| Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day's biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. We hope you are staying safe. Farmers' protest: U.S. calls for dialogue, recognises right to protest Following expressions of support on social media to the farmers' protest by several well-known personalities and celebrities, including pop icon Rihanna , climate activist Greta Thunberg and others, the U.S. government has also spoken, encouraging dialogue and supporting the right to peaceful protest. The U.S.'s reactions were recorded in a statement released by its Embassy in New Delhi and through a State Department statement released to a Wall Street Journal reporter on Thursday. Washington has also welcomed steps that would enhance the efficiency of India's markets. "We recognise that peaceful protests are a hallmark of any thriving democracy, and note that the Indian Supreme Court has stated the same. We encourage that any differences between the parties be resolved through dialogue. In general, the United States welcomes steps that would improve the efficiency of India's markets and attract greater private sector investment," a statement from the U.S. Embassy said. Access to information was fundamental to democracy, the U.S. said, in reaction to the Haryana government temporarily shutting down mobile Internet services in several districts last week and earlier this week, stating law and order reasons. "We recognize that unhindered access to information, including the Internet, is fundamental to the freedom of expression and a hallmark of a thriving democracy," the statement said. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) responded by saying that it has "taken note" of the U.S. statement. "It is important to see such comments in their entirety. The U.S. has acknowledged steps taken by India in agricultural reform. India and the U.S. are both vibrant democracies," Ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said. Delhi Police to probe 'international conspiracy' to 'defame' India The Delhi police cyber cell has registered an FIR to investigate an "international conspiracy" to defame the country, said a senior police officer on Thursday. He said that they registered an FIR into the matter after 18-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg shared a 'toolkit' on Twitter, which she subsequently deleted. Thunberg's name is mentioned in the FIR, but apparently not as an accused. More clarity on this issue is awaited from Delhi police. Soon after the news of the FIR came out, Thunberg on Thursday tweeted: "I still #StandWithFarmers and support their peaceful protest. No amount of hate, threats or violations of human rights will ever change that. #FarmersProtest". She also tweeted an updated 'toolkit' in place of the one she had deleted. Typically, such tool kits are widely used by activists, PR agencies, and social movements in outreach campaigns. They are a handy way to educate a targeted audience about an issue, present a point of view, and motivate lay persons and 'influencers' to participate in the campaign.  Supporters of the United Hindu Front hold placards and pictures of Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and Barbadian singer Rihanna during a demonstration in New Delhi on February 4, 2021. However, Praveer Ranjan, Special Commissioner of Police said that an FIR has been registered under section 124A (Sedition), 153 (Wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot), 153 A (Promoting enmity between different groups) and 120 B (criminal conspiracy). "Delhi Police is monitoring social media in connection with the Kisan agitation. In the process, Delhi police has identified more than 300 SM [social media] handles, which have been used for pushing hateful and malicious content. These handles are being used by some organisations/ individuals having [a] vested interest and they are spreading disaffection against Govt. of India," said Ranjan. MPs stopped from meeting farmers Former Union Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal reached the Ghazipur border on Thursday to meet farmers protesting against the farm laws. She was accompanied by more than a dozen MPs from different parties. However, because of heavy barricading at the border, they could not meet the farmers. Badal told reporters that the Lok Sabha Speaker was not allowing a discussion on the farmers' protest. The purpose of the visit, Badal said, was to inform the Speaker about the situation at the protest site. "We are here so that we can discuss this issue [farmers' protest] in Parliament,' she said.  