NEW DELHI: In the backdrop of detection of deadly Coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in many countries across the globe, India on Wednesday postponed International Indian Ocean Science Conference (IIOSC)-2020 which was scheduled to be held during March 16-20 in Goa.It’s the second international conference which got postponed due to COVID-19 in India. The country had earlier postponed 36th edition of the International Geological Congress (IGC), scheduled to be held duringMarch 2-8 at Greater Noida in the National Capital Region (NCR).Though the government rescheduled the IGC for November 9-14, the new date for the IIOSC is yet to be finalised.“The International Indian Ocean Science Conference (IIOSC)-2020 is postponed till further notice. New dates will soon be announced after consulting all concerned,” said the ESSO - Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services, an autonomous body under the ministry of earth sciences.The organiser of the event cited the UNESCO’s advise in this regard saying the virus spread has been a cause for major distress amongst conference participants.Popularly described as the Olympics of Geosciences, the 36th IGC was expected to be attended by nearly 6,000 delegates from across the world. The idea of the Congress is to encourage the advancement of fundamental and applied research in the field of earth sciences worldwide.The IGC is held quadrennially under the aegis of the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS). The first session of IGC took place in France in 1878. India had earlier organised this Congress in New Delhi in 1964 - the first in Asia.The IIOSC, on the other hand, intends to provide an opportunity for scientists working on different facets of the Indian Ocean to present their ideas and discuss the outstanding issues, identify the knowledge gaps and plan a way forward to address such issues.