BENGALURU: It is not just events in China which are getting cancelled and affected due to the novel coronavirus, but even those to be held in India. The 36th International Geological Congress which was scheduled to be held from March 2 to 8, 2020, in Noida has been indefinitely postponed.
The event, to be organised by the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences, was to see over 6,000 participants from across the globe.
In a statement, the Ministry said: “After the outbreak of Covid-19 a sizeable number of international delegates (about one- fifth) have opted out of the Congress.” The Ministry has not put out another date for the conference.
The ministry also said that the situation of the emerging of the spread of Covid-19 had been reviewed by the government and for the health and safety of the guests, participants and persons and so the conference has been postponed.
The conference was being held to share knowledge and take decisions on mining, ground water scenario, rising ocean levels, environmental geology and forensic geology, research on missing aircraft such as the recent AN32 in Arunachal Pradesh and more. The Congress is held annually in different parts of the world and it was the first time it was being held in India. Delegates from countries such as USA, UK, Russia, Philippines, Singapore and Sri Lanka were to be participating. Organisers had rejected the participation of delegates from China due to the coronavirus outbreak there.