# Indian meteorological department

• The Indian meteorological department has forecasted a “normal ” southwest monsoon for this year.
• IMD also revised downwards the definition of what constitutes average rainfall.
• The IMD said that India would get 99% of the Long period average (LPA) rainfall – which has been revised from 89 CM to 88 CM in 2018.
• This LPA rainfall has again been revised to 87 in 2022.
• A monsoon is considered normal when rainfall falls between 96% and 104% of the LPA.
• The IMD is not expecting an EL NINO, a phenomenon associated with the warming of the central pacific and drying up the rains in North western India.
• Currently, LA NINA conditions are prevailing over equatorial Pacific.

# Covaxin trials

• The US food and drug Administration (USFDA) has put on hold the phase 2 and 3 clinical trials of Bharat biotech’s covid-19 vaccine covaxin in US.
• Bharat biotech’s partner in the US, Ocugen, in a release said, it was informed by the USFDA that its phase 2 and 3 immuno-bridging and broadening study for covaxin, OCU-002, had been placed on clinical hold.

# Twitter

• Tesla CEO Elon musk is offering to buy twitter, saying the social media platform he had criticized for not living up to free speech principles needs to be transformed as a private company.
• Elon musk has proposed buying the remaining shares of Twitter that he does not already own at $54.20 per share, an offer worth more than $43 billion.

# PLI for textiles

• As many as 61 applications, for projects entailing investments of ₹19077 crore, have been approved under the production linked incentive (PLI) scheme for textiles.
• The projected turnover from the approved projects is ₹1.84 lakh crore over five years.
• The PLI schemes for textiles was notified on September 24.