*CURRENT AFFAIRS (01.02.2014)

*The Project Monitoring Group (PMG), linked with the Cabinet
Secretariat, could clear hurdles for some 84 mega projects worth a
3.71 lakh crore investments in the past seven months since the group
has been formed. Currently Anil Swaroop is the chairman of PMG.
PMG identified some 419 stalled projects worth almost 20 lakh crore
that had been pending for years.
PMG has been taking up projects worth 1,000 crore or more. He said
that nine States, including Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat,
Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Jharkhand, have decided to set up their
own monitoring groups for projects worth less than 1,000 crore.

*India's first electric car
Mahindra Reva is all set to launch the country's first sedan electric
car and the hybrid version of its Sports utility vehicle, XUV.

*A national cancer tissue bio bank will be established at the Indian
Institute of Technology, Madras. This venture will help reflect on
cancer incidence, diagnostics and treatment results.
The venture is a collaborative effort between the Department of
Science and Technology (DST) and IIT Madras. Leading oncologists from
Chennai and the institute's researchers will collaborate in this
venture.
The DST has contributed 27.81 crore to establish it. It will be headed
by S. Mahalingam, Department of Biotechnology, IIT Madras.

*The professors at Indian Institute of Technology in Chennai designed
a new technology to supply uninterrupted 48 volts direct current from
March for a few homes in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and
Kerala. If successful, this project could be extended to the rest of
the country.
Uninterrupted direct current is a system which guarantees
uninterrupted power supply from the grid even during black-out
situations

*DoP releases commemorative stamp on International Year of Crystallography
The Department of Posts has brought out a commemorative stamp on
International Year of Crystallography 2014 (IYCr2014) to acknowledge
the contribution of crystallographers in every sphere of life and
provide impetus to young scientists to study the subject.
Crystallography is an imaging technique that allows the scientist to
"see" atoms, ions and molecules in crystals.
The opening ceremony for the International Year was held in UNESCO,
Paris on January 20 & 21, 2014