March 16: Must-read stories  

Demonetisation violation? Banks accepted over ₹1 lakh crore deposits without PAN

In the weeks after demonetisation, banks across India received about ₹1.13-lakh crore in “high-value deposits” from customers without valid documents, indicating possible collusion of officials to conceal dodgy cash, classified government data accessed by Hindustan Times revealed.

Panama Papers: India gets data on 165 cases with links to offshore firms

Nearly a year after The Indian Express published the Panama Papers, tax authorities have succeeded in obtaining 165 replies—partial or complete—from among 13 jurisdictions where Indian nationals had incorporated offshore companies through the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca. The number of Indian clients of Mossack Fonseca, whose PAN numbers had been traced, has swelled to 424.

Federal judge blocks revised Trump travel ban nationwide

A federal judge in Hawaii has blocked US President Donald Trump’s revised travel ban just hours before it was due to go into effect, marking another stinging blow to the administration, reports The Guardian. The travel ban targets visa applicants from six Muslim majority countries and temporarily suspends the US refugee resettlement program.

Rajasthan minister wants Karni Sena to clear Padmavati

On a day when the Padmavati film set was vandalised in Kolhapur, Rajasthan’s Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Arun Chaturvedi said that the film would be screened before a committee of the Shri Rashtriya Rajput Karni Sena (SRRKS) “and other knowledgeable members of society” and their “objections would be invited” before its release in the state, reports The Indian Express.

In a first, Law ministry to launch TV channel, discuss issues like triple talaq, UCC

The Union law ministry is all set to become the first ministry to have its own TV channel, reports The Times of India. The channel will beam discussions and constitutional interpretations on key issues like triple talaq and the uniform civil code, apart from debates on important judgments, to spread legal awareness.