The Evening Wrap: Opposition leaders urge ED to investigate Adani Group

Leaders of several opposition parties on Wednesday urged the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to initiate an investigation into the Adani Group over allegations of corrupt practices, including money laundering through shell companies. In a letter emailed to the ED Director S.K. Mishra, the parties told the probe agency that “it cannot turn around and abdicate its jurisdiction”. The letter was signed by leaders of the Congress, CPI, CPI-M, JDU, SS (UBT), RJD, DMK, JMM, AAP, IUML, VCK, Kerala Congress and others. Leaders of several opposition parties were stopped by the police at Vijay Chowk here as they took out a protest march from Parliament House to hand over a complaint to the Enforcement Directorate on the Adani issue. In their letter to the ED, the opposition leaders said, “We are acutely aware of how in the recent past, the ED has also zealously pursued cases of alleged political favouritism, including sharing concurrent jurisdiction with SEBI and CBI. We are also aware of the limited remit of the Supreme Court Commission appointed on the subject. We point this out so as to remind the ED that it cannot turn around and abdicate its jurisdiction on these or other grounds”. “In light of the above, we, the members of the Opposition, ask that you take immediate action on the above mentioned allegations,” they told the ED director. The letter further claimed that over the last three months, several crucial pieces of evidence have been made available against the Adani Group in the public domain. “Yet, the Enforcement Directorate, which claims to pursue such cases with vigour and fairness, is yet to launch even a preliminary enquiry into these very serious charges. As a result, we are constrained to file this official complaint so that the ED is compelled to investigate a relationship that has serious implications not just for our economy but most importantly, our democracy,” they said. Sharing the contents of the letter on Twitter, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said, “Leaders and MPs of 16 opposition parties, who were going to hand over a complaint letter demanding probe into the Adani scam to the ED, were stopped from reaching the ED office this afternoon”. The opposition leaders also alleged that this case involves serious and far-reaching charges of corporate fraud, political corruption, stock-price manipulation through fraudulent means, and the misuse/monopolisation of public resources to benefit a single corporate group. In the letter, the leaders alleged that the Adani Group companies are accused of having established a network of offshore shell companies and offshore funds controlled by parties related to the Adani Group for the purposes of “artificially inflating stock valuations and to give a distorted picture with regard to the group companies’ financial health”. The Adani Group has rubbished all the charges made out against its companies and denied any “wrongdoing” as earlier alleged by the U.S.-based Hindenburg report. In the letter, the opposition also mentioned recovery of drugs made from Mundra port in September 2021, alleging there has been absolutely no serious investigation into the company charged with running the port on whose watch this grave crime occurred. “Given the cross border implications, it is even more surprising that the jurisdiction of the ED was never invoked in the investigation,” the opposition leaders alleged. Talking of the debt that the Adani Group has taken from various public sector banks, the opposition leaders alleged that there is “a clear pattern of corruption, cronyism and habitual law-breaking”. “It is surprising that despite all of the above, the ED has shown little to no interest in pursuing a basic investigation into the entities’ affairs,” they also alleged. Current procedure for inclusion of communities in Scheduled Tribes list adequate, Centre tells Rajya Sabha The Tribal Affairs Ministry on March 15 insisted once again that the current procedure for inclusion of communities in the Scheduled Tribes list was “adequate”. It was responding to a question in the Rajya Sabha, which raised concerns about the need for a revision in the criteria and procedure for inclusion in the list. According to the modalities for inclusion first framed in 1999, the proposal for inclusion must originate from the respective State or Union Territory government. Following this, the proposal is sent to the Union Tribal Affairs Ministry, which sends it to the Office of the Registrar General of India (ORGI). If the ORGI approves the inclusion, the proposal is forwarded to the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes. Only after the concurrence of these institutions, will the proposal go forward to the Cabinet to bring in the appropriate amendment to the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950. In response to a question from Biju Janata Dal MP Muzibulla Khan, the government said, “These modalities are adequate for consideration of proposals for inclusion of communities in the list of Scheduled Tribes of a State/UT.” In response to an RTI query from The Hindu, the ORGI had said in January, 2022 that it continues to follow the criteria