Ms Sengupta, an associate professor at Mumbai-based Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, told the BBC that the ongoing crisis was borne out by the fact that India's economy was operating on a "two-speed trajectory", driven by diverging performances in its "old economy and new economy".

"We challenge the idea that a tumour is a 'two-speed' entity with rapidly dividing cells on the surface and slower activity in the core. Instead, we show they are uniformly growing masses, where every region is equally active and has the potential to harbour aggressive mutations," says Dr. Donate Weghorn, co-corresponding author of the study and researcher at the Centre for Genomic Regulation in Barcelona.

“Failure to make progress means inequalities will continue to deepen, increasing the risk of a fragmented, two-speed world.”

For example, a Cuisinart two-speed blender, listed at $59.99 but discounted at 25%, was available for $44.99 at grocery chain Fred Meyer.

The two-speed fan is also made almost entirely out of aluminum and comes in one of several colors, rendering it both stylish and durable.