US President-elect Joe Biden and his deputy Kamala Harris will be sworn in as the 46th President and 49th Vice-President of the United States today. Ms Harris will make history as America’s first woman, first Black and first person with south Asian roots to take the office of the Vice President.

Joe Biden, 78, will take the oath on his 127-year-old family Bible, which will be held by his wife, Dr Jill Biden.  

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be sworn in on the West front of the US Capitol building.

Meanwhile, the security has been beefed up at the US Capitol building in view of recent clashes between Trump supporters and Police.

Inaugurations are designated a “National Special Security Event”, meaning the US Secret Service has overall command, but this time they will be supported by an increased mix of forces, including the DC Metropolitan Police Department and the National Guard.

National Guardsmen began arriving at the Capitol last week and eventually around 25,000 are expected to be involved in security efforts.  

The Pentagon has given its approval for some of those troops to be armed, with many stationed around the Capital being pictured with handguns or rifles.

Travel restrictions stepped up one of the main roles for those personnel will be manning dozens of road blocks across the centre of the city, including on several key bridges that cross the Potomac River.

Access will be closely guarded, with only residents or businesses allowed to move around the outer “green zone” while the “red zone” will be limited to just authorised vehicles.

More than a dozen subway stations have also been closed.

The tenth round of talks between Centre and farmers representatives will be held in New Delhi today. The meeting was earlier scheduled for yesterday but had been postponed by a day.

The ninth round of talks held on the 15th of January had remained inconclusive. Speaking to the media after the meeting, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar had said the unions have been asked to form informal groups among themselves and submit a draft to the government regarding their demands.

Mr Tomar had said the government is concerned about the farmers protesting in cold conditions. He had asserted that the Centre is positive that a solution will soon be reached through talks.

India will start supplying COVID-19 vaccines from today, paving the way for many mid- and lower-income countries to get supplies of the easy-to-store vaccine.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi  in a tweet,  said, India is deeply honoured to be a long-trusted partner in meeting the healthcare needs of the global community.

In a statement, Ministry of External Affairs said, Government of India has received several requests for the supply of Indian manufactured vaccines from neighbouring and key partner countries.

In response to these requests, and in keeping with India’s stated commitment to use India’s vaccine production and delivery capacity to help all of humanity fight the Covid pandemic, supplies under grant assistance to Bhutan, Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar and Seychelles will begin from today.

The Ministry said, in respect of Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Mauritius, India is awaiting their confirmation of necessary regulatory clearances.

The Ministry said, the immunization programme is being implemented in India, as in other countries, in a phased manner to cover the healthcare providers, frontline workers and the most vulnerable.

Keeping in view the domestic requirements of the phased rollout, India will continue to supply COVID-19 vaccines to partner countries over the coming weeks and months in a phased manner.

It will be ensured that domestic manufacturers will have adequate stocks to meet domestic requirements while supplying abroad.

Prior to the delivery of vaccines, a two day training programme, covering administrative and operational aspects began today for immunization managers, cold chain officers, communication officers and data managers of the recipient countries, both at national and provincial levels.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will release financial assistance of around 2,691 crore rupees to over 6 lakh beneficiaries in Uttar Pradesh under Pradhan Mantri aawas yojna – gramin (PMAY-G) today through video conferencing. He is also likely to speak to some beneficiaries on the occasion.

Union Rural Development Minister and Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh will also be present in the function. The assistance would include release of first installment to 5.30 lakh beneficiaries and second installment to 80 thousand beneficiaries who have already availed first installment of assistance under PMAY-G.

AIR  correspondent reports that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to speak to a woman named Rajkumari of Khoh village of Chitrakoot district of Bundelkhand area in the state. With a click by Prime Minister, 5044 beneficiaries will be financially benefited in Chitrakoot district.

Uttar Pradesh bagged 9 national awards, which was the highest last year in different categories, for the excellent implementation of the scheme by the Union rural development ministry. So far 1.26 crore houses have already been built across the country under PMAY-G, which was launched on 20th November, 2016 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Along with the financial grant, the beneficiaries will also be provided unskilled labour wages, under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and will also be getting an assistance of Rs. 12,000 for the construction of toilets, through Swachh Bharat Mission-Gramin.