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Business Standard
5 days ago
- General
- Business Standard
Govt defends cancellation of US journalist's OCI card, says reasons secret
Raphael Satter obtained the OCI status through his marriage and claimed he visited India for family purposes New Delhi The Union government on Wednesday defended its decision to revoke the Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card of US-based journalist Raphael Satter, telling the Delhi High Court that he had maligned Indian institutions in the international arena through his journalistic activities. "It has been reported by security agencies that Raphael has been noted for acts of maliciously creating adverse and biased opinions against Indian institutions in the international arena through his journalistic activities, and a discreet LOC was opened against him," the ministry of home affairs said in an affidavit. The government said the nature of the information against Satter is 'secret' and cannot be disclosed to the petitioner. Who is Raphael Satter? Raphael Satter, a US-based cybersecurity journalist for Reuters, is a US citizen and has family in India. Satter obtained the OCI status through his marriage and claimed he visited India for family purposes. The Appin defamation case When Satter's OCI card was revoked, the government did not cite any reason for its decision. However, The Guardian said that it coincided with a defamation case against him in India, linked to his Reuters investigation titled 'How an Indian startup hacked the world'. The report alleged that an Indian cybersecurity firm, Appin, developed into a 'hack-for-hire powerhouse' targeting high-profile individuals worldwide. The co-founder of Appin, Rajat Khare, denied the allegations and later sued Satter for defamation. What is an OCI card? The Overseas Citizen of India (OCI ) card is a scheme that allows multiple-entry, multipurpose, life-long visas for visiting India. The scheme was introduced with an amendment to the Citizenship Act, 1955, in August 2005. "An OCI cardholder is a foreigner, and an OCI card is a life-long visa issued to such a foreigner. Every country has a sovereign right to refuse entry into its territory to any individual whom it may consider undesirable, and informing about the same, inasmuch as entry into any country's territory is not a matter of right, even if the person holds a valid visa," the government said in the affidavit. How can OCI cards be cancelled? As per sub-section (1) of section 7A of the Citizenship Act, the government has the power to cancel the OCI card of any person if it is satisfied with certain conditions, such as disaffection towards the Constitution of India or if it was obtained by fraud. The government can also cancel it if it deems it necessary to do so in the interest of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of India, friendly relations of India with any foreign country, or in the interests of the general public.
ABC News
28-05-2025
- Climate
- ABC News
Shallow magnitude 3.5 earthquake recorded near Appin, south-west of Sydney
A shallow magnitude 3.5 earthquake has been recorded near Appin, south-west of Sydney. The earthquake was felt at 2:53pm this afternoon, striking at a depth of two kilometres. Geoscience Australia senior seismologist Dr Jonathan Bathgate said an earthquake of this size was relatively small but was strong enough to be felt throughout the region. "It would have been quite short in terms of its duration of shaking but certainly people have felt it around the region," Dr Bathgate said. "Often people hear it more than they feel it with these sorts of magnitudes. Generally there's a short, sharp jolt at magnitude 3." Geoscience Australia's website shows hundreds of "felt reports" with the earthquake appearing to originate from an area near Appin in the Wollondilly Shire. "We have certainly got a lot of reports to the National Earthquake Alert Centre in Canberra from the southern suburbs of Sydney, not so much in the north," Dr Bathgate said. Callers to Sydney radio have told of their experience, including Savana from Camden who said she was working from home when she felt her whole house shake. Others on social media reported feeling the tremor at Spring Farm and Coledale. Geoscience Australia said the earthquake was not a mine blast. "It is difficult to say whether it is mining related or not at these sorts of magnitudes," he said. "At this stage it looks like normal seismic activity we have been recording there for a number of years." The NSW State Emergency Service said there have been no reports of damage.
Daily Mail
28-05-2025
- Climate
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Thousands of Aussies rocked by magnitude 3.5 earthquake as shockwaves felt in regional town
A 3.5 magnitude earthquake has struck near a regional town in New South Wales. The quake struck at a depth of 2km near Appin, about 70km southwest of Sydney 's CBD in the Macarthur region, just before 3pm on Wednesday. 'Felt it and heard it - Mount Annan. Split second and internet and computer shut off and off,' one woman wrote online. 'Just felt this! Parked waiting for school pick up and originally thought someone had hit my car due to how much it shook,' a second said. More to come.
