Important Days & Dates Mixed Quiz: Set 1

The correct answer is C, Swami Vivekananda, who was born on 12 January 1863. The Government of India chose his birth anniversary for National Youth Day because his writings and speeches were addressed above all to the young, and his address at the Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893 remains the best known moment of his life.

Option A, Subhas Chandra Bose, was born on 23 January 1897, and that date is observed as Parakram Diwas, so the two January anniversaries are often placed against each other. Option B, Lala Lajpat Rai, was born on 28 January 1865 and is remembered as Punjab Kesari. Option D, Bhagat Singh, is associated with 23 March, the day he was executed in 1931, which is also observed as a Martyrs' Day. Keep the January anniversaries in order: 12th for Vivekananda, 23rd for Bose and 28th for Lajpat Rai.

The correct answer is B, 22 March. The United Nations observes this day to draw attention to fresh water and the management of water resources, and in India the same date is also kept as Bihar Diwas, which makes it doubly useful for examinations.

Option A, 3 March, is World Wildlife Day, which marks the signing of the international convention on trade in endangered species. Option C, 22 April, is Earth Day, first held in 1970; the matching day of the month is exactly why it is placed here. Option D, 5 June, is World Environment Day, the best known environmental observance of the year but one that falls outside March and April altogether. Keep the order in mind: wildlife on 3 March, water on 22 March, the earth on 22 April and the environment on 5 June.

The correct answer is B, 2019. Mahatma Gandhi was born on 2 October 1869 at Porbandar in Gujarat, so his 150th birth anniversary fell on 2 October 2019. The Government of India marked it with two years of celebrations from 2018 to 2020, and the Swachh Bharat Mission set its target of an open-defecation-free India for that date. The United Nations observes 2 October as the International Day of Non-Violence, adopted in 2007. Gandhi Jayanti is one of India's three national holidays, along with Republic Day on 26 January and Independence Day on 15 August. A is wrong because 2018 was the 149th anniversary and only the start of the celebrations. C is wrong because 2020 was the 151st anniversary. D is wrong because 2021 was the 152nd. Exam tip: Gandhi born 2 October 1869; 150th anniversary in 2019; 2 October = International Day of Non-Violence.

The correct answer is C, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. National Unity Day, or Rashtriya Ekta Diwas, is observed on 31 October, the birth anniversary of Sardar Patel, who was born in 1875 at Nadiad, Gujarat. The day was started in 2014 to honour his role as the first Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister who brought more than 560 princely states into the Indian Union, earning him the title Iron Man of India. It is marked with a Run for Unity and a unity pledge, and on 31 October 2018 the 182-metre Statue of Unity was unveiled in his memory at Kevadia on the Narmada. A is wrong because Dr Ambedkar's birth anniversary, 14 April, is Ambedkar Jayanti. B is wrong because Indira Gandhi's birthday, 19 November, is observed as National Integration Day. D is wrong because Mother Teresa was born on 26 August, which is not a national day. Exam tip: 31 October means Sardar Patel, National Unity Day and the Statue of Unity.

The correct answer is B, 15 January. On that date in 1949, Field Marshal K. M. Cariappa took over as the first Indian Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army from the last British officer to hold the post, and the day marks the passing of command into Indian hands.

Option A, 4 December, is Indian Navy Day. Option C, 8 October, is Indian Air Force Day, marking the raising of the force in 1932. Option D, 26 January, is Republic Day, on which the armed forces take part in the parade, which is why students sometimes attach the army to that date. The Coast Guard completes the set with 1 February. Examiners frequently place all the service days in one question, so learn them together: Army 15 January, Coast Guard 1 February, Air Force 8 October and Navy 4 December.

The correct answer is B, 8 March. The day grew out of the movements for women's rights in the early twentieth century and is now observed across the world, with the United Nations adopting a different subject for it each year while the date itself stays fixed.

Option A, 1 March, is Zero Discrimination Day, observed by the United Nations programme on HIV and AIDS. Option C, 15 March, is World Consumer Rights Day, which marks the speech on the rights of consumers made in the United States in 1962. Option D, 8 April, has no major observance attached to it and is placed only to test whether the candidate remembers the month as well as the day. This is among the most frequently asked dates in the whole chapter, so it should be automatic.

