Joe Biden took oath as the 46th President of the United States of America at a scaled-back ceremony in the US Capitol building in Washington last night that was largely stripped of its usual pomp due to the Coronavirus and security concerns. In his first speech as US president, Mr Biden vowed to defeat political extremism and white supremacy.
 
He spoke of unifying the country and pledged that he will be the President for all Americans. He said, America has been tested and they have come out stronger for it. Mr Biden said, they will repair their alliances and engage once again. 78 year old Biden has become the oldest US President in history. His deputy Kamala Harris was also sworn in as 49th Vice-President of the country. The daughter of immigrants from Jamaica and India, Kamala Harris made history as America's first woman and first person with south Asian roots to take the office of the Vice President.

In Ladakh, the Union Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju launched the first ever Khelo India Zanskar Winter Sports Festival at Padum in Zanskar of Kargil district. The festival is being organised by the Ladakh UT Administration to promote Zanskar as winter tourists' destination.

The main features of the 13-day festival are Ice Climbing, trekking on frozen Zanskar River, Ice Hockey, snow sculpture and ethnic food festival. Addressing the inaugural function of the Khelo India Zanskar Winter Sport and Youth Festival, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju said that the Ministry will provide sports facilities in all regions of Ladakh. He said, the Ministry will promote Ladakh as a centre for Ice Hockey and soon open an centre for archery and polo in two areas in the region.

Zanskar Winter Sports and Youth festival is being introduced as an annual event in Zanskar to showcase its potential in adventure tourism and sports. It is one of the major events planned to promote winter tourism in Ladakh. Lieutanant Governor Ladakh R. K. Mathur and Member of Parliament Jamyang Tsering Namgyal , Chief Executive Councilor of Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Leh Tashi Galsion also attended the inaugural function. 

Union Government has said that more than one crore one lakh houses have been approved under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) till date. The construction of more than 70 lakh houses is in various stages and more than 41 lakh houses have been completed.
 
Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry said, the construction of one lakh 68 thousand 606 new houses have been approved in the 52nd Meeting of the Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee under the scheme. The Ministry said, 14 States and Union Territories participated in this meeting. Speaking on the occasion, Secretary of Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs Durga Shanker Mishra urged the States and UTs to strategize the expeditious implementation of PMAY(U) projects.
 
He said, the progress under the Mission has been steady and there is a need to move towards completion of houses with all the basic physical and social infrastructure. Mr Mishra said, the States and UTs should focus on completion and delivery of houses to beneficiaries. He also urged them to expedite the implementation of Affordable Rental Housing Complexes scheme.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will release financial assistance of around Rs. 2691 crores to 6.1 lakh beneficiaries in Uttar Pradesh under Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana – Gramin (PMAY-G) on 20th January, 2021 at 12 noon via video conferencing.

Union Rural Development Minister and Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh will also be present on the occasion. 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.

Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana – Gramin

Prime Minister gave the clarion call of “Housing for All by 2022”, for which a flagship programme of PMAY-G was launched on 20th November, 2016. So far 1.26 crore houses have already been built across the country under the scheme. Under PMAY-G, each beneficiary is given 100% grant of Rs.1.20 lakh (in plain areas) and Rs. 1.30 lakh (in Hilly States/North Eastern States/Difficult areas/UT of J&K and Ladakh/IAP/LWE districts).

The beneficiaries of PMAY-G, in addition to the unit assistance, are also provided support of unskilled labour wages under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) and assistance of Rs. 12,000 for construction of toilets through Swachh Bharat Mission-Gramin (SBM-G), MGNREGS or any other dedicated source of funding.

Union Government has decided to celebrate the birthday of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose as 'Parakram Diwas' on 23rd of January every year. Ministry of Culture said in a notification that the decision has been taken to honour and remember Netaji’s indomitable spirit and selfless service to the nation. It said, the people fondly remember Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's unparalleled contribution to the nation on his 125th Birth Anniversary.
 
Government has decided to celebrate the 125th Birth Anniversary Year of Netaji beginning from this month in a befitting manner at national and international level. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has laid the foundation stone of Ahmedabad Metro Rail Project Phase-II and Surat Metro Rail Project this morning through video conferencing.
 
Speaking on this occasion, Prime Minister Modi said that two economic urban centers of the country, Surat and Ahmedabad have got the gift of more than Rs.17000 crore soon after the Uttarayan. He said that projects like Railway connectivity with Kevadiya and Metro projects of Surat and Ahmedabad will boost the economic development in the region. He said that implementation of these projects shows that the infrastructure development in the country has not stopped despite the Corona pandemic. He said that the biggest feature of these Metro rail projects is that it is being implemented with the future requirements of the people.