The Guardian
13-03-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
US journalist sues Indian government after losing his overseas citizenship
A US journalist has taken the Indian government to court after his Indian overseas citizenship was unilaterally cancelled, following the publication of a story critical of a prominent Indian businessman. Raphael Satter, who covers cybersecurity for Reuters news agency in the US, received a letter from India's ministry of home affairs in early December 2023, accusing him of producing work that 'maliciously' tarnished India's reputation and informing him that his Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card had been cancelled. OCI status is given to foreign citizens of Indian origin, or those married to Indian nationals, and allows for visa-free travel, residency and employment in India. Satter received his OCI through marriage. The cancellation of his OCI status means he is no longer able to travel to India where members of his family live. In recent years, the ruling Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) government, led by the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, has been accused of revoking OCI privileges for those it has deemed critical, part of what Human Rights Watch has called a campaign of 'politically motivated repression'. Journalists, academics and activists have been a particular target, with several high-profile journalists forced to leave the country after their OCI cards were revoked and academics turned away at the Indian border. According to the letter sent to Satter by India's ministry of home affairs in December 2023, his OCI status was revoked for his alleged 'practising [of] journalism without proper permission' and for work that had been 'maliciously creating adverse and biased opinion against Indian institutions in the international arena'. Satter, who works in Washington DC, denies ever conducting journalism in India and has only travelled to the country to visit family. The Indian government provided no specifics to Satter's lawyers on how his journalistic work had been deemed a national security threat to India. However, Satter's lawyers noted that the cancellation of his OCI came at exactly the same time that a defamation case had been filed against him in India for a story he had written on the Indian cybersecurity company Appin and its co-founder Rajat Khare. Satter's investigation for Reuters, titled 'How an Indian startup hacked the world', exposed the workings of Appin, alleging it had become 'a hack-for-hire powerhouse that stole secrets from executives, politicians, military officials and wealthy elites around the globe'. Rajat Khare's US representative, the lawfirm Clare Locke, rejected any association between its client and the cyber-mercenary business, telling Reuters that Khare 'has never operated or supported, and certainly did not create, any illegal 'hack for hire' industry in India or anywhere else'. During the course of his inquiries into Appin and Khare, Satter said that he had received a series of threats made by individuals associated with the company, 'one of whom alluded to potential 'diplomatic action' unless I abandoned my reporting'. 'The Petitioner and his employer, Reuters, began receiving threats from individuals linked to a company called Appin, which has hacked organizations in India and abroad,' Satter's court petition says. On the same day that Satter received the notice of the OCI cancellation, a Delhi judge granted an injunction against the story, forcing it to be temporarily taken down. It was restored 10 months later. Karuna Nundy, the lawyer representing Satter, said the timing clearly 'linked' the two events. She emphasised that, under Indian law, defamation is not grounds for OCI cancellation. Khare has been highly proactive in pursuing news organisations that have published articles on the activities of Appin. According to an investigation by Reporters Without Borders, at least 15 media outlets investigating Appin received legal notices and five have been subjected to legal proceedings. The New Yorker and the Sunday Times are among those who have faced legal action by entities representing Khare, who also has initiated legal proceedings in Switzerland against a story that mentioned his name. Reporters Without Borders described the magnitude of these gag lawsuits as 'unprecedented'. The first court hearing for Satter's case was heard in Delhi this week. In a statement sent to the Guardian, Satter said the Indian government's decision to cancel his OCI had 'effectively cut me off from members of my family and a country I hold in great affection and respect'. Satter was insistent that the decision was a 'mistake or on a misunderstanding' by the ministry of home affairs and that he had only decided to go to court after not receiving any response on his appeal to the government for over a year. 'I am confident that, once the integrity of my journalism is demonstrated before the Indian courts and the true and correct facts are brought to the fore, the ministry of home affairs will see fit to restore my OCI card,' he said. The ministry of home affairs did not respond to requests for comment about Satter's case. The Indian government now have until the next hearing on 22 May to respond to the petition and give legal justification for Satter's OCI cancellation. The Modi government has cancelled more than 100 OCI cards while in power for the last decade. Among them was the journalist Aatish Taseer, after he wrote a cover article for Time magazine criticising the BJP leader. 'The Indian authorities should not be attempting to silence critics by revoking residency rights or other means' said Meenakshi Ganguly, the deputy director of the Asia division of Human Rights Watch. 'Instead, the authorities should have the maturity to accept legitimate criticism and work on reforms.'
