# Falling short of expectation: The draft text on temporary waiver of TRIPS-related provisions to meet Covid-19 challenges has failed to gain wide acceptance amongst WTO members with many countries criticising its limited coverage restricted to vaccines and curbs on existing flexibilities.
# Daily tally: India reported 3,207 new cases of Covid-19 and 29 deaths in the last 24 hours.
# Systemic gap or generalising the extreme: The World Health Organization’s report on excess deaths from Covid-19 has stirred a hornet’s nest in India, with doctors and health administrators contesting the gap between India’s reported death toll and that projected by the report. A look at what doctors have to say.
# Low on boosters: A month ago, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare opened up booster doses of the vaccine for all adults in India. However, the pace of booster administration still hasn’t picked up in the country.
# Springboard for visitors: Kerala made a decisive surge towards ending two years of the pandemic-riddled lull in its tourism activities, as Kerala Travel Mart concluded on Sunday with Chief Secretary VP Joy hailing the country’s biggest buyer-seller meet as a springboard to regaining visitors after Covid-19.
# Shutdowns impact on trade: China’s export growth tumbled in April after Shanghai and other industrial cities were shut down to fight virus outbreaks. Exports rose 3.7 per cent over a year earlier to $273.6 billion, down sharply from March’s 15.7 per cent growth, customs data showed Monday.