Family group in a slum - Patna.
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Home to a world-beating information technology industry and a multitude of cultures and languages, India is the world’s largest democracy. The country has accomplished a great deal since independence in 1947, making slow but steady progress. However, despite its strong economic growth, the scale of its need is huge. Today 456 million Indians - 42% of the population - live in poverty, comprising one-third of the world's poor.