| Welcome to The Morning Filter, your guide to the busy news day ahead. We hope you are staying safe. Here are the latest updates and the big news stories to follow today: 1. Foreign envoys on 2-day JK visit to assess situation post-DDC polls: Officials Envoys from Europe and Africa will visit Jammu and Kashmir from Wednesday to assess the development work and the security situation in the union territory, especially after the successful completion of the District Development Council elections, officials said on Tuesday. 2. No new virus cases raise hopes New Zealand will end the lockdown  Minister for COVID-19 Response Chris Hipkins (right) speaks to media while PM Jacinda Ardern looks on during a press conference in Wellington, New Zealand. For a second consecutive day, New Zealand reported no new community cases of the coronavirus on Tuesday, raising hopes that a lockdown in Auckland will be lifted Wednesday. Just how three family members contracted the disease remains a mystery. After the cases were found, top lawmakers hurriedly placed New Zealand's largest city into a three-day lockdown, the nation's first in six months. 3. #MeToo: Court likely to pronounce verdict on Wednesday in M J Akbar's defamation case against Ramani A Delhi Court is likely to pronounce on Wednesday its verdict in M J Akbar's criminal defamation complaint against journalist Priya Ramani for her allegations of sexual harassment against him. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Ravindra Kumar had on February 1 reserved the judgment for February 10 after Akbar, as well as Ramani, completed their arguments. 4. Third edition of Indian Sign Language Dictionary with 10,000 terms to be released today The third edition of the Indian Sign Language (ISL) Dictionary with 10,000 terms will be released by Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Thaawarchand Gehlot on Wednesday. 5. Rahul Gandhi to visit poll-bound Puducherry  Congress leader Rahul Gandhi Ahead of Rahul Gandhi's Puducherry visit, trouble mounts for Congress govt as one more Congress MLA resigns. A John Kumar, a close confidant of Puducherry CM V Narayanasamy, resigned his MLA post on Tuesday. Kumar is the fourth Congress lawmaker to quit the party ahead of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's visit to Puducherry on Wednesday to kick-start the Congress poll campaign. 6. ISL | Goa hope to stop run of draws as Odisha await FC Goa will hope to stop their run of draws and strengthen their playoff chances with a win when they face laggards Odisha FC in the Indian Super League here on Wednesday. When the ISL season was halfway through, few would have looked past FC Goa while predicting the possible semifinalists. However, six draws later, they are just about hanging on. 7. Indian women's football team face Serbia on Wednesday in first of three FIFA friendlies The Indian women's football team will kick off its preparations for the 2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup to be hosted by the country with an international friendly match against Serbia in Alanya, Turkey on Wednesday. The match against Serbia is the first of three international friendlies India will play this month in Turkey. 8. Coronavirus | Latest numbers and developments The number of positive coronavirus cases reported from India now stands at 1,09,36,711 at the time of publishing this newsletter. The death toll from the disease stands at 1,58,490. Morning Filter will return tomorrow. Follow up on the day’s biggest stories and get concise analysis by The Hindu with the Evening Wrap newsletter. Click here to get it in your inbox. | 
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