Table of Contents:
1. New Deputy Chief of The Air Staff - Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit 
2. First Indian State to Launch Welfare Fund for Workers Under MGNREGS – Kerala 
3. The Golden Years – New Book Authored by Ruskin Bond 
4. India's Largest Tunnel Aquarium - Aqua Marine Park 
 

New Deputy Chief of The Air Staff - Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit 
 

Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit took over as the Deputy Chief of the Air Staff. An alumnus of the National Defence Academy, he was Commissioned in the fighter stream on 06 December 1986. 

He is a qualified flying instructor as well as an experimental test pilot, with over 3,300 hours of flying experience on fighter, trainer and transport aircraft.  

Air Marshal Dixit commanded a Mirage 2000 squadron, a frontline fighter base in the Western sector, as well as a premier fighter training base. He has earlier served as Principal Director Air Staff Requirement, Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Projects) and Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Plans) at Air headquarters. 

The Air Officer has also been the Air Defence Commander of Southern Air Command and was Senior Air Staff Officer of South Western Air Command prior to taking over as the Deputy Chief of the Air Staff. 

First Indian State to Launch Welfare Fund for Workers Under MGNREGS – Kerala 

Kerala became the first state in India to launch a welfare fund for Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) workers in the State. The welfare fund has been formed as per the Kerala Employment Guarantee Workers' Welfare Fund Act, 2021. 

Under this, the workers who have completed the age of 60 will be entitled to a pension which will also provide financial assistance for medical treatment, education, and marriage, among other benefits. The workers need to pay a nominal monthly amount of Rs 50 as a contribution to the fund and the government will also contribute an equal amount. 

Those who have paid the contributions for ten or more years, and their families will get the benefits in case of the beneficiary’s death. 

The Golden Years – New Book Authored by Ruskin Bond 
 

Ruskin Bond, the famous Indian writer, authored his new book titled “The Golden Years: The Many Joys of Living a Good Long Life”, published by Harper Collins India, which is scheduled to be released on 19th May 2023 (on the occasion of his 89th Birthday).  

The book is named Golden Years because it is about the last 20 to 30 years of his life (60s, 70s and 80s) which he consider as the golden years of his life. 

Ruskin Bond  

• Born on 19th May 1934 in Kasauli, Punjab. 

• First Novel: “The Room on the Roof”. It was a semi-autobiographical story and received John Llewellyn Rhys Prize. 

• Rusty is a famous character created by Ruskin Bond to write stories about his own past. 

• Received the Sahitya Academy Award in 1992 for “Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra”. 

• Received Padma Shri in 1999 and Padma Bhushan in 2014 for Literature and Education. 

India's Largest Tunnel Aquarium - Aqua Marine Park 

The Aqua Marine Park (tunnel aquarium) in Hyderabad will be India’s largest such project that will be built with Rs 300 crore. With over 2,50,000 sq. ft built-up area, this tunnel aquarium will come up in the Kothwalguda Eco Park spread over 4.27 acres.  

This aqua marine park will have tunnels with a variety of aquamarine species including fish, reptiles etc. The curved tunnel will be at least 100 meters long with a 3.5 meter walkway and 180 degree view. 

India’s largest tunnel aquarium will have a minimum capacity to accommodate about 2,500 individuals and the water volume will not be less than 3 million liters for the total aquarium and not less than 2 million liters for the tunnel tank alone. 

It will have more than 300 species including freshwater, brackish water and marine/brackish water species, with a total of more than 10,000 animals including fishes, reptiles and other marine and land-based fauna, including ornamental fish, domestic and imported species are included.