Important Days & Dates Mixed Quiz: Set 13

The correct answer is C, 7 December. Armed Forces Flag Day has been observed since 1949, when it was decided that the country should contribute to the welfare of serving personnel, veterans and the families of those killed in service, and small flags are distributed in return for contributions. Option A is wrong because 1 December is the raising day of the Border Security Force. Option B is wrong because 4 December is Navy Day, kept for Operation Trident of 1971. Option D is wrong because 16 December is Vijay Diwas for the victory of 1971. December is the most crowded month in this topic, holding four separate days, so a candidate should revise the month as a block and not one day at a time.

The correct answer is A, 28 February. On this day in 1928 C. V. Raman announced the discovery of the Raman Effect, the scattering of light with a changed wavelength when it passes through a transparent medium, and the discovery brought him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930. The day has been kept every year since 1987 on a fresh theme decided by the Government. Option B is wrong because 11 May is National Technology Day, kept for the Pokhran-II tests of 1998. Option C is wrong because 22 December is National Mathematics Day, the birth anniversary of Srinivasa Ramanujan. Option D is wrong because 15 September is Engineers' Day, the birth anniversary of Sir M. Visvesvaraya. Papers put all four national days in one question, so read which field is named before choosing.

The correct answer is B, Srinivasa Ramanujan. Ramanujan was born on 22 December 1887 at Erode in the Madras Presidency, worked on number theory, infinite series and continued fractions, and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society at a very young age. The day was declared in 2012, on the hundred and twenty-fifth anniversary of his birth. Option A is wrong because Aryabhata was an astronomer and mathematician of the fifth century, honoured instead in the name of India's first satellite. Option C is wrong because Brahmagupta belongs to the seventh century and is remembered for treating zero as a number. Option D is wrong because Bhaskara II, the author of Lilavati, belongs to the twelfth century. No national day is kept for these three.

The correct answer is A, 15 January. On this day in 1949 Field Marshal K. M. Cariappa took over as the first Indian Commander in Chief of the Indian Army, and the day is marked with a parade and the presentation of gallantry awards. Option B is wrong because 26 January is Republic Day, the day the Constitution came into force in 1950, and although the armed forces take part in its parade it is not the day of the army. Option C is wrong because 8 October is Air Force Day, the day on which the Indian Air Force was raised in 1932. Option D is wrong because 4 December is Navy Day, kept for the attack on Karachi harbour in 1971. Papers place the three service days in one question, so read which force is named.

The correct answer is A, Hot Springs in Ladakh. A small patrol of the Central Reserve Police Force was ambushed there in October 1959 and several policemen were killed, and since then 21 October has been kept as the day on which the country remembers all police personnel who died on duty during the year. Option B is wrong because the Rann of Kutch is associated with the border clash of 1965 and with the wild ass sanctuary, not with this day. Option C is wrong because the Tawang sector belongs to the fighting of 1962 in the eastern Himalaya, a different theatre and a different year. Option D is wrong because the Chambal ravines are connected with campaigns against dacoity and with no day of remembrance of this kind.

The correct answer is B, 2 to 8 October. Wildlife Week is observed in national parks, sanctuaries, zoos and schools across India with exhibitions, walks and competitions, and it is coordinated by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. Option A is wrong because the first week of July is Van Mahotsav, the tree planting festival begun in 1950. Option C is wrong and is the closest trap in the list, since 4 to 10 October is World Space Week, declared by the United Nations; both fall in the same October fortnight, so learn the starting dates, 2 October for wildlife and 4 October for space. Option D is wrong because the last week of April is World Immunization Week, which changes its dates slightly each year with the calendar.

The correct answer is B, Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. Radhakrishnan, a philosopher and teacher who became the first Vice-President and the second President of India, was born on 5 September 1888; when his students wished to celebrate his birthday he asked that the day be kept for teachers instead. Option A is wrong because Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was born on 11 November, which is National Education Day. Option C is wrong because Swami Vivekananda was born on 12 January, observed as National Youth Day. Option D is wrong because Dr Zakir Husain, the third President of India and an educationist, has no national day in his name. Remember also that World Teachers' Day, a UNESCO observance, falls a month later on 5 October. Examiners also like to ask who requested that the day be kept for teachers, and the answer is Radhakrishnan himself.