In this photo tweeted by DMK MP Kanimozhi, she is seen along with other MPs including Tiruchi Siva and N.K. Premachandran at Ghazipur border. She took on the Delhi Police for heavily barricading the border that rendered any movement impossible. "It is unprecedented. The fortification is like that at the Pakistan border," she said. "Why we are being prevented from meeting our own people? They are treating farmers as foreigners. When we can't go and meet them, how can they come to Delhi for dialogue? How will the ambulances and fire brigade move in case of an emergency? It seems the farmers have been left to die," she said. Badal was accompanied by NCP MP Supriya Sule, DMK MP K. Kanimozhi and TMC MP Sougata Roy, among others. She had resigned from the Union Cabinet in September against the government decision to implement the three farm laws. AAP slams Bill that seeks to delineate powers of Delhi government and LG, calls it 'unconstitutional' The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is all set to introduce a legislation in the Budget session of Parliament to amend a 1991 Act pertaining to the powers and functions of the Delhi government and the Lieutenant Governor (LG). The proposed legislation received the Union Cabinet's approval on Wednesday. The Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2021 is among the 20 Bills proposed to be introduced in this Parliament session. The reason stated to move the legislation says, "The Bill proposes to amend the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991, in the context of judgment dated 14.02.2019 of Hon'ble Supreme Court (Division Bench) in Civil Appeal No. 2357 of 2017 and other connected matters." The Hindu had reported that according to changes proposed in the new Act, the LG could act in his discretion in any matter that is beyond the purview of the powers of the Assembly of Delhi in matters related to the All India (Civil) Services and the ACB. Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, in a press conference today, slammed the Bill as "unconstitutional" and as an attempt by the BJP to take over the governance of Delhi "through the backdoor". He said that it "undermined the legitimate powers of the democratically elected government of Delhi" by giving more power than to the LG, who is a representative of the Union government. In first for Europe, Iran envoy sentenced to 20-year prison term over bomb plot An Iranian diplomat accused of planning to bomb a meeting of an exiled opposition group was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Thursday in the first trial of an Iranian official for suspected terrorism in the European Union since Iran's 1979 revolution. Belgian prosecution lawyers and civil parties to the prosecution said Vienna-based diplomat Assadolah Assadi was guilty of attempted terrorism after a plot to bomb a rally of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) near Paris in June 2018 was foiled by German, French and Belgian police. "The ruling shows two things: A diplomat doesn't have immunity for criminal acts ... and the responsibility of the Iranian state in what could have been carnage," Belgian prosecution lawyer Georges-Henri Beauthier told reporters outside the court in Antwerp. Three other Iranians were sentenced in the trial for their role as accomplices, with 15, 17 and 18-year sentences handed down respectively. "It was established that the Iranian regime uses terrorism as statecraft and the highest levels of the Iranian regime are involved," Shahin Gobadi, a Paris-based spokesman for the opposition People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran, which is part of the NCRI, said outside the court. Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 1,08,02,571 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 1,56,197. Over 21% of the population, aged 10 years and above, showed evidence of past exposure to Covid-19 in the Indian Council of Medical Research's (ICMR) latest national serosurvey, the government said on Thursday, noting that a large proportion of people are still vulnerable to the infection.  A medic takes a sample of a woman in Mumbai for a 'Herd Immunity' study by the Indian Council of Medical Research. File. The ICMR's third national serosurvey was conducted between December 7, 2020 and January 8, 2021. Presenting the survey findings, ICMR Director General Dr Balram Bhargava said 21.4% of the 28,589 people, aged 18 years and above, surveyed during the period showed evidence of past exposure to the coronavirus infection. Further, 25.3% of children aged 10 to 17 years from the same number of surveyed population have had the disease, he said. Urban slums (31.7%) and urban non-slums (26.2%) had a higher SARS-CoV-2 prevalence than rural areas (19.1%), Bhargava said, adding that 23.4% of individuals above 60 years of age had suffered from Covid-19. Blood samples of 7,171 healthcare workers were also collected during the same period and the seroprevalence was found to be 25.7%, the ICMR director general said. The survey was conducted in the same 700 villages or wards in 70 districts in 21 States selected during the first and second rounds of the national serosurvey. In Brief: The Ministry of Home Affairs has informed the Supreme Court in a short affidavit that the Tamil Nadu Governor has considered "all the facts on record and relevant documents" on the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case convict A.G. Perarivalan's early release, and concluded that the President of India is the "appropriate competent authority" to deal with his pardon plea. In other words, the Governor has effectively rejected the State government's recommendation in favour of his release. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. | 
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