• Recently, the Hicky’s Bengal Gazette was in the news.

• About Bengal Gazette
  • On January 29, 1780, Hicky's newspaper i.e. Bengal Gazette or Calcutta General Advertiser, was founded
  • Irishman James Augustus Hicky published India's first printed newspaper i.e. Bengal Gazette.
  • It was a weekly English-language newspaper published in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), the capital of British India.
  • It was closed down in 1782 after it criticized the then Governor General Warren Hastings.

• The Finance Minister has refuted claims of plans to bring changes to the capital gains tax structure.

• About Capital Gains Tax
  • Under the Income Tax law, any profits or gains arising from the transfer of a 'capital asset', is chargeable to tax under the heading of 'Capital Gains'.
  • Types:
    • Short-Term Capital Gain:  For assets generally held for less than 36 months.
    • Long-Term Capital Gain: For assets held for 36 months or more. However, tenure varies in the case of different assets. For e.g. Long term capital gain is levied on listed shares if period of holding is more than 1 year.  

• The Department of Consumer Affairs has issued a warning against drip pricing.

• About Drip Pricing
  • It is a pricing technique in which firms advertise only part of a product’s price and reveal other charges later as the customer goes through the buying process.
  • It is used as a tactic to attract customers into initiating the purchasing process
  • It has been identified as a dark pattern under Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, 2023. 
    • A Dark pattern refers to practices adopted by online platforms that mislead people into paying for items or services they did not intend to do originally.

• Russia plans to hold tactical nuclear weapon drill to deter West.

About TNWs 

• A TNW is any weapon that have not been classified as “strategic” under US- Russian arms control agreements like Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty etc.
• Refers to short-range weapons, including Land-based missiles (range less than 500 km), and Air- and sea-launched weapons (range less than 600 km).
• TNWs are the least-regulated category of nuclear weapons covered in arms control agreements.
• TNWs constitute a large percentage of the arsenals of nuclear weapon states.

• International Leopard Day, observed on May 3, promotes conservation of leopards and their habitats.

About Indian Leopard (

• Characteristics: Can be diurnal and nocturnal; Good climbers and rely on trees for cover. 
• Habitat Distribution: India, Nepal, Bhutan, and parts of Pakistan, excluding mangrove forests and deserts.
  • In India, they are found in Tropical rainforests, temperate deciduous, alpine coniferous forests.
• Importance of Leopard: Maintaining ecological balance, regulate populations of their prey species, etc.
• Threats: Habitat Loss, Poaching etc.
• Protection Status: 
  • IUCN- Vulnerable
  • CITES- Appendix I
  • Wildlife Protection Act 1972: Schedule 1

• Catatumbo lightning is a natural phenomenon that occurs at the mouth of the Catatumbo River, where it meets Lake Maracaibo.
  • The lightning strikes almost continuously up to 160 nights in a year.
  • The area is called the lightning capital of the world.

• Factor responsible for high frequency of lightning:
  • The convergence of cool air from the Andes and moist warm air from the Caribbean generates a constant cycle of convection. 
  • As the warm air rises, it cools and condenses, leading to the formation of Cumulonimbus clouds which in turn, create an environment for electrical activity.
• Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela is the largest lake in Latin America.

• IIT-Madras incubated startup Mindgrove launched Secure IoT, India’s debut high-performance SoC (system on chip).
  • SoC combines many electronic parts into one chip, like a mini-computer. 

• About Secure IoT
  • It is the first indigenous microcontroller chip.
  • Applications: In deep embedded applications like smart variants of fans, speakers, wearables, etc.
  • Due to its features like Cost effectiveness (30% cheaper than other chips in the segment), adaptability, and top-notch security features it will reduce dependence over imports of chips. 

• Indian Army and Indian Air Force will be jointly deploying MQ-9B Predator drones in Gorakhpur and Sarsawa (Saharanpur) air bases as per reports. 

• About MQ-9B 
  • It  has two variants- SkyGuardian and SeaGuardian
    • SeaGuardian is used by Indian Navy since 2020. 
  • SkyGuardian is the next generation of remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS). 
    • It can fly for up to 40+ hours in all types of weather. 
    • It is equipped with Multi-mode Radar, an advanced electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) sensor etc. 
    • It is capable of a variety of roles including surveillance, over-the-horizon targeting, airborne early warning, electronic warfare etc.