Days and Years Questions and Answers

Answer: C

World AIDS Day is observed on 1st December.

It was first observed on 1 December 1988 and is held every year on that date to raise awareness of HIV and AIDS and to remember those who have died.

1 October, 12 December and 13 November are not the date of World AIDS Day. A useful anchor is that it falls two days before the International Day of Persons with Disabilities on 3 December.

Answer: C

World Water Day is observed on 22nd March.

The United Nations General Assembly declared 22 March World Water Day in 1993, following the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. Each year it highlights a theme on fresh water, sanitation and water management.

4 March is National Safety Day in India, 16 March National Vaccination Day, and 27 March World Theatre Day. None of them is World Water Day.

Answer: D

1995 was observed by SAARC as the Year for Poverty Eradication.

SAARC has designated a theme for most years since the early 1990s - 1990 the Girl Child, 1991 Shelter, 1992 Environment, 1993 Disabled Persons - to focus the attention of member states on a common social objective.

Answer: C

India observes 28 February as National Science Day because C.V. Raman discovered the Raman effect on that day in 1928.

He announced that light scattered by a transparent medium changes wavelength slightly, revealing the molecular structure of the substance. It won him the Nobel Prize in 1930, the first for an Indian in science.

Answer: B

1985 was the International Year of Youth, under the theme 'Participation, Development, Peace'.

1981 had been the Year of Disabled Persons, 1979 the Year of the Child and 1975 International Women's Year.

Answer: B

Id-e-Milad - Milad-un-Nabi - marks the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad.

It falls on the 12th of Rabi-ul-Awwal in the Islamic calendar. Id-ul-Fitr ends Ramzan, Id-ul-Zuha commemorates Abraham's sacrifice, and Muharram marks the martyrdom of Imam Hussain.

Answer: A

Rosh Hashanah is the new year of the Jews, falling in September or October.

The name means 'head of the year'. It opens the ten Days of Awe that end with Yom Kippur, and is marked by the blowing of the shofar, a ram's horn.

Answer: B

NRI Day - Pravasi Bharatiya Divas - is marked on 9 January.

The date commemorates Gandhi's return from South Africa to Bombay on 9 January 1915. It has been observed since 2003 to recognise the contribution of the overseas Indian community.

Answer: D

Kisan Diwas, National Farmers' Day, is observed on 23 December.

It marks the birth anniversary of Chaudhary Charan Singh, the fifth prime minister of India, who championed the cause of the farmer and brought in several land reform measures.

Answer: A

International Friendship Day is not on a fixed date - it is popularly observed on the first Sunday of August, so the date moves each year.

World Habitat Day falls on the first Monday of October by UN designation, but World Environment Day (5 June) and International Women's Day (8 March) are both fixed.