set out by the Lokur Committee in 1965 to decide whether a community can be included in the ST list. These criteria include: indications of primitive traits, distinctive culture, geographical isolation, shyness of contact with the community at large, and backwardness. Both the procedure and criteria for inclusion of communities had been strongly criticised by an internal government task force formed in February 2014, for being “obsolete”, “condescending”, “dogmatic” and “rigid”. The committee, led by then-Tribal Affairs Secretary Hrusikesh Panda had also said that the procedure as it was being followed was “cumbersome” and “defeats the Constitutional agenda for affirmative action and inclusion”. The task force had concluded that these criteria and procedure were resulting in the exclusion of or delays in inclusion of nearly 40 communities across the country. Based on this task force’s report, the first Narendra Modi-led Cabinet had, within days of taking charge in 2014, moved a draft Cabinet note to change the procedure and the criteria. However, after being in the pipeline for nearly eight years, the proposal was put on hold. Since then, Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda has insisted in Parliament that the criteria set out by the Lokur Committee was appropriate and that tribal societies do not change. Civil society groups seek help from Opposition parties to ‘save’ MGNREGA Alleging that the NDA Government is on its way to gradually doing away with the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA), many civil society groups and labour organisations have appealed to Opposition parties to support their demands for an increase in budgetary allocation for the scheme. In a briefing held for the Members of Parliament on March 14 at the Deputy Speakers Hall, Constitution Club, New Delhi, the civil society members urged them to raise the issues of crores of labourers and workers who have “not been paid since December 2021”. They highlighted the issue of inadequate funding, adverse changes in the attendance system as well as the method of payment. The broad aim of the briefing was to help MPs defend peoples’ right to work under the MGNREGA. MPs of the Opposition parties who attended the event were Sanjay Singh (Aam Aadmi Party), Digvijaya Singh, Uttam Kumar Reddy and Kumar Ketkar (Congress Party), S. Senthilkumar (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam), Jawhar Sircar (All India Trinamool Congress Party) among others. They deliberated upon the ways to force the government to enhance budgetary allocation and reverse the recent amendments in the mode of payment which has proved “disastrous” to the interest of workers. Beginning the presentation, Jean Drèze, visiting Professor at Ranchi University, said that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has unleashed an unprecedented three-pronged attack on MGNREGA — inadequate funding, the introduction of an Aadhaar-based Payment System (ABPS), and the inception of a real-time attendance system through the National Mobile Monitoring Software (NMMS) app. Prof. Dreze said that this year’s funding was only ₹60,000 crore, which is the lowest allocation ever in the history of the programme. “Funds run out and projects come to a halt. The wages get delayed and are accumulated for months,” Prof. Dreze said, adding that the introduction of digital attendance has deprived the workers of their wages due to technical and network glitches. “Aadhaar-based Payment is so complicated system that even many bankers fail to understand its functionality and the majority of workers cannot be paid through this system. It is illegal and criminal not to pay wages to workers for the work that they have done” he added. Delhi HC directs slum dwellers on Yamuna floodplains to vacate in three days or face demolition The Delhi High Court on March 15 directed slum dwellers on the Yamuna floodplains to vacate their jhuggis within three days failing which they will have to pay ₹50,000 each to the DUSIB and the DDA shall proceed with the demolition. The court passed the order after being informed that a committee headed by the lieutenant governor has issued directions to clean river Yamuna in view of the January 9 directions of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) which took note of the pollution level. “Strict action may be permitted to be taken by police…the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) concerned of the area will render all support during the said action,” the court said dismissing a plea by the residents. The Delhi Development Authority (DDA), which has been tasked with the demolition of jhuggis, told Justice Prathiba M Singh that the NGT had revived the matter pertaining to pollution of the Yamuna, pursuant to which a high-level committee on January 27 passed directions to take immediate steps to control pollution of the river and remove encroachments there. Advocate Prabhsahay Kaur, appearing for the DDA, submitted that the residents had come back to the same place twice after the removal of encroachments. Taking note of the submission of the counsel for DDA, the judge asked the counsel representing the residents, “You are occupying river Yamuna. Do you know how much damage is being