The correct answer is D, the Ramsar Convention, the Convention on Wetlands signed in the Iranian town of Ramsar on 2 February 1971. Wetlands listed for protection under the treaty are called Ramsar sites, and the name of the town has become the name of the agreement.

Option A, the Basel Convention, deals with the movement of hazardous wastes across national borders. Option B, CITES, is the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, which regulates trade in threatened plants and animals. Option C, the Montreal Protocol, controls substances that deplete the ozone layer and is paired in papers with 16 September, the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer. All four are genuine environmental treaties, so the safest method is to attach each one to its own subject and date.

The correct answer is B, the coming into being of the World Health Organization in 1948. The constitution of the organisation took effect on 7 April 1948, and that date was chosen for the annual observance, which has been held since 1950 with a different subject each year.

Option A, the founding of the Red Cross, is marked instead by World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day on 8 May, the birth anniversary of Henry Dunant. Option C, the discovery of penicillin by Alexander Fleming, is a landmark in medicine but has no international day attached to it. Option D, the eradication of smallpox, was declared in 1980 and is commemorated in the history of the World Health Organization rather than by a separate day. Attach the year 1948 to the date and this question cannot go wrong.

The correct answer is B, the announcement of the Raman Effect. C. V. Raman announced his discovery of the scattering of light that carries his name on 28 February 1928, and he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for it in 1930. The Government of India designated the date as National Science Day in 1986 and the first observance was held in 1987.

Option A, the discovery of the neutron by James Chadwick, also belongs to the early 1930s but has no connection with any Indian observance. Option C, the discovery of penicillin by Alexander Fleming, is a landmark in medicine and is placed here only as a plausible science event. Option D, the launch of Aryabhata, India's first satellite, took place in 1975 and is associated with the Indian space programme rather than with Science Day. Hold the three elements together: Raman, 1928 and 28 February.

The correct answer is B, 23 March. The three revolutionaries were hanged in Lahore jail on 23 March 1931 in connection with the Lahore conspiracy case, and the day is observed in their memory across the country.

Option A, 30 January, is also called Martyrs' Day, but it marks the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi in 1948, which is why the names in the question matter more than the label. Option C, 13 April, is the anniversary of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919 at Amritsar, another day of mourning in the same season. Option D, 8 August, is associated with the launch of the Quit India Movement in 1942. Read the names given in the stem: three revolutionaries point to 23 March, and Gandhi to 30 January.

The correct answer is C, 21 February. The day was declared by UNESCO to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and to protect languages that are dying out, and the date recalls the language movement in Dhaka in 1952, in which students were killed while demanding recognition for Bengali.

Option A, 10 January, is World Hindi Day, which marks the first World Hindi Conference held in 1975, and it is the commonest wrong answer because both days are about language. Option B, 13 February, is World Radio Day, and in India the same date is National Women's Day for the birth anniversary of Sarojini Naidu. Option D, 26 January, is Republic Day. A related date worth carrying is 14 September, observed in India as Hindi Diwas, which is different again from World Hindi Day.

The correct answer is A, 3 March. The United Nations chose this date because the international convention on trade in endangered species of wild fauna and flora was signed on 3 March, and the day is used to draw attention to wild animals and plants and to the trade that threatens them.

Option B, 20 March, carries two other observances, the International Day of Happiness and World Sparrow Day, the second of which is about a bird and therefore tempting here. Option C, 21 March, is the International Day of Forests and also World Poetry Day. Option D, 5 April, is National Maritime Day in India and has nothing to do with wildlife. March is crowded with environment related days, so learn them in sequence: wildlife on the third, sparrows on the twentieth, forests on the twenty-first and water on the twenty-second.

The correct answer is D, the Election Commission of India, which was constituted on 25 January 1950, one day before the Constitution came into force. National Voters' Day has been observed on that date since 2011, and it is used mainly to enrol young citizens who have just become eligible to vote.

Option A, the Supreme Court of India, began functioning on 28 January 1950, two days after the Constitution came into force, so the date is close enough to be a genuine trap. Option B, the Comptroller and Auditor General, is a constitutional authority whose office does not carry this observance. Option C, the Reserve Bank of India, began operations on 1 April 1935. The cluster of dates around the birth of the Republic is a favourite area, so keep 25, 26 and 28 January apart in your mind.

The correct answer is B, Robert Koch announced the discovery of the bacterium causing tuberculosis. He presented his finding to an audience of physicians in Berlin on 24 March 1882, and identifying the organism opened the way to diagnosis and eventually to treatment of a disease that was then a leading cause of death.