The correct answer is C, the United Nations General Assembly. An international year exists because the Assembly, in which every member state has one vote, adopts a resolution declaring it, usually on a proposal from one or more states. Option A is wrong because UNESCO may be named the lead agency for a year about science, culture or languages, and may recommend one, but it does not declare the year. Option D is wrong for the same reason: the Food and Agriculture Organization led the International Year of Millets and the International Year of Pulses without declaring either. Option B is wrong because the Security Council deals with international peace and security, and its work is resolutions on conflicts, sanctions and peacekeeping, not observances. The same rule holds for international days and decades.

The correct answer is B, 21 April. On this day in 1947 Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel addressed the first batch of probationers of the administrative service at Metcalfe House in Delhi and described the services as the steel frame that would hold the country together, and the day is now marked with awards for excellence in public administration. Option A is wrong because 14 April is National Fire Service Day, kept for the firemen who died in the Bombay dock explosion of 1944, and it is also the birth anniversary of Dr B. R. Ambedkar. Option C is wrong because 1 July is National Doctors' Day, for Dr B. C. Roy. Option D is wrong because 15 September is Engineers' Day, for Sir M. Visvesvaraya. April holds two service days, so keep the pair apart.

The correct answer is A, 1 December. World AIDS Day has been observed on the first of December since 1988 and was the first global health day of its kind, its symbol being the red ribbon; the theme changes every year and the day is used to press for testing, treatment and an end to stigma. Option B is wrong because 3 December is the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Option C is wrong because 10 December is Human Rights Day, marking the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. Option D is wrong because 14 November is World Diabetes Day, placed on the birth anniversary of Frederick Banting, one of the discoverers of insulin, and in India the same date is observed as Children's Day.

The correct answer is B, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. Azad was born on 11 November 1888 and became independent India's first Minister of Education; the first Indian Institutes of Technology, the University Grants Commission and the All India Council for Technical Education belong to his term, and the Ministry declared his birthday National Education Day in 2008. Option A is wrong because Radhakrishnan's birthday, 5 September, is Teachers' Day. Option C is wrong because Jyotirao Phule, who with Savitribai Phule opened schools for girls and for the depressed classes, is remembered on his own birth anniversary in April but not by a national education day. Option D is wrong because Madan Mohan Malaviya founded Banaras Hindu University and is remembered on 25 December, kept as Good Governance Day.

The correct answer is B, UNESCO. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization proclaimed the day in 1966, and it was first observed in 1967; UNESCO also leads International Mother Language Day on 21 February and World Teachers’ Day on 5 October. Option A, UNICEF, works for children and leads campaigns around World Children’s Day on 20 November, and it is the distractor most often chosen because literacy is thought of as a matter for children. Option C, the World Health Organization, leads the health observances of 7 April, 31 May and 1 December. Option D, the International Labour Organization, declared the World Day Against Child Labour on 12 June. Learning the agency along with each day removes a whole family of questions in one stroke.

The correct answer is A, Dr B. C. Roy. The physician and Chief Minister of West Bengal was born on 1 July and died on the same date, and the day was fixed in his memory to honour the work of doctors. He was also a recipient of the Bharat Ratna. Option B is wrong because the birth anniversary of Dr B. R. Ambedkar falls on 14 April and is kept as Ambedkar Jayanti. Option C is wrong because the birth anniversary of Dr S. Radhakrishnan, on 5 September, is observed as Teachers' Day, and candidates often pick him because of the title of doctor before his name. Option D is wrong because Sir M. Visvesvaraya, the engineer whose birthday is 15 September, gives the country its Engineers' Day.

The correct answer is C, 26 November. The Constituent Assembly adopted the Constitution of India on 26 November 1949, and that day is kept as Constitution Day. It was earlier observed as Law Day, and since 2015 it has been marked across government offices and schools as Samvidhan Diwas.

