“National Science Day is observed on which date?” and “Why is 29 August celebrated?” are classic one-mark questions. Here are the important days, month by month, with the reason behind each one.
Themes change every year, so learn them from the daily current affairs post on the day. The dates below stay the same.
January
Date
Day
Why
9 Jan
Pravasi Bharatiya Divas
Gandhi’s return from South Africa (1915)
12 Jan
National Youth Day
Birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda
15 Jan
Indian Army Day
Gen K.M. Cariappa became the first Indian Commander-in-Chief (1949)
23 Jan
Parakram Diwas
Birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose
24 Jan
National Girl Child Day
–
25 Jan
National Voters’ Day
Election Commission founded (25 January 1950)
26 Jan
Republic Day
Constitution came into force (1950)
30 Jan
Martyrs’ Day (Shaheed Diwas)
Mahatma Gandhi’s death anniversary
February
Date
Day
Why
4 Feb
World Cancer Day
–
13 Feb
National Women’s Day
Birth anniversary of Sarojini Naidu
20 Feb
World Day of Social Justice
UN day
21 Feb
International Mother Language Day
UNESCO; Bengali language movement (1952)
28 Feb
National Science Day
Discovery of the Raman Effect (1928)
March
Date
Day
Why
3 Mar
World Wildlife Day
CITES signed (1973)
4 Mar
National Safety Day
National Safety Council founded (1966)
8 Mar
International Women’s Day
–
15 Mar
World Consumer Rights Day
–
20 Mar
International Day of Happiness / World Sparrow Day
–
21 Mar
International Day of Forests
–
22 Mar
World Water Day
–
23 Mar
World Meteorological Day; Shaheed Diwas
Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Sukhdev executed (1931)
24 Mar
World TB Day
Discovery of the TB bacterium by Robert Koch (1882)
April
Date
Day
Why
5 Apr
National Maritime Day
SS Loyalty sailed to London (1919)
7 Apr
World Health Day
WHO founded (1948)
11 Apr
National Safe Motherhood Day
Birth anniversary of Kasturba Gandhi
14 Apr
Ambedkar Jayanti
–
18 Apr
World Heritage Day
–
21 Apr
Civil Services Day
Sardar Patel’s address to probationers (1947)
22 Apr
Earth Day
–
23 Apr
World Book and Copyright Day
–
24 Apr
National Panchayati Raj Day
73rd Amendment came into force (1993)
25 Apr
World Malaria Day
–
May
Date
Day
Why
1 May
International Labour Day; Maharashtra and Gujarat Day
–
3 May
World Press Freedom Day
–
8 May
World Red Cross Day
Birth anniversary of Henry Dunant
11 May
National Technology Day
Pokhran-II nuclear tests (1998)
17 May
World Telecommunication and Information Society Day
ITU founded (1865)
21 May
Anti-Terrorism Day
Rajiv Gandhi’s death anniversary
22 May
International Day for Biological Diversity
–
31 May
World No Tobacco Day
–
June
Date
Day
Why
5 Jun
World Environment Day
UN Stockholm Conference (1972)
8 Jun
World Oceans Day
–
14 Jun
World Blood Donor Day
Birth anniversary of Karl Landsteiner
21 Jun
International Day of Yoga
Proposed by India; first observed in 2015
23 Jun
Olympic Day
IOC founded (1894)
26 Jun
International Day against Drug Abuse
–
29 Jun
Statistics Day
Birth anniversary of P.C. Mahalanobis
July
Date
Day
Why
1 Jul
National Doctors’ Day; Chartered Accountants’ Day
Dr B.C. Roy’s birth and death anniversary; ICAI founded (1949)
11 Jul
World Population Day
–
18 Jul
Nelson Mandela International Day
