating on social media on Oct 10, with the X Corp’s (formerly twitter) handle in the name of this year’s Nobel Economics Prize winner,Claudia Goldin.

Most news outlets have picked up the news and PTI has even put out a breaking news on it based on a tweet by an unverified account. The account in the name of Claudia Goldin is surprising since the renowned economist was announced the winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics 2023 on Oct 9, 2023. Here’s one retweet after the claim went viral.

A Terrible News.
Professor Amartya Sen has died.
RIP ॐ शांति #AmartyaSen pic.twitter.com/lpSVjWCM2r

— BeatalPret (@beatalPret) October 10, 2023

The original tweet (now deleted) using the name of Claudia Goldin, stated:“A terrible news. My dearest Professor Amartya Sen has died minutes ago. No words”. Several news media outlets including Times of India, Deccan Herald, Zee News, Free Press Journal, Deccan Chronicle, Firstpost, Moneycontrol Hindi and ETV Bharat carried the same news without checking the fact.

FACT CHECK

When the social media platform is abuzz with the news, the clarification came from Amartya Sen’s daughter Nandana Deb Sen in a tweet, in whcih she denied the rumours and stated that her father is healthy and alive.

Even PTI announced that it is withdrawing the news related to the death of Amartya sen.

Deleting tweet on Amartya Sen based on a post from an unverified account in the name of Claudia Goldin. Actor Nandana Dev Sen denies news of death of her father, Nobel prize winner Amartya Sen.

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) October 10, 2023

Hence, the entire news of Amartya Sen’s death is based on a newly accounted Twitter account and it went viral within minutes until the clarification came from his daughter who met him just two days ago.

Claim: Twitter claim says, “Amartya Sen is dead”
Conclusion: No, Amartya Sen is not dead as confirmed by his daughter.
Rating: Totally False —