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Written by SONICA MALHOTRA KANDHARI
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Open Sesame!

We’ve all grown up with the delightful and popular tale of Ali Baba from Arabia who as a poor woodcutter stumbles upon immense wealth hidden inside a mountain cave and locked with the magical words of Sesame or Simsim. The story of China’s Alibaba has taken the world by storm and has similar parallels to the popular folklore. Alibaba’s founder Jack Ma’s story of a poor boy in Communist China who failed at many things before hitting the jackpot with his third internet company is no less than any folklore. We bring you the amazing and inspiring journey of Jack Ma – from rags to riches.

Come July and a new tax regime is all set to be imposed across the country in the hope of getting rid of the multi-tier and multiple taxation systems in the country. With a similar tax rate across the nation, it can unite the whole nation from the economic point of view, but then it is said to be not so consumer friendly. So what will be the trickle down and how will it affect you and me. We give you an idea.

The world is not only in political ferment, but also threatened by great climactic changes. Europe witnessed Brexit and then the unpredictable win of Macron in France and the almost loss of Theresa May in England and the incredible rise of Jeremy Corbin. On the climate front, US President Donald Trump much to the horror of the world pulled out of the Paris agreement on climate change. How will Trump’s exit affect the global battle against global warming or will the fight go on despite the US.

And then we write about two incredible women, one a world leader, the other a world writer. Yes, we talk about the Queen of Europe, Angela Merkel and then India’s Goddess of writing Arundhati Roy, who, after 20 years has penned her second work of fiction which is storming the publishing world.

In the publishing world, we pay homage to one of its doyens who as a young boy of 13 took tiny steps to publish his own book. A man with a deep conviction that every literate person should have a book that he has published, he went on to build the MBD Group which celebrated its 60th year in 2016 and is the largest education company in India today. That visionary and pioneer is none other than our founding father, but also my father Shri Ashok Kumar Malhotra. He believed not just in being the biggest but also in being the BEST. His inspiration marks our step at MBD every day

A detour down south in Tamil Nadu where there seems to be a thin line between the real and the reel. And in the reel world how the mother and daughter duo of Aparna Sen and Konkona Sen Sharma are pushing the limits of their genes, not jeans. And to bring up the end a delightful tour of the month of Ramzan when a half of the world prays eats and loves. Eid Mubarak!

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