June 2010

Fresh from its 3G spectrum auction windfall, the government of India stands to rake in another tidy sum from the auction of wireless broadband Internet.

The bidding began for the wireless-broadband airwaves auction last Monday. Bid prices for one slot covering the whole of India have sailed past expectations-more than triple the starting price. The starting price for one slot for offering services nationwide was 17.50 billion rupees. The government is auctioning two bandwidth slots for broadband services in each of the country's 22 service areas. If it goes on like this, the government stands to earn 188 billion rupees (about $4.1 billion) from the auctions, up from an original target of around 150 billion (about $3.3 billion), says analyst Harit Shah of brokerage Karvy Stock Broking in a note. That would add to the 677.19 billion rupees ($14.6 billion) the government earned from the top dollars paid by the country's telecommunications firms for 3G services in the world's fastest-growing telecom market. The participants in the broadband wireless auction are the usual big Indian names: India's Bharti Airtel Ltd., Vodafone Essar Ltd. and Idea Cellular Ltd. They are joined by other prominent bidders such as U.S. chip maker Qualcomm Inc., which is looking to tie up with local partners to build a network if it becomes successful.

Playing video games might improve your vision and other brain functions.

"People that play these fast-paced games have better vision, better attention, and better cognition," said Daphne Bavelier, an assistant professor in the department of brain and cognitive science at the University of Rochester. Bavelier was a presenter at a daylong symposium on the educational uses of video and computer games from NYU's Games for Learning Institute. The event was another indication that electronic games are gaining legitimacy in the classroom.

President Barack Obama recently identified the creation of good educational software as one of the "grand challenges for American innovation."

The 2000 elections in Maine and Arizona were the first in the nation's history where candidates seeking state legislative seats had the option to fully fund their campaigns with public moneys. In 2003, GAO reviewed the public financing programs in Maine and Arizona and found the programs' goals were to (1) increase electoral competition; (2) increase voter choice; (3) curb increases in campaign costs; (4) reduce interest group influence; and (5) increase voter participation.

GAO reported that while the number of candidates who participated in the programs increased from 2000 to 2002, it was too soon to determine the extent to which these five goals of the programs were being met. Senate Report 110-129 directed GAO to update its 2003 report. This report: (1) provides data on candidate participation and (2) describes changes in five goals of Maine's and Arizona's programs in the 2000 through 2008 elections and the extent to which changes could be attributed to the programs.

To address its objectives, GAO analyzed available data about candidate participation, election outcomes, and campaign spending for the 1996 through 2008 legislative elections in both states, reviewed studies, and interviewed 22 candidates and 10 interest group officials selected to reflect a range of views. The interview results are not generalizable to all candidates or all interest groups.

(GAO-10-390, May 28)