The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines arbitrage as ‘the buying and selling of stocks or bills of exchange to take advantage of varying prices in different markets’.  Politics, among other things, are the ‘activities concerned with the acquisition or exercise of authority or government’.

There has been a lot of debate and commentary during the run-up to Maharashtra Assembly election and after the results, about the political fallout at the union level. But the important issue of free power has been largely neglected.

The union government’s announcement of the Rs.17,000 crore rehabilitation package for farmers in the 31 suicide-prone districts of AP, Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra focuses attention on the plight of agricultural sector in a fast-growing economy. Emphasis on irrigation, interest waiver, watershed development, seed replacement and dairy industry is welcome.

The UPA government has made a commitment to introduce a national health insurance scheme for the benefit of poor families and promised to raise public spending on health to at least 2-3% of GDP over the next five years with focus on preventive and primary health-care.