caused to it?” The court was hearing a plea by residents of Moolchand basti located on the Yamuna floodplains at Bela Estate, Rajghat claiming the DDA and Delhi Police officials visited them in August 2022 and threatened them to vacate their jhuggis which will otherwise be demolished. The DDA’s counsel told the court the residents had also filed a contempt petition but no contempt case had been made out against the authorities. She submitted the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) said in an affidavit that the residents were not entitled to rehabilitation as their ‘basti’ did not figure in its notified list. The court directed the DDA to proceed with the demolition after three days and said that no further indulgence will be shown to the petitioners or their families. It also disposed of the contempt plea observing that no contempt was made out and said “You cannot use contempt proceedings to threaten officials”. The court said the residents had concealed certain material facts, as recorded in its order of August 17, 2022, regarding earlier litigations challenging eviction by their fathers and grandfathers which had attained finality till the Supreme Court. When the matter was listed on January 13, the court had stayed the proposed demolition considering the harsh winter. Credit Suisse leads Europe bank stock rout after short-lived SVB respite Europe’s bank stocks came under pressure again on Wednesday, with Credit Suisse tumbling to a new low, as investors continued to worry about stress within the sector following Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse. Regulators and financial executives around the world have sought to assuage contagion concerns after tech-focused lender SVB and another U.S. bank failed last week, but worries persist about the health of smaller institutions in particular. A fresh 18% drop in embattled Swiss lender Credit Suisse led the wider European banking index lower. Rapid rises in interest rates have made it harder for some businesses to pay back or service the loans they took from banks, increasing the chances of losses for lenders who are also worried about a recession. However, European Central Bank policymakers are still leaning towards a half-percentage-point rate hike on Thursday, a source told Reuters, as they expect inflation will remain too high in coming years. Investors had begun to doubt the ECB’s commitment to another big rate hike as SVB’s collapse sent shockwaves across markets. But the source said the euro zone’s central bank was unlikely to ditch its plan to raise rates by 50 basis points on Thursday because doing so would damage its credibility. In the United States, the focus is shifting to the possibility of tighter regulation of banks, particularly mid-tier ones like SVB and New York-based Signature Bank, whose collapses triggered the market tumult. “We have instilled some stability, but I honestly don’t know if it is stability or the appearance of stability, because I certainly do not know what is occurring behind the scenes at the deposit base of several thousand small to medium sized banks across the United States,” said John Briggs, global head of economics and markets strategy at NatWest Markets. Moody’s Investors Service on Tuesday revised its outlook on the U.S. banking system to “negative” from “stable”, citing heightened risks for the sector. Earlier, the Tokyo Stock Exchange banks index jumped more than 4%, after three straight days of heavy selling. Investors had been particularly concerned about the huge bond holdings, particularly U.S. Treasuries, of Japanese lenders, but Japanese finance minister Shunichi Suzuki said on Wednesday differences in the structure of bank deposits, meant local banks would not face incidents similar to SVB. Bruised U.S. bank stocks had regained some ground on Tuesday, aided by news that private equity and buyout firms were looking to scoop up some of SVB’s assets, leaving investors hopeful that efforts to shore up confidence would avert a wider crisis. Apollo Global Management Inc, Blackstone Inc and Carlyle Group were among those reported to have expressed interest in a book of loans held by SVB. Separately, SVB Financial Group said on Tuesday that Goldman Sachs was the acquirer of a bond portfolio on which it booked a $1.8 billion loss, a transaction that set in motion the failure of SVB. In Brief: A presidential advisory sub-committee has recommended the U.S. federal government to extend the grace period for H1-B workers, who have lost their jobs, from the existing 60 days to 180 days so that the workers have enough opportunities to find a new job or other alternatives. “The immigration subcommittee recommends the Department of Homeland Security and the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to extend the grace period for H1-B workers, who have lost their jobs, from 60 days to 180 days,” Ajay Jain Bhutoria, member of the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders, said on Tuesday. