Who established the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS)?

India's oldest scientific research institute, the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS), is celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2026; it was established by Dr. Mahendra Lal Sircar in Kolkata on July 29, 1876. It was at IACS that C.V. Raman discovered the Raman Effect in 1928—for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930—and the institute currently operates as a premier scientific research center under the Department of Science and Technology (DST).