Rasik Ravindra, an Indian scientist, elected to UNCLCS

Indian scientist Rasik Ravindra on 12 June 2014 was elected as a member of the UN Commission on the Limits of Continental Shelf (UNCLCS). He was unanimously elected by securing support of all 111 members who were present and voted.

Ravindra was elected during the 24th meet of the State Parties of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea held in New York, USA.

Ravindra’s tenure in the CLCS will be till 15 June 2017. He was elected in place of of Indian scientist Ranjan Sivaramakrishnan who resigned from CLCS in February 2014.

About Rasik Ravindra
• From 2006 to 2012, he was a Director of National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR), where he was responsible to conduct marine geophysical surveys and analysis of results for establishing the outer limits of the continental shelf of India
• From 1971 to 2005 he was a professional geologist with the Geological Survey of India
• He has an extensive experience in different spheres of geosciences that includes geological investigations in the terrains of Antarctica, Bhutan and India
a) In the polar regions of Arctic and Antarctic, he led the climate change research
b) His geophysical exploration includes exploration in high altitude and inaccessible terrain in Bhutan Himalayas and Polar regions of Arctic and Antarctic and in these reasons he led scientific expeditions to elucidate geology and tectonic set-up of the terrain
• He is a graduate from Jammu and Kashmir University
• Some awards
a) National Award for Polar Sciences and Cryosphere in 2013
b) National Mineral Award 1990

About Commission on the Limits of Continental Shelf (CLCS)
Commission on the Limits of Continental Shelf (CLCS) in the UN body and consists of 21 members and has a power to grant new seabed territory to nations. The members are elected for a term of five year by State Parties to the Convention from among their nationals. The members are experts in field of geology, geophysics or hydrography.

The purpose of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf is to facilitate the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (the Convention) in respect of the establishment of the outer limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured. Under the Convention, the coastal State shall establish the outer limits of its continental shelf where it extends beyond 200 M on the basis of the recommendation of the Commission. The Commission shall make recommendations to coastal States on matters related to the establishment of those limits; its recommendations and actions shall not prejudice matters relating to the delimitation of boundaries between States with opposite or adjacent coasts.