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 15 March 2023 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( Adani issue: Opposition leaders write to ED, says it cannot ‘abdicate’ its jurisdiction Leaders of several opposition parties on Wednesday urged the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to [initiate an investigation into the Adani Group over allegations of corrupt practices]( including money laundering through shell companies. In a letter emailed to the ED Director S.K. Mishra, the parties told the probe agency that “it cannot turn around and abdicate its jurisdiction”. The letter was signed by leaders of the Congress, CPI, CPI-M, JDU, SS (UBT), RJD, DMK, JMM, AAP, IUML, VCK, Kerala Congress and others. Leaders of several opposition parties were stopped by the police at Vijay Chowk here as they took out a protest march from Parliament House to hand over a complaint to the Enforcement Directorate on the Adani issue. In their letter to the ED, the opposition leaders said, “We are acutely aware of how in the recent past, the ED has also zealously pursued cases of alleged political favouritism, including sharing concurrent jurisdiction with SEBI and CBI. We are also aware of the limited remit of the Supreme Court Commission appointed on the subject. We point this out so as to remind the ED that it cannot turn around and abdicate its jurisdiction on these or other grounds”. “In light of the above, we, the members of the Opposition, ask that you take immediate action on the above mentioned allegations,” they told the ED director. The letter further claimed that over the last three months, several crucial pieces of evidence have been made available against the Adani Group in the public domain. “Yet, the Enforcement Directorate, which claims to pursue such cases with vigour and fairness, is yet to launch even a preliminary enquiry into these very serious charges. As a result, we are constrained to file this official complaint so that the ED is compelled to investigate a relationship that has serious implications not just for our economy but most importantly, our democracy,” they said. Sharing the contents of the letter on Twitter, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said, “Leaders and MPs of 16 opposition parties, who were going to hand over a complaint letter demanding probe into the Adani scam to the ED, were stopped from reaching the ED office this afternoon”. The opposition leaders also alleged that this case involves serious and far-reaching charges of corporate fraud, political corruption, stock-price manipulation through fraudulent means, and the misuse/monopolisation of public resources to benefit a single corporate group. In the letter, the leaders alleged that the Adani Group companies are accused of having established a network of offshore shell companies and offshore funds controlled by parties related to the Adani Group for the purposes of “artificially inflating stock valuations and to give a distorted picture with regard to the group companies’ financial health”. The Adani Group has rubbished all the charges made out against its companies and denied any “wrongdoing” as earlier alleged by the U.S.-based Hindenburg report. In the letter, the opposition also mentioned recovery of drugs made from Mundra port in September 2021, alleging there has been absolutely no serious investigation into the company charged with running the port on whose watch this grave crime occurred. “Given the cross border implications, it is even more surprising that the jurisdiction of the ED was never invoked in the investigation,” the opposition leaders alleged. Talking of the debt that the Adani Group has taken from various public sector banks, the opposition leaders alleged that there is “a clear pattern of corruption, cronyism and habitual law-breaking”. “It is surprising that despite all of the above, the ED has shown little to no interest in pursuing a basic investigation into the entities’ affairs,” they also alleged. Current procedure for inclusion of communities in Scheduled Tribes list adequate, Centre tells Rajya Sabha The Tribal Affairs Ministry on March 15 insisted once again that the [current procedure for inclusion of communities in the Scheduled Tribes list was “adequate”](. It was responding to a question in the Rajya Sabha, which raised concerns about the need for a revision in the criteria and procedure for inclusion in the list. According to the modalities for inclusion first framed in 1999, the proposal for inclusion must originate from the respective State or Union Territory government. Following this, the proposal is sent to the Union Tribal Affairs Ministry, which sends it to the Office of the Registrar General of India (ORGI). If the ORGI approves the inclusion, the proposal is forwarded to the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes. Only after the concurrence of these institutions, will the proposal go forward to the Cabinet to bring in the appropriate amendment to the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950. In response to a question from Biju Janata Dal MP Muzibulla Khan, the government said, “These modalities are adequate for consideration of proposals for inclusion of communities in the list of Scheduled Tribes of a State/UT.” In response to an RTI query from The Hindu, the ORGI had said in January, 2022 that it continues to follow the criteria set out by the Lokur Committee in 1965 to decide whether a community can be included in the ST list. These criteria include: