Important Days — PPSC previous year questions

World Health Day is observed on 7 April every year, the anniversary of the founding of the World Health Organization in 1948. Each year the WHO chooses a theme; the 2016 theme was 'Beat Diabetes'. The other dates are distractors.

National Education Day is observed on 11 November, the birth anniversary of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, free India's first Education Minister (1947–58). The UGC, IIT Kharagpur and the three national Akademis were set up in his tenure, and he was given the Bharat Ratna posthumously in 1992. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam's birthday, 15 October, is observed as World Students' Day, not National Education Day.

National Science Day (28 February, Raman effect), Earth Day (22 April) and World Telecommunication Day (17 May) are correctly matched. World Wetlands Day is 2 February, the date of the Ramsar Convention, not 28 March, so pair 2 is wrong.

The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways observes Road Safety Week in January every year. By tradition it runs from 11 to 17 January. In 2021 the Ministry widened it into a month-long National Road Safety Month (18 January to 17 February 2021), and the month-long observance has been repeated in later years with varying dates.

National Science Day is celebrated on 28 February, the day C. V. Raman announced the discovery of the Raman Effect in 1928. Raman received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930 for this discovery. The theme for 2022 was 'Integrated Approach in Science and Technology for a Sustainable Future'. All three statements are correct.

Earth Hour is run by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). WWF started it in Sydney in 2007. Homes and landmarks switch off lights for one hour. It happens on the last Saturday of March, to draw attention to climate change. UNEP, UNESCO and UNDP are United Nations bodies. None of them organises the campaign.

World Theatre Day is observed every year on 27 March. The International Theatre Institute (ITI), a UNESCO-affiliated body, started it in 1961. Each year a noted theatre personality delivers an international message. 22 May is the International Day for Biological Diversity. 29 December and 5 January are not UN theatre observances.

Earth Overshoot Day has no fixed calendar date. In 2014 it fell on 19 August, not 19 September. So pair (iv) is the incorrect one. The other three are fixed observances. The International Day for Biological Diversity is on 22 May. World Environment Day is on 5 June. World Soil Day is on 5 December.

International Literacy Day is observed on 8 September, proclaimed by UNESCO in 1966 and first celebrated in 1967. 14 September is Hindi Diwas in India, and 5 September is Teachers' Day.

Punjab observes 12 September as Saragarhi Day, a state holiday. The date marks the Battle of Saragarhi of 12 September 1897, in which 21 soldiers of the 36th Sikhs held a frontier post against thousands of Afghan tribesmen to the last man.