Days and Years Questions and Answers

Answer: B

Minorities Rights Day is observed in India on 18 December.

The date marks the UN's adoption in 1992 of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities. India's National Commission for Minorities observes it.

Answer: C

National Education Day is celebrated on 11 November.

It is the birthday of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, India's first education minister, who established the UGC, the IITs and the three national academies of letters, art and music.

Answer: C

The third Sunday of June is Father's Day.

Sonora Smart Dodd proposed it in 1910 in Washington state, in honour of her father, a Civil War veteran who raised six children alone. It became a permanent national observance in the United States in 1972.

Answer: D

2008 was declared the International Year of Languages, the Potato and Sanitation - all three.

The languages year responded to the loss of a language every fortnight; the potato year marked the crop's importance to food security; and the sanitation year addressed the 2.5 billion people without adequate sanitation.

Answer: C

17 December is recorded here as International Rabbit's Day.

The observance is not a United Nations one; International Rabbit Day is more usually kept on the fourth Saturday of September, promoting the protection and welfare of both wild and domestic rabbits.

Answer: A

1 October is World Vegetarian Day.

The North American Vegetarian Society began it in 1977, and it opens Vegetarian Awareness Month. It is also the International Day of Older Persons.

Answer: C

Earth Day is celebrated on 22 April.

Senator Gaylord Nelson organised the first in the United States in 1970, and 20 million people took part; it led to the creation of the US Environmental Protection Agency. It is now marked in nearly 200 countries.

Answer: A

All India Radio was set up in 1936.

The Indian State Broadcasting Service, begun in 1930, was renamed All India Radio on 8 June 1936. It adopted the name Akashvani in 1957 and now reaches almost the whole population.

Answer: A

Human Rights Day is celebrated on 10 December.

The UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on that date in 1948. The Nobel Peace Prize is presented on the same day each year, in Oslo.