National Days of India: Dates and Their Reasons

The correct answer is B, the Constitution of India came into force. The Constitution took effect on 26 January 1950 and India became a sovereign republic. The date was chosen on purpose, because the Indian National Congress had declared Purna Swaraj, or complete independence, on 26 January 1930, and the founders wished to honour that pledge.

Option A is wrong because independence came on 15 August 1947, which is observed as Independence Day. Option C is wrong because the Constituent Assembly adopted the Constitution on 26 November 1949, and that day is kept as Constitution Day, earlier called Law Day; the two-month gap between adoption and commencement is exactly what this question tests. Option D is wrong because the first general election was held in 1951 and 1952, after the Republic had come into being.

The correct answer is B, Swami Vivekananda. He was born on 12 January 1863, and the Government of India declared his birthday National Youth Day so that his call to the young would be placed before students each year. It has been observed since 1985.

Option A, Bhagat Singh, was born in September and is remembered on 23 March, the day he was hanged in 1931 along with Sukhdev and Rajguru, which is kept as Shaheed Diwas. Option C, Subhas Chandra Bose, was born on 23 January 1897, and that date is observed as Parakram Diwas. Option D, Jawaharlal Nehru, was born on 14 November 1889, which is kept as Children's Day. All four dates fall in the list of national days, so the question is really about matching the man to his own date.

The correct answer is B, the discovery of the Raman effect. Sir C. V. Raman announced his discovery of the scattering of light, now called the Raman effect, on 28 February 1928, and it won him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930, the first for an Indian in the sciences. The day has been observed since 1987.

Option A is wrong because the Indian Science Congress held its first session in January 1914 and is not the reason for this day. Option C is wrong because Aryabhata, India's first satellite, was launched on 19 April 1975, a date kept by the space community and not as National Science Day. Option D is wrong because the Pokhran tests of 11 May 1998 are marked as National Technology Day, which is the commonest confusion in this question. Keep the pair apart: 28 February is science, 11 May is technology.

The correct answer is A, Dr S. Radhakrishnan. He was born on 5 September 1888, was a philosopher and teacher before entering public life, and served as the first Vice-President and the second President of India. When admirers wished to celebrate his birthday, he asked that it be kept as Teachers' Day instead.

Option B, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, was independent India's first Education Minister, and his birthday, 11 November, is observed as National Education Day, which makes him the strongest distractor. Option C, Dr Zakir Husain, was an educationist and the third President of India, but no national day is named for him. Option D, Dr Rajendra Prasad, was the first President of India and presided over the Constituent Assembly. Remember the pair: 5 September for teachers and 11 November for education.

The correct answer is B, Sir M. Visvesvaraya. Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya was born on 15 September 1861, served as the Diwan of Mysore, and built the Krishnarajasagara dam and the system of automatic sluice gates that made his name. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1955, and Engineers' Day honours him.

Option A, Homi Jehangir Bhabha, was the architect of India's atomic energy programme and is remembered as a physicist rather than an engineer. Option C, Vikram Sarabhai, founded India's space programme, and Indian space landmarks are tied to him instead. Option D, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, was an aerospace scientist and the eleventh President of India; his birthday, 15 October, is observed as World Students' Day. A candidate who notices the day names the engineer, not the scientist, gets this right at once.

The correct answer is B, Major Dhyan Chand. The hockey player was born on 29 August 1905 and won Olympic gold with India in 1928, 1932 and 1936. National Sports Day is observed on his birthday, and the national sports awards are usually presented on that date.

Option A, Milkha Singh, was the athlete known as the Flying Sikh, who finished fourth in the 400 metres at the 1960 Rome Olympics, but no national day carries his name. Option C, Sachin Tendulkar, is a cricketer and a Bharat Ratna, and although his birthday is widely noted, it is not a national day. Option D, K. D. Jadhav, won India's first individual Olympic medal, a wrestling bronze in 1952, a fact worth knowing separately. The sports day belongs to hockey and to Dhyan Chand.

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 B, the nuclear tests at Pokhran. India carried out nuclear tests at Pokhran in Rajasthan on 11 May 1998 under the operation known as Shakti, and a home-built aircraft was flight-tested and a missile fired on the same day. The Government therefore declared 11 May as National Technology Day.

Option A is wrong because the Chandrayaan missions were launched in other months and are marked by the space agency's own calendar rather than by this day. Option C is wrong because the Indian Space Research Organisation was formed in 1969 and its founding is not the reason for a national day. Option D is wrong because the Tejas programme, though an achievement of Indian engineering, is not the event behind the date. Note that India's earlier nuclear test, Smiling Buddha, took place in May 1974.

The correct answer is B, K. M. Cariappa became the first Indian Commander-in-Chief. On 15 January 1949, Lieutenant General K. M. Cariappa took over from the last British commander as Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army, and that handover is what Army Day marks. He was later made a Field Marshal, an honour shared in India only with Sam Manekshaw.

Option A is wrong because the army as an institution is far older than 1949 and no single founding date is observed. Option C is wrong because the first Republic Day parade belongs to 26 January 1950. Option D is wrong because the National Defence Academy at Khadakwasla was established in the nineteen fifties and has no national day of its own. Keep the three service days together: Army 15 January, Air Force 8 October and Navy 4 December.

The correct answer is B, Operation Trident. On the night of 4 December 1971 the Indian Navy attacked Karachi harbour with missile boats, sinking enemy vessels and setting the oil tanks ablaze without losing a ship. Navy Day is observed on that date in memory of the action.

Option A, Operation Vijay, is the name used for the liberation of Goa in 1961 and again for the Kargil operations of 1999, neither of which is a naval action of 1971. Option C, Operation Meghdoot, was the army and air force move to secure the Siachen glacier in 1984. Option D, Operation Cactus, was the Indian intervention in the Maldives in 1988, in which the navy and air force helped put down a coup. Only Trident belongs to 4 December 1971.

The correct answer is B, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. He was born on 31 October 1875, and as the first Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister he brought the princely states into the Indian Union, which earned him the name Iron Man of India. National Unity Day has been observed on his birthday since 2014, and the Statue of Unity in Gujarat stands in his memory.

Option A, Lal Bahadur Shastri, was born on 2 October, the same date as Gandhi Jayanti, and his birthday is remembered along with it rather than as a separate national day. Option C, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, was born in July and is known for the slogan on Swaraj as a birthright. Option D, Govind Ballabh Pant, was a freedom fighter and Home Minister but has no national day named for him. Patel, unity and 31 October belong in one line.

The correct answer is B, Chaudhary Charan Singh. He was born on 23 December 1902, served as Prime Minister of India, and worked all his life on the problems of land holdings and of the peasantry, which is why his birthday is kept as Kisan Diwas.

Option A, Lal Bahadur Shastri, is remembered for the slogan Jai Jawan Jai Kisan and for the Green Revolution begun in his time, which makes him the most tempting wrong answer here; his birthday, however, is 2 October. Option C, Morarji Desai, was Prime Minister before Charan Singh and is remembered for his long career in Gujarat and in finance. Option D, V. P. Singh, was Prime Minister at the end of the nineteen eighties and is tied to the Mandal Commission report. The farmers' day belongs to Charan Singh alone.