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What is the full form of NCSM, which runs science museums and science cities in India?
Answer (Detailed Solution Below)View answer ▾Hide ▴
Answer: Option D — National Council of Science Museums
Detailed Solution
NCSM stands for the "National Council of Science Museums", the body that runs science museums and science centres in India.
About the NCSM:
- It was set up on 4 April 1978 as an autonomous society under the Ministry of Culture.
- Its headquarters is in Kolkata.
- It is one of the largest networks of science centres and museums in the world, with about 25 science museums, science centres and mobile science exhibitions across India.
- Its aim is to popularise science and technology among students and the general public, through interactive exhibits, science shows, planetarium shows, workshops and science fairs.
- It runs "Mobile Science Exhibition" buses that take science to rural areas.
- It designs and builds science centres for state governments and other countries.
Important science museums and centres under NCSM:
Birla Industrial and Technological Museum (BITM), Kolkata: India's first science museum (1959).
Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum (VITM), Bengaluru (1962): named after Sir M. Visvesvaraya.
Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai (1977-85): one of the largest interactive science centres in India.
National Science Centre, New Delhi (1992), at Pragati Maidan.
Science City, Kolkata (1997): one of the largest science centres in the Indian subcontinent.
Other science cities:
Gujarat Science City (Ahmedabad), Pushpa Gujral Science City (Kapurthala, Punjab), and others.
Related days:
National Science Day: 28 February, commemorating the discovery of the "Raman effect" by Sir C. V. Raman in 1928 (he won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930).
National Technology Day: 11 May (Pokhran-II nuclear tests, 1998).
Other related abbreviations:
- NCSTC: National Council for Science and Technology Communication (Department of Science and Technology).
- CSIR: Council of Scientific and Industrial Research.
- DST: Department of Science and Technology.
Why not the other options?
- ✗"National Centre for Science Management" is not the correct expansion.
- ✗"National Committee for Scientific Museums" is not the correct expansion.
- ✗"National Council for Science and Mathematics" is not the correct expansion.
Quick tip
Remember: NCSM = National Council of Science Museums (1978; HQ Kolkata; Ministry of Culture; Science City Kolkata, National Science Centre Delhi); first science museum = BITM Kolkata (1959); National Science Day = 28 February.
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