Weekend reads

  1. Stanly Johny of The Hindu weighs in on what it meant when Prime Minister Narendra Modi compared the Indian Army with Israel's last week and if the Israel model was desirable for India.
  2. In the Mint, Mark Gilbert writes on why it is a dangerous idea to coerce banking regulators to tinker with interest rates by threatening their independence.
  3. On the issue of allowing Pakistani artists to perform in India, Tavleen Singh in the Indian Express says Indian soft power is as important a weapon as its military and the Prime Minister should reign jingoistic elements in the BJP.
  4. On the 25th anniversary of India's first steps towards economic liberalisation, have commentators given too much credit to former Prime Minister Narasimha Rao? In The Hindu, C Rammanohar Reddy calls for holding Rao accountable for several massive blunders.  
  5. In the New York Times, Ross Douthat argues that the disgust over Donald Trump's candidacy does not mean one should overlook the problems with Hillary Clinton.
  6. In the wake of students' protests in the United Kingdom, Callum Cant of the Roar Magazine explores how commercialisation of education is impacting campuses. 
  7. Has health become too much of an obsession for the modern man? Mark Grief in The Guardian writes on the mad race for longevity. 
  8. In the Economic and Political Weekly, Sonal Shah writes on the impact of Indian socialists and the relevance of some of the programmes they initiated almost 75 years ago. 
  9. Javed Anand in the Indian Express writes on how the Supreme Court's intervention in the triplie-talaq case has challenged male monopoly over interpretation of Islamic religion. 
  10. In the Al Jazeera, Ali Saad says why Bob Dylan's support for Israel challenges his image of an angry humanitarian. 

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