India's recently-enacted agri laws have the potential to increase farmers' income, but there is a need to provide a social safety net to the vulnerable cultivators, IMF's Chief Economist Gita Gopinath has said. Indian agriculture is in need of reforms, she said. There are multiple areas where the reforms are needed, including infrastructure, the chief economist of the Washington-based global financial institution said on Tuesday. The three agri laws, enacted in September last year, have been projected by the Indian government as major reforms in the agriculture sector that will remove middlemen and allow farmers to sell their produce anywhere in the country.

Trump is the first US president who facing an impeachment trial after he left the presidency.

The IMF on Tuesday projected an impressive 11.5 per cent growth rate for India in 2021, making the country the only major economy of the world to register a double-digit growth this year amidst the coronavirus pandemic.

Yellen, 74, was confirmed by the Senate in a broad bipartisan support of 84-15 votes on Monday. Both the Democratic and the Republican parties have 50 members in the 100-seat Senate.

The State Department said US citizens should reconsider non-essential travel abroad. Those that must travel abroad following the implementation of this order should carefully consider the strict implementation of the travel restrictions.

A day earlier, the House of Representatives voted 326-78 to pass a waiver exempting Austin from the seven-year 'cooling off period' for retired generals taking over as defence secretary. The senate approved the waiver by 69-27 votes.

Biden said the plan starts with mounting an aggressive, safe, and effective vaccination campaign to meet the goal of administering 100 million shots in the first 100 days in office.

Trump did not attend Biden's inauguration, a rare for an outgoing president.

The president said he will be signing a number of executive orders over the next several days of the week.

I will not talk about it until I talk to him. But it was generous, Biden told reporters in the Oval Office of the White House

Speaking shortly after taking oath as the 46th President of the United States, 78-year-old Biden also pledged to repair America's global alliances, which suffered during his predecessor Donald Trump's four-year regime.

Harris, the 49th US Vice President, will serve as the deputy of President Joe Biden, 78, who also took the oath of office, becoming the 46th US President.

The 78-year-old veteran Democrat leader was administered the oath of office by Chief Justice John Roberts at the West Front of the Capitol -- the traditional location for presidential inaugural ceremonies where the deadly violence took place just two weeks ago.

In opting to wear the dress designed by Christopher John Rogers and Sergio Hudson, Harris has sent her own message to the country that Black designers have arrived on the scene.

Biden and Harris along with their families attended Mass at The Cathedral of St Matthew the Apostle. They were joined by bipartisan congressional leaders including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Senator and JCCIC Chair Amy Klobuchar.

Chief Justice John Roberts will administer the oath of office to Biden just after the clock strikes 12 (local time) at the West Front of the Capitol -- the traditional location -- under the unprecedented security umbrella of more than 25,000 National Guards, who have transformed the capital into a garrison city, mainly because of the threat of violent protest by Trump's supporters.

The Capitol Hill, the complex comprising of US Congress and its buildings, was briefly put under lockdown on Monday due to "an external security treat", local police said after a fire was reported a few blocks away.

More than 25,000 National Guards have been deployed along with thousands of local police personnel and those from other security agencies. The area in and around Capitol Hill, a large part of Pennsylvania Avenue and the White House has been made out of bounds for the general public with eight-feet high iron barricades being erected.

Pictures of thousands of Kolam tiles were on Saturday woven into a video to welcome Biden and Harris in the spirit of 'Presidency for All' and to showcase the multi-cultural heritage of America.

It is also for the first time ever that so many Indian-Americans have been roped into a presidential administration ever before the inauguration. Biden, a Democrat, is still quite far away from filling all the positions in his administration.