indications of primitive traits, distinctive culture, geographical isolation, shyness of contact with the community at large, and backwardness. Both the procedure and criteria for inclusion of communities had been strongly criticised by an internal government task force formed in February 2014, for being “obsolete”, “condescending”, “dogmatic” and “rigid”. The committee, led by then-Tribal Affairs Secretary Hrusikesh Panda had also said that the procedure as it was being followed was “cumbersome” and “defeats the Constitutional agenda for affirmative action and inclusion”. The task force had concluded that these criteria and procedure were resulting in the exclusion of or delays in inclusion of nearly 40 communities across the country. Based on this task force’s report, the first Narendra Modi-led Cabinet had, within days of taking charge in 2014, moved a draft Cabinet note to change the procedure and the criteria. However, after being in the pipeline for nearly eight years, the proposal was put on hold. Since then, Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda has insisted in Parliament that the criteria set out by the Lokur Committee was appropriate and that tribal societies do not change. Civil society groups seek help from Opposition parties to ‘save’ MGNREGA Alleging that the NDA Government is on its way to gradually doing away with the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA), many civil society groups and labour organisations have [appealed to Opposition parties to support their demands for an increase in budgetary allocation for the scheme](. In a briefing held for the Members of Parliament on March 14 at the Deputy Speakers Hall, Constitution Club, New Delhi, the civil society members urged them to raise the issues of crores of labourers and workers who have “not been paid since December 2021”. They highlighted the issue of inadequate funding, adverse changes in the attendance system as well as the method of payment. The broad aim of the briefing was to help MPs defend peoples’ right to work under the MGNREGA. MPs of the Opposition parties who attended the event were Sanjay Singh (Aam Aadmi Party), Digvijaya Singh, Uttam Kumar Reddy and Kumar Ketkar (Congress Party), S. Senthilkumar (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam), Jawhar Sircar (All India Trinamool Congress Party) among others. They deliberated upon the ways to force the government to enhance budgetary allocation and reverse the recent amendments in the mode of payment which has proved “disastrous” to the interest of workers. Beginning the presentation, Jean Drèze, visiting Professor at Ranchi University, said that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has unleashed an unprecedented three-pronged attack on MGNREGA — inadequate funding, the introduction of an Aadhaar-based Payment System (ABPS), and the inception of a real-time attendance system through the National Mobile Monitoring Software (NMMS) app. Prof. Dreze said that this year’s funding was only ₹60,000 crore, which is the lowest allocation ever in the history of the programme. “Funds run out and projects come to a halt. The wages get delayed and are accumulated for months,” Prof. Dreze said, adding that the introduction of digital attendance has deprived the workers of their wages due to technical and network glitches. “Aadhaar-based Payment is so complicated system that even many bankers fail to understand its functionality and the majority of workers cannot be paid through this system. It is illegal and criminal not to pay wages to workers for the work that they have done” he added. Delhi HC directs slum dwellers on Yamuna floodplains to vacate in three days or face demolition The [Delhi High Court on March 15 directed slum dwellers on the Yamuna floodplains to vacate]( their jhuggis within three days failing which they will have to pay ₹50,000 each to the DUSIB and the DDA shall proceed with the demolition. The court passed the order after being informed that a committee headed by the lieutenant governor has issued directions to clean river Yamuna in view of the January 9 directions of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) which took note of the pollution level. “Strict action may be permitted to be taken by police…the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) concerned of the area will render all support during the said action,” the court said dismissing a plea by the residents. The Delhi Development Authority (DDA), which has been tasked with the demolition of jhuggis, told Justice Prathiba M Singh that the NGT had revived the matter pertaining to pollution of the Yamuna, pursuant to which a high-level committee on January 27 passed directions to take immediate steps to control pollution of the river and remove encroachments there. Advocate Prabhsahay Kaur, appearing for the DDA, submitted that the residents had come back to the same place twice after the removal of encroachments. Taking note of the submission of the counsel for DDA, the judge asked the counsel representing the residents, “You are occupying river Yamuna. Do you know how much damage is being caused to it?” The court was hearing a plea by residents of Moolchand basti located on the Yamuna floodplains at Bela