Weekend reads

  1. The Punjab National Bank scandal points to unreformed financial sector, failure of risk management and auditing systems, says Ila Patnaik in Indian Express. 
  2. Dissecting the Punjab National Bank scam that could cost the public bank a whopping Rs 11,300 crores, Deepak Shenoy in Capital Mind explains the modes operandi as well as what could be done as immediate measures. 
  3. Is the proposed National Health Protection Scheme good enough? With out-patient costs outside its purview, it is unlikely to help those it wants to, writes Soumitra Ghosh in The Hindu. 
  4. The Federal Bureau of Investigation last week booked several Russians for attempts to influence US elections. But what good are these measures? Joshephine Wolff on Slate says those booked will never face the consequences. 
  5. In 2011, Tunisia witnessed what was considered the beginning of the Arab spring. But seven years later, its ruling class is pursuing the same economic policies as the authoritarian regime it replaced, argues Nathan Legrand in Jacobin. 
  6.   How a confused, defensive social media giant steered itself into a disaster, and how Mark Zuckerberg is trying to fix it all. Nicholas Thompson and Fred Vogelstein investigates for Wired the two years and a US election that have shaken Facebook internally. 
  7. Richard Stone in Sciencemag on the sufferings of the victims of Iran’s chemical weapons and why time is running out for those who want to help them. 
  8.   It’s time for men to stop worrying about who they are, and start thinking about what they do, writes Laurie Penny in Longreads in the context of the #MeToo movement that has exposed many powerful sexual predators.   
  9. Roger Federer became the oldest player to grab the number 1 spot on the ATP rankings. Christopher Clarey in New York Times on why it is not too audacious for Federer to have chased this record. 
  10. Why wasn’t my son the last school shooting victim? A parent questions the failure of the United States to curb shootings on school campuses.