2019 – Posted in: Daily News – Tags: drugs, International organisation, Jagjit Pavadia, Narcotics, Narcotics Control Bureau

INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL BOARD

For: Preliminary & Mains
Topics covered: INCB – its elections, Jagjit Pavadia, NCB, Narcotics

News Flash

India’s Jagjit Pavadia re-elected to International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) for another term.

She has been a member of the INCB since 2015 and her current term is set to expire in 2020.
Pavadia has been re-elected for a five-year term beginning on March 2, 2020 and expiring on March 1, 2025.

Elections

The 54-member Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) held elections by secret ballot, with 15 candidates in fray for five seats.
There were 54 members present and voting and the required majority to win the election was 28.
After the first round of voting, Pavadia emerged at the top, getting the highest number of votes at 44.

UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)

The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is the United Nations’ central platform for reflection, debate, and innovative thinking on sustainable development.

ECOSOC, one of the six main organs of the United Nations established by the UN Charter in 1946, is the principal body for coordination, policy review, policy dialogue and recommendations on economic, social and environmental issues, as well as for implementation of the internationally agreed development goals.

The Economic and Social Council serves as the central mechanism for the activities of the United Nations system and its specialized agencies, and supervises the subsidiary and expert bodies in the economic, social and environmental fields.

ECOSOC has undergone reforms in the last decade to strengthen the Council and its working methods, giving special attention to the integrated and coordinated implementation of, and follow-up to, the outcomes of all major United Nations conferences summits in the economic, social, environmental and related fields.

Jagjit Pavadia

Born in 1954, Pavadia competed her LL.B from Delhi University in 1988 and holds a Master’s Diploma in Public Administration from the Indian Institute of Public Administration.

She is the recipient of Presidential Appreciation Certificate for Specially Distinguished Record of Service, awarded in 2005 on the occasion of India’s Republic Day.

Madam Pavadia has held several senior positions in the Indian Revenue Service for 35 years in the Government of India, including Narcotics Commissioner of India, Central Bureau of Narcotics (2006-2012) among others.

She was also member of the Indian delegation to the Commission on Narcotics Drugs, Vienna (2007-2012). Member of the International Narcotics Control Board since 2015.

International Narcotics Control Board

Established in 1968.
Its secretariat is located at Vienna, Austria.
It is an administrative entity of UN Office on Drugs and Crime.
INCB is the independent and quasi-judicial monitoring body for the implementation of the United Nations international drug control conventions.
INCB consists of 13 members who are elected by the ECOSOC and who serve in their personal capacity, not as government representatives.
Three members with medical, pharmacological or pharmaceutical experience are elected from a list of persons nominated by the World Health Organization (WHO) and 10 members are elected from a list of persons nominated by Governments.
INCB endeavours, in cooperation with Governments, to ensure that adequate supplies of drugs are available for medical and scientific uses.
The INCB also monitors Governments’ control over chemicals used in the illicit manufacture of drugs and assists them in preventing the diversion of those chemicals into the illicit traffic.

Narcotics Control Bureau, India

The National Policy on Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances is based on the Directive Principles, contained in Article 47 of the Indian Constitution, which direct the State to endeavour to bring about prohibition of the consumption, except for medicinal purposes, of intoxicating drugs injurious to health.

India is a signatory to the single Convention on Narcotic Drugs 1961, as amended by the 1972 Protocol, the Conventions on Psychotropic Substances, 1971 and the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, 1988.

The broad legislative policy is contained in the three Central Acts, viz. Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, and The Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1988.

The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 which came into effect from the 14th November, 1985 made an express provision for constituting a Central Authority for the purpose of exercising the powers and functions of the Central Government under the Act.

In presence of this provision, the Government of India constituted the NARCOTICS CONTROL BUREAU on the 17th of March, 1986.

Narcotics

Narcotic, drug that produces analgesia (pain relief), narcosis (state of stupor or sleep), and addiction (physical dependence on the drug). In some people narcotics also produce euphoria (a feeling of great elation).

Narcotics occurring naturally in the opium poppy have been used since ancient Greek times, both for relieving pain and for producing euphoria. Extracts of the opium poppy were smoked, eaten, or drunk (as laudanum, a crude mixture of alcohol and opium).

Source: Business Standard

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