INCOIS Director T. M. Balakrishnan Nair Elected Chair of UNESCO's IOCINDIO

14 October 2026National

Dr T. M. Balakrishnan Nair, Director of the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), has been elected Chair of IOCINDIO, the UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission's Sub-Commission for the Central Indian Ocean. The election took place at the Sub-Commission's second intergovernmental session in Bali, Indonesia, held from 12 to 14 October 2026. Dr Turki Al-Saeed of Kuwait and Dr Rezah M. Badal of Mauritius were named Vice-Chairs, pending formal confirmation. A founding member of INCOIS with over 25 years in operational oceanography and a National Geoscience Award winner, Nair will steer regional cooperation on marine research, ocean observations and information services.

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INCOIS, established in 1999 and headquartered at Hyderabad, functions under the Ministry of Earth Sciences and runs India's Tsunami Early Warning Centre | The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission was set up in 1960 as a body of UNESCO, which is headquartered in Paris | The UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development runs from 2021 to 2030 and is coordinated by the IOC

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