Joe Biden takes over @POTUS Twitter account after inauguration
Washington: Joe Biden on Wednesday took over the official @POTUS Twitter account of the President of the United States after his inauguration.
The 78-year-old veteran Democratic leader's Twitter account @PresElectBiden transformed into @POTUS after he took the oath of office at the West Front of the US Capitol as the 46th President of the United States in a historic but scaled down ceremony under the unprecedented security umbrella of thousands of security personnel.
POTUS is the official acronym for President of the United States; FLOTUS refers to the First Lady.
Twitter transferred institutional accounts such as @POTUS, @FLOTUS, @VP and @WhiteHouse to the Biden administration after the inauguration.
These accounts are reserved for the official government use by the current administration as they do not belong to any individual.
When previous president Donald Trump took the office in 2017, then-President Barack Obama's official accounts were transferred to him with his followers intact.
This time, these official accounts have lost tens of millions of followers. However, those dropped will receive notifications that they can follow them.
As per Twitter, the users are given a choice to whether follow the new accounts or not.
Trump's @POTUS account has been archived as @POTUS45 in the same way Obama's account was archived as @POTUS44.
On January 15, Biden's Twitter account had tweeted that the account will become the official account of the US President on January 20.
Folks This will be the account for my official duties as President. At 12:01 PM on January 20th, it will become @POTUS. Until then, I'll be using @JoeBiden. And while you're here, follow @FLOTUSBiden @SenKamalaHarris @SecondGentleman and @Transition46, it had said.
Kamala Harris, soon after she was sworn-in as America's first woman Vice President during a historic inauguration at the West Front of the Capitol, tweeted from her official Twitter account soon after the inauguration.
Ready to serve," she said in the tweet.
"For the people always," Harris tweeted from her personal account before the inauguration.
"I'm here today because of the women who came before me," she said in another tweet along with a video which featured a number of Black women, including her Tamil mother.
The inauguration was held under the watch of more than 25,000 National Guards, who have transformed the capital into a garrison city, mainly because of the threat of more violent protests by the supporters of outgoing President Donald Trump, who became the first president to skip his successor's inauguration since Andrew Johnson in 1869. Outgoing Vice President Mike Pence attended the ceremony.
The time to move forward is now. pic.twitter.com/IrUUu0bxGO
— President Biden (@POTUS) January 20, 2021
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Her willingness, consent all that matters: HC on Punjab woman's plea for abortion
Chandigarh (PTI): It is the willingness and consent of a married woman that is all that matters, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has observed, while allowing a petitioner to undergo abortion without her husband's consent.
The direction came on a plea moved by the 21-year-old petitioner from Punjab, seeking permission to terminate her pregnancy in its second trimester.
The petitioner had submitted that she got married on May 2, 2025 and had a turbulent relationship with her husband.
In the previous hearing, the court had issued directions to the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) to constitute a medical board to examine the petitioner.
According to the medical report, the woman was medically fit to undergo MTP (medical termination of pregnancy).
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According to the December 23 report, there is a single live intra-uterine foetus with a gestational age of 16 weeks and a day, with no congenital malformation.
"Patient has symptoms of depression and anxiety for the last six months, (and) has been undergoing treatment with minimal improvement. She is severely distressed about her pregnancy amidst divorce proceedings. It is recommended that she continues to undergo her psychiatric treatment and counselling. She is psychologically fit to consent," the report of the medical board said.
A bench of justice Suvir Sehgal said it is evident from the report that according to experts, the petitioner is in a fit medical condition for the termination of her pregnancy.
The sole question that requires to be considered is whether her estranged husband's consent is required before such termination, the court observed.
The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971, does not provide for an express or implied consent of the husband, it pointed out.
"A married lady is the best judge to evaluate as to whether she intends to continue with pregnancy or get it aborted. Her willingness and consent is all that matters," the court noted.
It said according to the medical report, the gestation period of a foetus is less than 20 weeks and falls within the maximum period prescribed under the Act.
"This court, therefore, does not find any obstacle in permitting the petitioner to undergo abortion. In view of the above, it is directed that petitioner is eligible to get the pregnancy terminated from respondent No.2 -- PGIMER -- or any other authorised hospital," the order passed on December 24 said.
"Let the petitioner, within the next one week, get the medical termination of pregnancy from PGIMER, Chandigarh, or any other authorised hospital, which must take due care and precaution while conducting the procedure," the court added while disposing of the plea.
