What is the next number in this matchsticks series riddle?

500 women soldiers are arranged in an array of ten rows and fifty columns in accordance with their respective heights. Now, the tallest woman from each row is asked to move out in the front. From them, the shortest one is labelled as Alpha. They are then asked to resume their original position.

Now, the shortest woman in each column is asked to come out in front. The tallest among them is labelled as Beta.

Can you find out if Alpha will be taller or Beta?

A bomb goes off.
Carnage.
One person, only a few feet away, survives! How can this be?

How many triangles can you count in the figure given?

He loves to dance, twist and prance, he shakes his tail, and as a way he sails, wingless he flies into the sky. What is he?

I know a country, If you remove the last alphabet of its name, it will become a part of your body. Do you name it?

A clock loses 10 minutes each hour. If the clock is set correctly at noon, what time is it when it reads 3 PM?

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

A generous owner of a company decided to give a bonus of $45 to every man and $60 to every woman on his birthday. But only one-ninth of the men and one-twelfth of the women were present to take the bonus.

Can you calculate the amount of money the owner spent if there were 3552 employees?

These types of puzzles are known as charades. What you have to do is find two words that are referred to in the first stanza and the second stanza and put them together to form the third word in the third stanza.

Just for example, if my first refers to 'off' and my second refers to 'ice', then my whole will be office.

My first is present - future's past -
A time in which your lot is cast.

My second is my first of space
Defining people's present place.

My whole describes a lack of site -
A place without length, breadth, or height.