Estate, Rajghat claiming the DDA and Delhi Police officials visited them in August 2022 and threatened them to vacate their jhuggis which will otherwise be demolished. The DDA’s counsel told the court the residents had also filed a contempt petition but no contempt case had been made out against the authorities. She submitted the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) said in an affidavit that the residents were not entitled to rehabilitation as their ‘basti’ did not figure in its notified list. The court directed the DDA to proceed with the demolition after three days and said that no further indulgence will be shown to the petitioners or their families. It also disposed of the contempt plea observing that no contempt was made out and said “You cannot use contempt proceedings to threaten officials”. The court said the residents had concealed certain material facts, as recorded in its order of August 17, 2022, regarding earlier litigations challenging eviction by their fathers and grandfathers which had attained finality till the Supreme Court. When the matter was listed on January 13, the court had stayed the proposed demolition considering the harsh winter. Credit Suisse leads Europe bank stock rout after short-lived SVB respite Europe’s bank stocks came under pressure again on Wednesday, with [Credit Suisse tumbling to a new low, as investors continued to worry about stress within the sector]( following Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse. Regulators and financial executives around the world have sought to assuage contagion concerns after tech-focused lender SVB and another U.S. bank failed last week, but worries persist about the health of smaller institutions in particular. A fresh 18% drop in embattled Swiss lender Credit Suisse led the wider European banking index lower. Rapid rises in interest rates have made it harder for some businesses to pay back or service the loans they took from banks, increasing the chances of losses for lenders who are also worried about a recession. However, European Central Bank policymakers are still leaning towards a half-percentage-point rate hike on Thursday, a source told Reuters, as they expect inflation will remain too high in coming years. Investors had begun to doubt the ECB’s commitment to another big rate hike as SVB’s collapse sent shockwaves across markets. But the source said the euro zone’s central bank was unlikely to ditch its plan to raise rates by 50 basis points on Thursday because doing so would damage its credibility. In the United States, the focus is shifting to the possibility of tighter regulation of banks, particularly mid-tier ones like SVB and New York-based Signature Bank, whose collapses triggered the market tumult. “We have instilled some stability, but I honestly don’t know if it is stability or the appearance of stability, because I certainly do not know what is occurring behind the scenes at the deposit base of several thousand small to medium sized banks across the United States,” said John Briggs, global head of economics and markets strategy at NatWest Markets. Moody’s Investors Service on Tuesday revised its outlook on the U.S. banking system to “negative” from “stable”, citing heightened risks for the sector. Earlier, the Tokyo Stock Exchange banks index jumped more than 4%, after three straight days of heavy selling. Investors had been particularly concerned about the huge bond holdings, particularly U.S. Treasuries, of Japanese lenders, but Japanese finance minister Shunichi Suzuki said on Wednesday differences in the structure of bank deposits, meant local banks would not face incidents similar to SVB. Bruised U.S. bank stocks had regained some ground on Tuesday, aided by news that private equity and buyout firms were looking to scoop up some of SVB’s assets, leaving investors hopeful that efforts to shore up confidence would avert a wider crisis. Apollo Global Management Inc, Blackstone Inc and Carlyle Group were among those reported to have expressed interest in a book of loans held by SVB. Separately, SVB Financial Group said on Tuesday that Goldman Sachs was the acquirer of a bond portfolio on which it booked a $1.8 billion loss, a transaction that set in motion the failure of SVB. In Brief: A presidential advisory sub-committee has recommended the U.S. federal government to [extend the grace period for H1-B workers, who have lost their jobs, from the existing 60 days to 180 days]( so that the workers have enough opportunities to find a new job or other alternatives. “The immigration subcommittee recommends the Department of Homeland Security and the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to extend the grace period for H1-B workers, who have lost their jobs, from 60 days to 180 days,” Ajay Jain Bhutoria, member of the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders, said on Tuesday. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. First Day First Show Stay up-to-date on all things cinema with the "First Day First Show" cinema & entertainment newsletter. Every week, we bring you movie reviews, news from regional cinema, Bollywood, Hollywood, and beyond, as well as updates from the streaming platforms. 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