Why is a river so rich ?

There are 2 people near the river and both of them want to get on the other side. The boat can only take one of them. But they got across.
How?

Trying to tease Birbal, Akbar gave him one gold coin and ask him to buy
* something for him to eat
* something for him to drink.
* something to feed the cows
* something to plant in the garden
and most important you need to buy only one thing.

What must Birbal buy to silence Akbar?

Four people need to cross a rickety bridge at night. Unfortunately, they have only one torch and the bridge is too dangerous to cross without one. The bridge is only strong enough to support two people at a time. Not all people take the same time to cross the bridge. Times for each person: 1 min, 2 mins, 7 mins and 10 mins. What is the shortest time needed for all four of them to cross the bridge?

I am a three digit number.
My tens digit is five more than my ones digit.
My hundreds digit is eight less than my tens digit.
What number am I?

Mr. Buttons was all set to go to the village of Buttonland to meet his friend. So, he packed his bags and left for the village at 5 in the morning. Upon travelling on a road for miles, he came across a point where the road diverged into two. He was confused on which road to take. He gazed around and he saw two owls sitting on a branch. He thought he could ask for directions for the village from the two owls. So he went to the tree. There he saw a sign which read, "One owl always lies, and one is always truthful. They both fly away if you ask them more than 1 question."
Mr. Buttons was caught in the dilemma of what to ask? And from which owl to ask, since he only had one question. What should Mr. Buttons ask?

Before Mount Everest was discovered, what was the highest mountain in the world?

Take number 1000 and then add 20 to it.
Now add 1000 one more time.
Now add 30.
Now add 1000 one more time.
Now add 40.
Now add 1000 one more time.
Now add 10.

What is the total?

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

It's a 7-letter word.
If we remove 1 letter from it, it remains the same.
If we remove 2 letters from it, it remains the same.
If we remove 3 letters from it, it remains the same.
If we remove all the letters from it, still it remains the same.
What is it?