Prime Minister Modi said that his government is working with an integrated transport approach in implementing the Metro Rail projects. He said that Metro rail projects are being implemented with the coordination of other modes of transport. He said that before 2014, only 225 kilometres metro was implemented in 10 to 12 years, but during the last 6 years, 450 kilometres metro rail was implemented in the country. Mr. Modi said that the work of more than 1000 kilometres of metro network is in progress in the country. Praising the fast economic development in Surat and Ahmedabad, Prime Minister Modi describes these two cities as the powerhouse of Atmanirbhar Bharat.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said India's COVID 19 vaccination campaign is based on very humane principles and those exposed to maximum risk get priority. Launching the world's largest COVID-19 vaccination program through video conferencing, Mr Modi stressed that this type of large-scale vaccination campaign has never before been run in history. He pointed out that India is vaccinating three crore people in its first phase of vaccination. Mr Modi added that in the second phase, 30 crore people will be vaccinated. He said there are only three countries in the world with a population over 300 million - India, China and the US.

The Prime Minister praised those scientists who had been involved in making the vaccine against Corona for the past several months. He exuded pride how two Made in India vaccines were readied in such a short period. Mr Modi said Indian vaccines are much cheaper than foreign vaccines but are equally good. He said there are some vaccines abroad whose single dose costs up to 5,000 rupees and have to be kept in freeze at minus 70 degree temperature. He said India's vaccines enjoy global credibility because of their track record. The Prime Minister said scientists gave nod to the two made-in-India vaccines after being sure of their effects, and asked people to not heed rumours and propaganda.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the world's largest COVID-19 vaccination program tomorrow morning through video conferencing. This pan India rollout of COVID-19 vaccination drive will cover the entire length and breadth of the country. 
 
A total of three thousand six session sites across all States and Union Territories will be virtually connected during the launch. Around 100 beneficiaries will be vaccinated at each session site on the inaugural day.
 
This vaccination programme is based on the principles of priority groups to be vaccinated and Health Care workers, both in government and private sectors including ICDS workers, will receive the vaccine during this phase.
 
Let's go LIVE to our correspondent who took stock of the vaccination programme scheduled to commence tomorrow at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in the National Capital.

The Third Phase of Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana was launched today in 600 districts across the country. Spearheaded by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, this phase will focus on new-age and COVID-related skills.
 
Skill development minister Dr Mahendra Nath Pandey interacted with various students of the skill development centres
 
Skill India Mission-PMKVY 3.0 envisages training of eight lakh candidates over a scheme period of 2020-2021 with an outlay of 949 crore rupees.
 
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Skill India programme in 2015 and it has gained tremendous momentum through the launch of its flagship scheme PMKVY to unlock the vision of making India the Skill Capital of the world.

Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given its approval to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Scientific and Technical Cooperation between National Centre of Meteorology (NCM), United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) India.

The MoU provides for sharing of knowledge, data and operational products for meteorological, seismological and oceanic services, such as Radar, Satellite, Tide gauges, seismic and Meteorological stations. 

1. Exchange of experience/visits in term of scientists, research scholars and specialists, etc. for the purpose of research, training, consultation, focused on climatic information services, satellite data utilization for now casting and tropical cyclones forecasting.
2. Exchange of scientific and technical information related to common interest activities.
3. Organization of bilateral scientific and technical seminars/ workshops/ conferences and training courses on problems related to the fields of cooperation mentioned in the MoU and of interest to both countries.
4. Other fields of cooperation as may be mutually agreed upon by the parties.
5. Deployment of Meteorological observation networks on mutual agreement over Ocean waters.   
6. Cooperation in the development of special capacities of Tsunami models researches for faster and more reliable forecasts of Tsunamis propagating through the Oman Sea and Arabian Sea which affect the coastal areas of India and North East of UAE.
7. Cooperation to support the Tsunami Early Warning Centre (TEWC) in the form of forecast modelling software, specifically designed to support the Tsunami forecasting operations.
8. Sharing the real-time seismic data of some of Seismic stations situated in south and west of India and North of the UAE for monitoring the seismic activities which may generate Tsunami in Arabian Sea and Sea of Oman.
9. Cooperate at the field of Seismology which includes the study of Seismic activities having the potential to generate Tsunami waves in Arabian Sea and Oman Sea.
10. Cooperation in Early warnings of Sand and Dust storms through the exchange of knowledge.