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high importance~3 Q in Tier 1⚡ 12 shortcuts6 subtopics

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Important Days

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⏱ 6 min read🧩 5 question types🎯 17 practice Q

The idea in one minute

National days (India)

Date	Day	Why
12 Jan	National Youth Day	Birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda
15 Jan	Army Day	K.M. Cariappa took over as C-in-C (1949)
25 Jan	National Voters' Day	ECI founded 25 Jan 1950
28 Feb	National Science Day	Discovery of the Raman effect (1928)
1 Jul	National Doctors' Day	Dr B.C. Roy
29 Aug	National Sports Day	Major Dhyan Chand's birthday
5 Sep	Teachers' Day	Dr S. Radhakrishnan
14 Sep	Hindi Diwas	Hindi adopted as official language (1949)
15 Sep	Engineers' Day	M. Visvesvaraya
8 Oct	Air Force Day	IAF formed 1932
31 Oct	National Unity Day (Rashtriya Ekta Diwas)	Sardar Patel
14 Nov	Children's Day	Nehru
26 Nov	Constitution Day (Samvidhan Divas)	Constitution adopted 1949
4 Dec	Navy Day	Operation Trident (1971)
22 Dec	National Mathematics Day	Srinivasa Ramanujan
23 Dec	Kisan Diwas	Chaudhary Charan Singh
25 Dec	Good Governance Day	A.B. Vajpayee

International days

Date	Day
8 Mar	International Women's Day
22 Mar	World Water Day
7 Apr	World Health Day (WHO founded 1948)
22 Apr	Earth Day
21 Jun	International Day of Yoga (from 2015)
8 Sep	International Literacy Day
16 Sep	World Ozone Day (Montreal Protocol)
1 Dec	World AIDS Day
10 Dec	Human Rights Day (UDHR 1948)

Days linked to a person's birth or death

Date	Day	Person
12 January	National Youth Day	Swami Vivekananda
28 February	National Science Day	Raman effect (1928)
1 July	National Doctors' Day	Dr B.C. Roy
29 July	International Tiger Day	-
29 August	National Sports Day	Major Dhyan Chand
5 September	Teachers' Day	Dr S. Radhakrishnan
15 September	Engineers' Day	Sir M. Visvesvaraya
2 October	Gandhi Jayanti + Int'l Day of Non-Violence	Mahatma Gandhi
31 October	National Unity Day	Sardar Patel
14 November	Children's Day	Jawaharlal Nehru
22 December	National Mathematics Day	Srinivasa Ramanujan (since 2012)
30 January	Martyrs' Day	Gandhi's assassination

National days with a theme of their own

25 January - National Voters' Day (Election Commission founded 25 Jan 1950); 26 January - Republic Day (Constitution came into force 1950); 14 September - Hindi Diwas (Hindi adopted as official language in 1949); 15 August - Independence Day; 11 May - National Technology Day (Pokhran tests, 11 May 1998); 24 January - National Girl Child Day.

International days (UN and others)

Date	Day
8 March	International Women's Day
22 March	World Water Day
7 April	World Health Day (WHO founded 7 April 1948)
22 April	Earth Day
1 May	International Labour Day
5 June	World Environment Day
21 June	International Day of Yoga (first observed 2015; proposed by India)
12 August	International Youth Day
16 October	World Food Day (FAO founded 16 October 1945)
24 October	United Nations Day (UN founded 24 October 1945)
1 December	World AIDS Day
10 December	Human Rights Day (UDHR adopted 10 December 1948)

The three defence forces days

Army Day - 15 January (K.M. Cariappa became the first Indian Commander-in-Chief on 15 January 1949); Air Force Day - 8 October; Navy Day - 4 December (Operation Trident, 1971).

Question types you will see

Each type: how to recognise it, the method step by step, and one question to try.

Type 1very common4 practice Q

Day ↔ birth/death anniversary of a person

How to spot it:

'National Sports Day honours', 'Teachers' Day is the birth anniversary of', 'Youth Day', 'Mathematics Day', person-linking questions.

Method

Birth-linked chain: 12 Jan Vivekananda (Youth), 28 Feb Raman effect (Science), 1 Jul B.C. Roy (Doctors), 29 Aug Dhyan Chand (Sports), 5 Sep Radhakrishnan (Teachers), 15 Sep Visvesvaraya (Engineers), 14 Nov Nehru (Children), 22 Dec Ramanujan (Mathematics).
30 Jan - Martyrs' Day, the day Gandhi was assassinated (1948).
If the question names a profession or field, first look for the person-date row.

Try this

National Mathematics Day (22 December) commemorates the birth anniversary of —

Show solution

Srinivasa Ramanujan (born 22 December 1887); observed since 2012. Teachers' Day (5 Sep) marks Radhakrishnan's birthday.

