• Finance Ministry released the 5th monthly installment of Post Devolution Revenue Deficit grant (PDRD) of over seven thousand one hundred and eighty-three crore rupees to fourteen states.
• The grant has been released as per the recommendations of the Fifteenth Finance Commission.
• The Ministry said, the 15th Finance Commission has recommended a total Post Devolution Revenue Deficit Grant of 86 thousand 201 crore rupees to 14 States for the financial year 2022-23.
• The recommended grant is released by the Department of Expenditure to the recommended States in 12 equated monthly installments.
• With the release of the 5th installment, the total amount of Revenue Deficit Grants released to the States in 2022-23 has gone up to over 35 thousand 917 crore rupees.
• The States who have been recommended Post Devolution Revenue Deficit Grant by the Fifteenth Finance Commission during 2022-23 are – Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.
• The Post Devolution Revenue Deficit (PDRD) grants are made available to the states under the provisions of article 275 of the Constitution.

• The government launched State University Research Excellence scheme to augment the research capabilities in a structured way to create a robust R&D ecosystem in state and private universities and colleges, including self-financed institutions working within these universities.
• State University Research Excellence (SERB-SURE) is a new innovative scheme of the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), a statutory body of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), that can foster collaboration for high-end research at state and private universities and colleges.
• “The new scheme will help bring the university system, which was so far mostly limited to teaching, into mainstream research and enable the young faculty there to participate in cutting-edge research,” said Dr. Srivari Chandrasekhar, Chairman SERB and Secretary, Department of Science and Technology (DST) at the launch of the programme.
• In this scheme, the state universities will have level competition to secure research funding, and present significant opportunities for strengthening of research ecosystem in state universities to upgrade their research capabilities to national and international levels,” said SERB Secretary Professor Sandeep Verma.
• SERB-SURE scheme provides research support to active researchers belonging to state and private universities and colleges, including self-financed institutions working within these universities, across India, to undertake research and development in frontier areas of science, engineering, and quantitative social science.

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, CCEA has approved the Fair and Remunerative Price of sugarcane for sugar season 2022-23 (October – September).
• It has approved the highest ever Fair and Remunerative price, FRP of 305 rupees per quintal for Sugarcane Farmers.
• The FRP for sugar season 2022-23 is 2.6 percent higher than the current sugar season 2021-22. FRP of sugarcane is fixed to ensure a guaranteed price to sugarcane growers.
• The decision will benefit five crore sugarcane farmers and their dependents, as well as five lakh workers employed in the sugar mills and related ancillary activities.
• In the past eight years, the government has increased Fair and Remunerative Prices by more than 34 percent aimed at increasing the income of farmers.

Pitch Black Air Combat Exercise

• The exercises will be conducted by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) starting August 19 to September 6. Almost 2,500 personnel from over 17 countries and 100 aircraft will engage in both Offensive Counter Air (OCA) and Defensive Counter Air (DCA) combat drills.

About Pitch Black

• In the 1980s, this first started in Australia’s Northern Territories between different RAAF units. Australia has been inviting international partners since then to practice new doctrines, combat and most importantly interoperability.
• For the first time India participated in Pitch Black was in 2018 along with other countries like Germany, Indonesia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Australia, Canada, France (New Caledonia), and the United States.

Where is Pitch Black conducted?

• It is conducted on RAAF’s Bradshaw Field Training Area and Delamere Air Weapons Range — one of the largest training airspaces in the world. Usually the drills are out of RAAF’s Base Darwin and Base Tindal, this year Base Amberley will also be used.
• In this edition of the exercise, Australia will establish themselves as key players in regional security and cooperation in the Indo-Pacific.

Who all are attending?

• Australia is the host, and others attending include India, Germany, France, UAE, Malaysia, the US, New Zealand, Indonesia, Singapore, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the UK, the Philippines, Thailand, Canada, and the Netherlands.
• For the first time Japan, Germany and the Republic of Korea are participating and there will be an International Observer Group Programme which allows other countries to be present to observe the planning and execution of the exercise.

