Which item will stand in the middle if the following are rearranged in a…

Concept: When a set of items is rearranged in a defined order, the item occupying the middle position of an odd-sized sequence of n items is the one at the (n+1)/2-th place after sorting - for these 5 items, that is the 3rd item, with exactly two items before it and two after.

Application: Sort all five occasions by their fixed date in the calendar year:

1. Republic Day falls on 26 January.

2. Independence Day falls on 15 August.

3. Gandhi Jayanti falls on 2 October.

4. Children's Day (India) falls on 14 November.

5. Catholic Christmas falls on 25 December.

Arranging these by date gives the order: Republic Day, Independence Day, Gandhi Jayanti, Children's Day, Catholic Christmas.

Cross-check: counting from the other end - Catholic Christmas is 5th, Children's Day is 4th, and Gandhi Jayanti is 3rd - confirms Gandhi Jayanti sits equidistant from both ends of the five-item sequence, i.e., in the middle.

So the item occupying the middle position is item number 4, Gandhi Jayanti; hence the correct answer is "4".