Type 2very common3 practice Q

National day ↔ date

How to spot it:

'National Voters' Day', 'National Technology Day', 'Hindi Diwas', 'National Unity Day', date-to-theme matching.

Method

Republic dates: 26 Jan Republic Day; 25 Jan National Voters' Day (EC founded 25 Jan 1950); 24 Jan National Girl Child Day.
11 May National Technology Day - Pokhran nuclear tests of 11 May 1998. 14 Sep Hindi Diwas (official-language resolution 1949). 31 Oct National Unity Day - Sardar Patel's birthday.
28 Feb National Science Day - Raman effect announced 28 February 1928.

Try this

National Unity Day, marked on 31 October, celebrates the birth anniversary of —

Show solution

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel - the 'Iron Man' who integrated the princely states.

Type 3very common4 practice Q

International day ↔ date (UN and others)

How to spot it:

'World Water/Health/Environment/Food day', 'International Yoga Day', 'Human Rights Day', UN-day matching.

Method

Spring cluster: 8 Mar Women, 22 Mar Water, 7 Apr Health (WHO founded 7 Apr 1948), 22 Apr Earth, 1 May Labour.
Mid-year: 5 Jun Environment, 21 Jun Yoga (first observed 2015, India's proposal), 12 Aug Youth, 29 Jul Tiger.
Year-end: 16 Oct Food (FAO 1945), 24 Oct UN (founded 1945), 1 Dec AIDS, 10 Dec Human Rights (UDHR 1948).

Try this

World Health Day is observed on 7 April because —

Show solution

The World Health Organization was founded on 7 April 1948 - the date of its constitution coming into force.

Type 4common2 practice Q

Defence forces days

How to spot it:

'Army/Navy/Air Force day', dates of the three services, Operation Trident link.

Method

Army Day - 15 January (K.M. Cariappa became the first Indian Commander-in-Chief on 15 Jan 1949).
Air Force Day - 8 October (the IAF was founded 8 Oct 1932).
Navy Day - 4 December (recalls Operation Trident's missile attack on Karachi, 1971).

Try this

Indian Navy Day is celebrated on —

Show solution

4 December - commemorating Operation Trident of the 1971 war; Army Day is 15 January and Air Force Day 8 October.

Type 5occasional2 practice Q

Republic-era constitutional days

How to spot it:

'Why is 26 January Republic Day', 'Constitution came into force on', 'Samvidhan Divas', founding dates behind days.

Method

26 January 1950 - the Constitution came into force (adopted 26 November 1949 - Samvidhan Divas, Constitution Day).
15 August 1947 - Independence Day.
25 January - Voters' Day (Election Commission set up 25 January 1950).

Try this

Why is Republic Day celebrated on 26 January?

Show solution

The Constitution came into force on 26 January 1950 - the date chosen to honour the 1930 Purna Swaraj declaration of 26 January.

Shortcuts that save time

⚡ Birthday days — pair the person

12 Jan Vivekananda → youth · 29 Aug Dhyan Chand → sports · 5 Sep Radhakrishnan → teachers · 15 Sep Visvesvaraya → engineers · 14 Nov Nehru → children · 22 Dec Ramanujan → maths.

Example

National Mathematics Day (22 December) honours —

Show solution

Srinivasa Ramanujan (born 22 Dec 1887).

⚡ Two 'Feb–Nov' science/constitution anchors

28 Feb = Raman effect (Science Day). 26 Nov = Constitution adopted (26 Jan = enforced → Republic Day).

Mistakes to avoid

Where most students lose marks on this subtopic.

Mistake 01

Constitution Day is 26 November (adoption); Republic Day is 26 January (enforcement).

Mistake 02

National Science Day marks the discovery of the Raman effect (1928), not Raman's birthday (7 Nov).

Mistake 03

Engineers' Day (15 Sep) is Visvesvaraya's birthday; Teachers' Day (5 Sep) is Radhakrishnan's.

Quick revision

Read this the night before the exam.

Birth-linked: 12 Jan Vivekananda, 5 Sep Radhakrishnan, 15 Sep Visvesvaraya, 29 Aug Dhyan Chand, 14 Nov Nehru, 22 Dec Ramanujan, 1 Jul B.C. Roy.
28 Feb Science (Raman 1928); 11 May Technology (Pokhran 1998); 25 Jan Voters; 14 Sep Hindi.
7 Apr Health (WHO 1948); 16 Oct Food (FAO 1945); 24 Oct UN (1945); 10 Dec Human Rights (UDHR 1948).
Yoga 21 June - first observed 2015, India's proposal; Earth Day 22 April; Water 22 March.
Army 15 Jan, Air Force 8 Oct, Navy 4 Dec.

Practice: 17 questions

Sets of 10, mixed across the question types above. Every answer has a step-by-step explanation.

Topic test · 10 questions

Suggested time 3 min · wrong answers go to your mistake notebook automatically.

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