Daily Current Affairs Updates: 17 February 2015

1) Croatia's first female president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic sworn in:

--> Croatia's first female president, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, was sworn in on 15 Feb 2015 and pledged to help kickstart the EU member's ailing economy.

--> The 46-year-old conservative former foreign minister and NATO official narrowly defeated her left-wing predecessor Ivo Josipovic in an election run-off in January.

--> The leading member of the main opposition HDZ party will serve a five-year term.

2) 3 Indians in 100 shortlisted for one way trip to Mars:

--> Three Indians, two women and one man, have made it to the list of 100 applicants who will move on to the next round of an ambitious private mission that aims to send four people on a one-way trip to Mars in 2024.

--> From the initial 202,586 applicants, only 100 hopefuls have been selected to proceed to the next round of the Mars One Astronaut Selection Process, The Netherlands-based non-profit organisation Mars One has announced.

--> The project aims to set up a human colony on Mars and eventually around 40 people will be sent to the red planet on a permanent basis.

--> The finalists will train for seven years and Mars One will begin sending out four at a time from 2024.

3) Jawed Usmani took oath as UP Chief Information Commissioner:

--> Former IAS officer Jawed Usmani on 17 February 2015 took oath as new Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) of Uttar Pradesh at a function at Raj Bhawan.

--> Usmani, a 1978-batch IAS officer, had taken voluntary retirement from service before taking over as the CIC.

--> As per rules laid down for appointment of CIC, no one serving any post in the government can take the charge.

4) 14th National Theatre Festival began:

--> The week long 14th National Theatre Festival was inaugurated by Kerala Minister for Cultural Affairs, K C Joseph at Kozhikode on 16 February 2015.

--> As many as 18 plays from across the country will be staged in various venues in the city during the week.

--> "The Long March" in Bengali will be the inaugural play of the festival.

5) HTC appointed Faisal Siddiqui as South Asia President:

--> Taiwanese handset maker HTC said its Vice President and India Head Faisal Siddiqui has been appointed as the new Regional President of its South Asia operations.

--> South Asia region includes, India, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and emerging markets in Asia.

--> He succeeds Jack Yang, who is leaving HTC for personal reasons and will move into an advisory role during this transition of the South Asia business.

6) Reliance Communications partnered with Twitter for cricketing action:

--> Reliance Communications (RCom), part of the Anil Ambani-led group, which is the global telecom sponsor of the ICC World Cup 2015, has partnered with Twitter to provide its customers with a platform to follow the global commentary as the world’s 14 best cricketing nations compete for the tag of the champion team, with no data charges. 

7) Sourav Ganguly made MCC honorary life member:

--> Former India captain Sourav Ganguly has been awarded an honorary life membership to the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), the celebrated cricket club announced.

--> Following his Test debut in 1996 the 42-year-old played a combined 424 Test and one day international matches for India, averaging over 40 with the bat and taking 132 wickets.

--> Honorary life memberships are awarded by the Lord's-based the MCC, the guardian of the sport's laws for more than 200 years, to recognise an individual's service to cricket and other projects surrounding the game.