The Campaign for Real Beauty was retired to the nice-to-have background, no longer a part of driving competitive tactics or growth.

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Above all, both narratives shine a stark light on poverty -- an aspect of Indian society that has increasingly been pushed into the background by a decade and more of upbeat headlines about the country's dramatic economic growth.

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All that against a background of 4.1m unemployed, a rate of 10.7%, and flagging economic growth, likely to be no more than 1.5% this year.

ECONOMIST: Germany