I have branches, but no fruit, trunk or leaves. What am I?

Many have heard it, but nobody has ever seen it, and it will not speak back until spoken to. What is it?

John is the son of Jacob.
So,
Jacob is the_____of John's father?

I am the one who remains awake when you sleep. But I need to rest when you awake. Who Am I?

A swan sits at the center of a perfectly circular lake. At an edge of the lake stands a ravenous monster waiting to devour the swan. The monster can not enter the water, but it will run around the circumference of the lake to try to catch the swan as soon as it reaches the shore. The monster moves at 4 times the speed of the swan, and it will always move in the direction along the shore that brings it closer to the swan the quickest. Both the swan and the the monster can change directions in an instant.
The swan knows that if it can reach the lake's shore without the monster right on top of it, it can instantly escape into the surrounding forest.

How can the swan successfully escape?

John has played 50 ODI's and his average is 50. How many runs should he score in his 51st ODI, so that his average score jumps to 51?

Find the missing number in the image below.

A man died and leaves Rs.10,000 in his will. There are 6 beneficiaries- his 3 sons and their wives. The 3 wives receive Rs.3960 of which Priyanka gets Rs.100 more than Tanu and Neha gets Rs.100 more than Priyanka.
Pramod gets twice as much as his wife, Tushar gets the same as his wife, and Prashant gets 50% more than his wife.

Who is married to whom?

What can you catch but never throw?

I am a seven-letter word but if you remove four of my letters I will have one left. What word am I?