Important Days & Dates GK Notes
हिंदी में पढ़ेंMonth-wise list of important national and international days.
25 topics308 MCQs33 previous-year questions50 quizzesUpdated
Important Days and Dates covers the national and international days that recur in the GK section. The topics here are arranged month by month, from Important Days in January and February to Important Days in November and December, and then by theme: United Nations Days and Their Themes, National Days of India, Health and Environment Days, Days Named After Personalities, Armed Forces and Service Days, Foundation Days of Indian States and Important Dates in Indian History.
SSC CGL, SSC CHSL, RRB NTPC, IBPS PO, SBI Clerk and most state exams ask this area every year, usually one or two questions. The question gives a date and asks which day falls on it, gives a day and asks for its date, or asks for the current year's theme of a UN day such as World Environment Day. Bank exams prefer the theme and the observing body; SSC prefers the date and the person a day is named after.
Read the topics on this page in the order they are listed, one month pair at a time, and attempt the practice MCQs for each topic before moving on. The previous-year questions carry the exam and year, so you can check which days your exam repeats. Before the exam, the mixed quiz sets on GK24 test dates from all months together, as they appear in the real paper.
Topic-wise notes
- 1
Important Days in January and February
National and international days observed in January and February with the event each one marks: Youth Day, Army Day, Republic Day, Martyrs' Day, Wetlands Day, Mother Language Day and Science Day.
14 MCQs2 previous-year questions
- 2
Important Days in March and April
The national and international days observed in March and April, from Women's Day and World Water Day to Shaheed Diwas, World Health Day, Ambedkar Jayanti and Panchayati Raj Day, with the reason behind each date.
12 MCQs
- 3
Important Days in May and June
Every important national and international day of May and June with its date and the reason behind it, from Labour Day and National Technology Day to World Environment Day, Yoga Day and Statistics Day.
14 MCQs2 previous-year questions
- 4
Important Days in July and August
The national and international days observed in July and August, from Doctors Day and World Population Day to Kargil Vijay Diwas, Independence Day and National Sports Day.
13 MCQs2 previous-year questions
- 5
Important Days in September and October
The national and international days of September and October, from Teachers' Day and Hindi Diwas to Gandhi Jayanti, Air Force Day, World Food Day and National Unity Day, with the reason behind each date.
15 MCQs3 previous-year questions
- 6
Important Days in November and December
The national and international days observed in November and December with the event or birth anniversary behind each, and the date and reason pairs that SSC, Railway, Banking and State exams ask.
12 MCQs
- 7
United Nations Days and Their Themes
How the United Nations declares an observance day, the lead agency behind each, the dates from February to December, the events they commemorate and why the themes change every year.
14 MCQs3 previous-year questions
- 8
National Days of India
The days India observes on its own, from Republic Day and Constitution Day to the service, profession and achievement days, with the date, the person or event behind each and the year.
13 MCQs1 previous-year questions
- 9
Health and Environment Days
Every important health and environment day with its date, the reason that date was chosen and the organisation behind it, as SSC, Railway and State exams ask them.
12 MCQs
- 10
Days Named After Personalities
National and international days fixed on the birth or death anniversary of a person, from National Youth Day and Teachers' Day to World Braille Day, with the reason behind each date.
13 MCQs1 previous-year questions
- 11
Important Weeks and Fortnights
The weeks and fortnights observed in India and worldwide, their exact dates, the day each begins from and the body that observes them.
12 MCQs
- 12
International Years and Decades
The international years and decades declared by the United Nations General Assembly, the agencies that lead them, India's own proposals and the pairs of year and theme that exams ask.
13 MCQs1 previous-year questions
- 13
Armed Forces and Service Days
Army, Navy and Air Force days, Kargil Vijay Diwas, Flag Day, police, fire and civil service days, and the raising days of the central forces with the reason behind each date.
12 MCQs
- 14
Science, Technology and Education Days
National Science Day, Technology Day, Mathematics Day, Space Day, Teachers' Day, Education Day and the world days of literacy and telecommunication, with the reason behind each date.
10 MCQs
- 15
Foundation Days of Indian States
The foundation or statehood day of every Indian state with the Act of Parliament behind it, from the States Reorganisation Act of 1956 to Telangana in 2014.