Option A, the founding of the World Health Organization, belongs to 7 April 1948 and is the reason for World Health Day, a different date in this same chapter. Option C, the first vaccination against tuberculosis, came decades after Koch's announcement and has no day named for it. Option D, the opening of a sanatorium, is not the basis of any international observance. The safe pair to remember is Koch on 24 March and the World Health Organization on 7 April.

The correct answer is B, Subhas Chandra Bose, who was born on 23 January 1897. The Government of India gave the day the name Parakram Diwas, meaning the day of valour, in recognition of his leadership of the Indian National Army and his call for complete independence.

Option A, Chandra Shekhar Azad, died on 27 February 1931 at Allahabad, and that date rather than a birth anniversary is the one observed for him. Option C, Bhagat Singh, is remembered on 23 March, the day of his execution in 1931, and the closeness of the two numbers, 23 January and 23 March, is exactly what the question plays on. Option D, Lala Lajpat Rai, was born on 28 January 1865. The safe method is to keep birth anniversaries and death anniversaries in separate lists while revising.

The correct answer is C, 14 April, the birth anniversary of Dr B. R. Ambedkar, who was born in 1891 and who chaired the drafting committee of the Constitution of India. The day is observed across the country and is a public holiday in many states.

Option A, 11 April, is National Safe Motherhood Day, observed on the birth anniversary of Kasturba Gandhi. Option B, 13 April, is the anniversary of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919, which fell on the day of Baisakhi. Option D, 24 April, is National Panchayati Raj Day, marking the coming into force of the Seventy-third Amendment in 1993. All four are real April dates, which is what makes this question worth a careful look; the middle of April in particular carries one important date after another.

The correct answer is A, Louis Braille, who was born in France on 4 January 1809. Blinded in an accident as a child, he devised the system of raised dots that allows blind and partially sighted people to read and write by touch, and the system carries his name.

Option B, Helen Keller, was a deaf and blind American writer and campaigner whose life is closely associated with the education of people with these disabilities, which makes her a convincing distractor here. Option C, Alexander Graham Bell, worked with the deaf and invented the telephone, so he belongs to a different field of communication. Option D, Thomas Edison, is remembered for the electric lamp and the phonograph. The United Nations recognised 4 January as World Braille Day to draw attention to braille as a means of full participation in society.

The correct answer is B, the Seventy-third Amendment to the Constitution came into force. The amendment of 1992 gave panchayati raj institutions constitutional standing by adding Part IX and the Eleventh Schedule, and it took effect on 24 April 1993, which is why that date was chosen for the observance.

Option A, the Balwant Rai Mehta Committee, recommended the three tier panchayat system in 1957, long before the amendment, and no day is named for its report. Option C, the first panchayat elections after the new system, were held in the states at different times and could not give a single national date. Option D, the creation of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, came later and is not the basis of the day. This date is asked in the polity paper as well, so it is worth learning once and using twice.

The correct answer is C, Mahatma Gandhi, who was assassinated on 30 January 1948. The day is observed across the country with two minutes of silence, and it is the best known of the several dates called Martyrs' Day in India.

Option A, Bhagat Singh, along with Rajguru and Sukhdev, was executed on 23 March 1931, and that date is also observed as a Martyrs' Day, which is why the two are so often interchanged in options. Option B, Chandra Shekhar Azad, died on 27 February 1931. Option D, Lal Bahadur Shastri, died at Tashkent on 11 January 1966, and his death anniversary falls in the same month as the day in the question. India also observes an anti-leprosy day on 30 January, because Gandhi worked among people affected by leprosy, while the international day falls on the last Sunday of January.

The correct answer is B, 18 April. The day was proposed by the International Council on Monuments and Sites and later approved by UNESCO, and it is used to draw attention to the protection of monuments, historic places and cultural landscapes.

Option A, 17 April, is World Haemophilia Day, kept on the birth anniversary of the founder of the world federation for that disorder. Option C, 23 April, is World Book and Copyright Day, another UNESCO observance and therefore an easy date to confuse with this one. Option D, 26 April, is World Intellectual Property Day, marking the coming into force in 1970 of the convention that established the world organisation for intellectual property. The last third of April carries three UNESCO linked days in a row, so learn 18, 23 and 26 as a set.