Ganguly to Observe Elections in Bangladesh

Sumit Ganguly (pictured), director of the India Studies Institute, professor of political science and holder of the Rabindranath Tagore Professorship in Indian Cultures and Civilizations at Indiana University, will be an official observer of parliamentary elections for the People's Republic of Bangladesh on 29 December.

According to the IU News Bureau, the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), an organization chaired by former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, invited Ganguly to be among 36 election experts, regional specialists and political leaders from Asia, Europe and North America.

Purdue Researchers Assess Socioclimatic Exposure

Researchers have taken a first step toward quantifying the "socioclimatic" exposure of different countries to future climate change, according to the Purdue University News Bureau. A research team from Purdue and the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy, found that China, India and the United States face substantial exposure relative to other nations, but that every area of the world faces high exposure in at least one category. The research will be published online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Regionally, the most exposed nations are China, Bangladesh and Myanmar in Asia; western Sahel and southwestern nations in Africa; Brazil in South America; the eastern United States in North America; and the Mediterranean nations (including France, Italy and Spain), Russia and Scandinavia in Europe. The study found that the climatic and socioeconomic variables together determine the international variations in socioclimatic risk. The Purdue Climate Change Research Center is affiliated with Purdue's Discovery Park. The center promotes and organizes research and education on global climate change and studies its impact on agriculture, natural ecosystems and society. It was established in 2004 to support Purdue in research and education on regional scale climate change, its impacts and mitigation, and adaptation strategies. The center serves as a hub for a range of activities beyond scientific research, including teaching, public education and the development of public policy recommendations. The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics was founded in 1964 by Nobel Laureate Abdus Salam. The center operates under a tripartite agreement among the Italian Government and two U.N. agencies, UNESCO and IAEA. Its mission is to foster advanced studies and research, especially in developing countries. While the name of the center reflects its beginnings, its activities today encompass most areas of physical sciences, including geophysical and environmental sciences.

New Dean of School of Technology at Purdue Calumet

Niaz Latif (right) was approved as dean of the School of Technology and professor of mechanical engineering technology at Purdue University Calumet by the Purdue board of trustees on 6 July.

Dr. Latif earned his Ph.D. from the University of Missouri—Columbia and an M.S. from South Dakota State University; both degrees are in Agricultural Engineering. He holds a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Chittagong in Bangladesh.