Current Affairs in Short: April 17 2023

Nepal Appoints Narayan Prasad Saud as Next Foreign Minister

• Congress Leader of Nepal, Narayan Prasad Saud is all set to be the new Foreign Minister after the sworn-in ceremony was held on April 16.
• President Ram Singh Poudel directed the oath of office and secrecy at Rashtrapati Bhavan. This was decided during last week's conference where several ministers were present.
• A senior official told that Nepal’s Prime Minister Prachanda is about to visit India soon in the coming weeks. 

World Haemophilia Day 2023 Celebrated Today

• World Haemophilia Day is remembered on April 17 every year. This day also signifies the birthday of Frank Schnabel, the founder of the World Federation of Haemophilia.
• This day is to create awareness among all humans about the symptoms and healthcare facilities available to people suffering from blood disorders.
• Bleeding that often occurs in knees, arms, mouth, gums, skin, etc is very dangerous in certain cases. With particular medications, blood clotting patterns can be controlled. 

Chennai to Organise Hockey Tournament

• The Asian Champions Trophy Hockey Tournament is scheduled to be held between August 03 to 12, 2023.
• The seventh edition of this sport will be hosted by Chennai, as announced by the Tamil Nadu Sports Minister.
• Last time in 2007, the city hosted an International Hockey Show and the venue proved to be successful for the whole team. 

Syria Becomes Biggest Narco-State in the World

• It came to light that Syria’s earnings are largely from Captagon hence it is now the largest narco-state in the world. 
• A narco-state is one whose economy and income depend on the trading of illegitimate drugs.
• Captagon is a dangerous alternative to amphetamine and is considered an illegal drug at a global level. The cost of this drug is not much however with bribing and corruption, the range increases up to USD 14-20.

Virginia Norwood rewarded as The Mother of Landsat

• 96-year-old Virginia Tower Norwood who took her last breath on March 26, 2023, has been a pioneer in Aerospace.
• One of her biggest contributions includes inventing the multispectral scanner that was thoroughly used in the Landsat Project. 
• This device could measure Earth from Space and provided various images of the planet through which scientists could assess its workings. 

Also Read: Current Affairs in Short: April 14 2023