–
26 Jul
Kargil Vijay Diwas
Victory in the Kargil War (1999)
29 Jul
International Tiger Day
–
August
Date
Day
Why
6 Aug
Hiroshima Day
Atomic bombing (1945)
7 Aug
National Handloom Day
Swadeshi Movement launched (1905)
12 Aug
International Youth Day; World Elephant Day
–
15 Aug
Independence Day
–
20 Aug
Sadbhavana Diwas
Birth anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi
23 Aug
National Space Day
Chandrayaan-3 landing (2023)
29 Aug
National Sports Day
Birth anniversary of Major Dhyan Chand
September
Date
Day
Why
5 Sep
Teachers’ Day
Birth anniversary of Dr S. Radhakrishnan
8 Sep
International Literacy Day
–
14 Sep
Hindi Diwas
Hindi adopted as official language (1949)
15 Sep
Engineers’ Day
Birth anniversary of M. Visvesvaraya
16 Sep
World Ozone Day
Montreal Protocol signed (1987)
27 Sep
World Tourism Day
–
October
Date
Day
Why
1 Oct
International Day of Older Persons
–
2 Oct
Gandhi Jayanti; International Day of Non-Violence
–
8 Oct
Indian Air Force Day
IAF founded (1932)
9 Oct
World Post Day
UPU founded (1874)
10 Oct
World Mental Health Day
–
16 Oct
World Food Day
FAO founded (1945)
24 Oct
United Nations Day
UN Charter came into force (1945)
31 Oct
Rashtriya Ekta Diwas
Birth anniversary of Sardar Patel
November
Date
Day
Why
7 Nov
National Cancer Awareness Day
Birth anniversary of Marie Curie
9 Nov
National Legal Services Day
Legal Services Authorities Act in force (1995)
11 Nov
National Education Day
Birth anniversary of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
14 Nov
Children’s Day; World Diabetes Day
Birth anniversary of Jawaharlal Nehru
15 Nov
Janjatiya Gaurav Divas
Birth anniversary of Birsa Munda
19 Nov
World Toilet Day
–
26 Nov
Constitution Day (Samvidhan Diwas)
Constitution adopted (1949)
December
Date
Day
Why
1 Dec
World AIDS Day
–
2 Dec
National Pollution Control Day
Bhopal gas tragedy (1984)
3 Dec
International Day of Persons with Disabilities
–
4 Dec
Indian Navy Day
Operation Trident (1971)
7 Dec
Armed Forces Flag Day
–
10 Dec
Human Rights Day
UDHR adopted (1948)
14 Dec
National Energy Conservation Day
–
16 Dec
Vijay Diwas
Victory in the 1971 war
22 Dec
National Mathematics Day
Birth anniversary of Srinivasa Ramanujan
23 Dec
Kisan Diwas
Birth anniversary of Chaudhary Charan Singh
25 Dec
Good Governance Day
Birth anniversary of Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Memory tips
Birthdays of leaders: 12 Jan Vivekananda (Youth), 23 Jan Bose (Parakram), 5 Sep Radhakrishnan (Teachers), 15 Sep Visvesvaraya (Engineers), 31 Oct Patel (Unity), 14 Nov Nehru (Children), 22 Dec Ramanujan (Maths), 23 Dec Charan Singh (Kisan), 25 Dec Vajpayee (Good Governance).
Forces: Army 15 Jan, Air Force 8 Oct, Navy 4 Dec.
Science: 28 Feb (Raman), 11 May (Pokhran-II), 23 Aug (Chandrayaan-3).
Exam-ready one-liners
National Science Day (28 Feb) marks the Raman Effect.
National Technology Day (11 May) marks Pokhran-II (1998).
National Space Day (23 Aug) marks Chandrayaan-3’s landing.
National Sports Day (29 Aug) is Major Dhyan Chand’s birthday.
Engineers’ Day (15 Sep) honours M. Visvesvaraya.
National Voters’ Day (25 Jan) marks the founding of the Election Commission.
Navy Day (4 Dec) marks Operation Trident in 1971.
Constitution Day is 26 Nov; Republic Day is 26 Jan.
