A remarkable paper about India has come out today from the IMF. Its findings are mind-blowing. Since this is about India's success, and particularly that of the present dispensation, many are avoiding it altogether.

Here's a thread about the paper and why it's being ignored.

The image below contains certain highlights of the paper. Among them, extreme poverty (PPP$1.9 per person per day) was below 1% in 2019 and 2020 (pandemic year) in India! A low percentage in extreme poverty for 2 consecutive years is considered as elimination of extreme poverty!
To begin with, we have this fantastic achievement of extreme poverty being eliminated. Moreover, it is sustained in the pandemic year! How? Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana- food grains provided to the poor through India's Public Distribution System during the pandemic.
Why is this not the biggest issue being discussed today? Three reasons.

One, the usual suspects can't question the IMF's credibility.

Two, Arvind Virmani, one of the authors of the paper was CEA under economist PM Manmohan Singh. Again, who's credibility will you question?
Three, the Garibi Hatao slogan from the 70s, which has shaped the outcome of so many elections, is slowly and steadily becoming a non-isssue. Of course, there's a long way to go and only extreme poverty has been eliminated. But it's happening nonetheless. And under whom?

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https://t.co/6cRR2B3jBE
Viruses and other pathogens are often studied as stand-alone entities, despite that, in nature, they mostly live in multispecies associations called biofilms—both externally and within the host.

https://t.co/FBfXhUrH5d


Microorganisms in biofilms are enclosed by an extracellular matrix that confers protection and improves survival. Previous studies have shown that viruses can secondarily colonize preexisting biofilms, and viral biofilms have also been described.


...we raise the perspective that CoVs can persistently infect bats due to their association with biofilm structures. This phenomenon potentially provides an optimal environment for nonpathogenic & well-adapted viruses to interact with the host, as well as for viral recombination.


Biofilms can also enhance virion viability in extracellular environments, such as on fomites and in aquatic sediments, allowing viral persistence and dissemination.

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