# Cabinet reshuffle

• Prime minister Narendra modi has inducted 36 new ministers in his council of ministers midway through his second term.

• Health minister Harsh vardhan and IT minister Ravi shankar prasad and 10 other minsters have resigned from the council of ministers.

• Analysts term it an effort by PM modi to strike a balance between political messaging of including MPs from various regional centres as well as from marginalised communities.

# Assam

• Only traditional food items will be served at government programmes in Assam.

• The decision has been taken in sync with PM modi’s credo of “vocal for local” for promoting indigenous food products.

• The cabinet also decided to make it mandatory for handwoven gamosa – the traditional multipurpose scarf towel – to be used at government programmes.

# S. jaishankar’s Iran visit

• In a rare diplomatic gesture, external affairs minister S. jaishankar travelled to tehran on thursday and called on Iranian president elect, Ebrahim raisi.

• Mr. Jaishankar made  a transit halt in Tehran on his way to Moscow for bilateral consultations.

• S. Jaishankar handed over a personal message to Mr. Raisi from PM modi and also met with Iranian foreign minister Javed sharif.

# China-srilanka relations

• Srilanka has issued a comemorative coin marking the centenary of the chinese communist party.

• The coins have been issued at the request of the government of Srilanka as an accolade for long standing friendship and mutual trust between the two countries.

# GDP growth forecasts

• Fitch ratings has cut its projection for India’s real GDP growth in 2021-22 to 10% from 12.8%, citing a slower recovery due to renewed covid-19 restrictions.

• The ratings agency also warned that banks asset quality challenges have increased and will remain under threat due to mobility restrictions.