Option A, 26 January, is Republic Day, the day the Constitution came into force in 1950, two months after adoption; separating adoption from commencement is the whole point of the question. Option B, 15 August, is Independence Day, for the transfer of power in 1947. Option D, 14 September, is Hindi Diwas, the day in 1949 on which the Constituent Assembly accepted Hindi in the Devanagari script as the official language of the Union. All four dates sit in the same period of history, so each must be tied to its own event.

The correct answer is A, 8 September. UNESCO proclaimed the day in 1966 and it has been observed since 1967 to remind governments that literacy is the base of every other right, with a theme announced each year and the UNESCO literacy prizes awarded. Option B is wrong because 5 October is World Teachers' Day, kept since 1994 to mark the recommendation on the status of teachers adopted in 1966. Option C is wrong because 24 January is the International Day of Education, proclaimed by the United Nations and observed since 2019. Option D is wrong because 10 November is the World Science Day for Peace and Development. The September date is easy to fix in memory because Teachers' Day on the fifth and Engineers' Day on the fifteenth stand on either side of it.

The correct answer is B, Chaudhary Charan Singh. Born on 23 December 1902, he served as Prime Minister in 1979 and 1980 and is remembered above all as a champion of the peasantry, whose writings and land reform measures were built around the small farmer. The Government of India began observing his birthday as Kisan Diwas in 2001.

Option A, Lal Bahadur Shastri, was born on 2 October, the same date as Mahatma Gandhi, and it is his slogan Jai Jawan Jai Kisan that tempts candidates towards him here. Option C, Morarji Desai, was born on 29 February and led the government that Charan Singh followed. Option D, Chandra Shekhar, was born in July and was Prime Minister in 1990 and 1991. The link to hold on to is Charan Singh and the farmer, matched with 23 December.

The correct answer is A, the Bombay dock explosion of 1944. A ship carrying explosives caught fire at the docks and blew up, and dozens of firemen died fighting the blaze; 14 April is kept in their memory and the week that follows is observed as fire service week to spread awareness of fire safety. Option B is wrong because the Bhopal gas tragedy of December 1984 led to the Environment Protection Act of 1986 but not to this day. Option C is wrong because the floods in Chennai are a recent disaster and no national day is attached to them. Option D is wrong because no day of remembrance was instituted for a market fire of that description. Note that 14 April is also Ambedkar Jayanti.

The correct answer is A, Sir M. Visvesvaraya. Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya was born on 15 September 1861, built the Krishna Raja Sagara dam across the Kaveri, designed the automatic flood gates used at Khadakwasla, served as Diwan of Mysore and received the Bharat Ratna in 1955. Option B is wrong because Homi J. Bhabha, the architect of India's nuclear programme, was born on 30 October and has no national day. Option C is wrong because Vikram Sarabhai, the father of the Indian space programme, was born on 12 August. Option D is wrong because A. P. J. Abdul Kalam was born on 15 October, which is observed as World Students' Day. The trap lies in the two October dates being offered against a September one. A further point worth remembering is that Visvesvaraya served as Diwan of Mysore and died in 1962 at the age of a hundred and one.

The correct answer is C, the war of 1971. On 16 December 1971 the Pakistani forces surrendered at Dhaka, the largest surrender since the Second World War, and the war ended with the creation of Bangladesh. The day is observed as Vijay Diwas by the armed forces. Option A is wrong because the conflict of 1962 with China ended without any such day being kept. Option B is wrong because the war of 1965 is remembered through its own anniversaries but Vijay Diwas is not one of them. Option D is wrong because the victory in the Kargil conflict of 1999 is observed on 26 July as Kargil Vijay Diwas, and the similarity of the two names is exactly what the examiner is testing. Remember July for Kargil and December for Dhaka.

The correct answer is B, the International Telecommunication Union. The Union was founded on 17 May 1865, when the first International Telegraph Convention was signed at Paris, and it is today the United Nations agency for information and communication technologies with its headquarters at Geneva. Option A is wrong because the Universal Postal Union was founded in 1874 and is remembered on World Post Day, 9 October. Option C is wrong because the World Intellectual Property Organization is marked on World Intellectual Property Day, 26 April. Option D is wrong because the International Civil Aviation Organization is remembered on International Civil Aviation Day, 7 December. Each of these agencies has a day of its own, so the question turns on matching the agency to the correct date.