• The government has given an in-principle approval to the first-ever horticulture policy of the state.
• As one of its major objectives, the policy aims to diversify fruit production in the state. At the moment, apple accounts for more than 80 per cent of the fruit production.
• The policy aims at converting Himachal from the apple state to a fruit state. To achieve this objective, the department will adopt a cluster approach to boost the cultivation of other fruits along with apple.
• “Just as apple clusters have been formed under the World Bank-funded the horticulture development project, areas will be identified where there is a potential for growing other fruits. These areas will then be put under cluster cultivation.
• Efforts are already afoot to boost the cultivation of sub-tropical fruits at lower elevations in the state through project SHIVA, which is funded by the Asian Development Bank.
• The policy stresses on the use of latest technology and techniques like drip irrigation, high density plantation, etc. for better quality and yield of the fruit.
• Compared to the developed horticulture nations, the per-hectare production of fruit in the state is very low and the policy aims at addressing this huge gap in production.
• Also, technology will be used to make the entire system transparent and accessible to all fruit growers. Relevant information would be put up on the department’s website, ensuring prompt, transparent and impartial services to the growers.
• According to the official, the policy will look to create infrastructure like marketing yards, CA stores, processing units, proper roads in rural areas etc to help growers get better value for their produce. “Besides, foreign markets will be explored for exporting fruit”.
• Besides, focus will be laid on preparing nurseries for planting material of all fruits. Currently, much of the planting material of most fruits is coming from abroad and the policy advocates to cut down foreign dependence on this front.

• Tribal Development Minister Ram Lal Markanda inaugurated the two-day Lahaul Tourism Festival being organised by the Lahaul Eco-Tourism Society at Jispa.
• The minister said that such events played a crucial role in promoting tradition and culture of the district.
• Tourists could have a glimpse of the Lahaul folk culture, dance and cuisine during the fair.
• He announced Rs 1.50 lakh for the organisers and appreciated their decision to organise the festival at Jispa in the Lahaul valley to attract tourists.

• Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri inaugurated the fourth ONGC Para Games in Thyagaraj Sports Complex in New Delhi.
• On the occasion Mr. Puri said, the ONGC Para Games is a wonderful platform to bring in inclusiveness and equity in the human resource of the public enterprises under the Ministry.
• The fourth ONGC Para Games is being organized by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC).
• Nearly 275 Persons with Disabilities (PwD) are participating in the Games. These all are employees of eight central oil and gas public enterprises.

• World Wide Web Day is observed on 1st of August every year.
• The day is marked in honour of the ability of people to browse information freely using the Web. The Web is the tool that billions across the globe use every moment to interact with the global system of interconnected computer systems that is the Internet.
• The WWW was created by English computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee in 1989, while he was working for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Switzerland.
• Berners-Lee developed the essentials of the web – HTTP, HTML, the WorldWideWeb browser, a server, and the first website – while working at the organisation.
• The day aims to highlight the importance of the web in improving people’s lives by facilitating communication, access to information and resources, education and empowerment.

• The Commemoration Day of the Madras Legislative Council falls on the second of August.
• This year 2022 marks the 101st year of the Council, which was abolished in the year 1986 by the then State Government.
• The first election for the Madras Council was held in November 1920 and the first sitting of the Council was inaugurated by the Duke of Connaught on 12th January 1921.
• The Government of India Act of 1935 created a bicameral legislature in the Madras province and the Council eventually became the upper chamber of a bicameral legislature in 1937.
• It was renamed as the Tamil Nadu Legislative Council when the state was renamed as Tamil Nadu in 1969.
• The council was later abolished on 1st November, 1986 by the then Government headed by M.G. Ramachandran.
• Under the Indian Council Act of 1861, the council was given the role as an advisory body. In 1892, the act given some expansive power without elected members.
• The scope for limited election was given by the Morley-Minto Act of 1909.

• Bangladesh Railway Minister Md. Nurul Islam Sujan has said that the Khulna-Mongla railway line will become operational by the end of this year.
• Minister Sujan said most of the work of around 45 kilometres railway line has been completed.
• The Mongla-Khulna railway line is funded by the government of India Line of Credit (LOC). The project is scheduled to be over by the end of this year.
• The Khulna-Mongla railway project is part of the first Line of Credit extended by India to Bangladesh in 2010.
• According to the IRCON International Ltd, a total 31 bridges and 108 culverts have been built for the train link.
• The Rupsha bridge was completed on 25 June this year. The Minister said that the main challenge in the project was the construction of the Rupsha bridge which has been completed now.
• Outlining the benefit of the Khulna-Mongla line, Nurul Islam Sujan said that it will lead to enhanced trade through the Mongla port to foreign destinations.
• Speaking about other railway projects, the minister said that the construction work of the Padma Bridge Railway project from Dhaka to Bhanga will be complete by June 2023 after which the Kushtia-Khulna railway communication will commence.