10 MCQs
- 16
Important Dates in Indian History
A dated timeline of Indian history for exams, from the battles of Panipat and Plassey to the Congress sessions, the Gandhian movements and the making of the Republic.
11 MCQs6 previous-year questions
- 17
Important Dates in World History
A timeline from the fall of Constantinople and the voyages of discovery through the American and French Revolutions and the two World Wars to the space race and the end of the Cold War.
14 MCQs8 previous-year questions
- 18
New National Days Declared since 2014
National Unity Day, Good Governance Day, Constitution Day, the International Day of Yoga, Parakram Diwas, Janjatiya Gaurav Divas, Veer Bal Diwas, National Space Day and the rest.
13 MCQs1 previous-year questions
- 19
Birth and Death Anniversaries of National Leaders and Their Samadhis
Jayanti and punyatithi dates of national leaders, the days named after them, and the samadhis in Delhi such as Raj Ghat, Shanti Van, Vijay Ghat, Shakti Sthal and Vir Bhumi.
12 MCQs
- 20
Economy, Banking, Tax and Consumer Days
The days of the economy that exams ask: consumer rights days, Income Tax Day and GST Day, the International Day of Banks, World Savings Day, MSME Day, Kisan Diwas and Statistics Day, with the reason behind each date.
12 MCQs
- 21
Calendars and Eras of India: Vikram Samvat, Saka, Hijri and Others
The Indian National Calendar and the Saka, Vikram, Gupta, Harsha, Hijri and Kollam eras, with their starting years, the months and the panchang, for competitive exams.
12 MCQs
- 22
Days for Women, Children and Human Rights
Fixed dates of the women, children and human rights observances asked in exams, the body that declared each, the event behind it and the date pairs set as traps.
10 MCQs
- 23
Art, Culture, Literature and Sports Days
World Book Day, World Theatre Day, Dance Day, Museum Day, Heritage Day, Hindi Diwas, National Sports Day and Olympic Day, with the dates and the reason behind each.
12 MCQs
- 24
Anniversary Names: Silver, Golden, Diamond and Platinum Jubilees
The traditional names for every anniversary from one year to a millennium, their Hindi equivalents and the conventions that differ at sixty and seventy-five years.
11 MCQs
- 25
Gregorian Calendar, Leap Years, Solstices and Equinoxes
The Julian and Gregorian calendars, the leap year rule and odd days, India's Saka calendar, and the dates of the solstices and equinoxes with the facts exams ask.
11 MCQs2 previous-year questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Which important days are asked most in bank exams like IBPS PO and SBI Clerk?
Bank exams favour days observed by the United Nations and its agencies, because each has a yearly theme that can be asked as current affairs: World Environment Day, World Health Day, International Yoga Day, World Food Day and similar. National days tied to banking and the economy also appear. Learn the date, the observing body and the current year's theme together, and revise the theme list in the month before your exam.
How are Important Days questions asked in SSC CGL and SSC CHSL?
SSC usually gives a date and asks which day is observed on it, or names a day and asks for its date. Days named after Indian personalities are common, such as National Youth Day on Swami Vivekananda's birthday, National Sports Day on Major Dhyan Chand's birthday and Teachers' Day on Dr Radhakrishnan's birthday. The theme is asked less often than in bank exams. Knowing the person behind the day is often enough to fix the date.
What is the best way to remember important days month-wise?
Do not try to memorise the whole calendar at once. Take one month pair at a time, read the notes, then solve that topic's MCQs the same day. Group days by the reason they are observed: a birth anniversary, a UN resolution, a historical event. Repetition through mixed quizzes fixes the dates better than reading the list again. A weekly ten-minute revision of the months you have finished is enough.
Do exams ask the theme of a day or only the date?
Both, but it depends on the exam. Bank and insurance exams ask the theme of a recent UN day because it changes every year and belongs to current affairs. SSC, railway and state exams mostly ask the date, the year a day was first observed, or the person or event it commemorates. Prepare the date for every day and the theme only for the days observed in the months before your exam.
Are foundation days of Indian states asked in competitive exams?
Yes, especially in state-level exams and in SSC and railway papers. A question may ask when a state was formed, which state celebrates its foundation day on a given date, or which states share the same day, as Gujarat and Maharashtra do on 1 May. This topic also connects with the reorganisation of states in Indian polity, so preparing it once helps in two sections.