SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 11 September 2024, Shift 2 · General Awareness · Question 1 of 100

Text as printed on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; answer per SSC's tentative key as marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 6 September 2026.

Where this paper and its answers come from

SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. The questions and options here are reproduced as printed on a candidate's own response sheet for this shift — the Commission's text, unchanged. Each answer is SSC's tentative key as marked on that sheet; SSC allowed challenges to it and never publishes a final key. The solutions are written by UnlockIAS.

Tabla player, Ustad Zakir Hussain was awarded which of the following awards by the Government of India in 2023?

(a)Padma Bhushan
(b)Bharat Ratna
(c)Padma Vibhushan
(d)Padma Shri

Answer

Why

Correct — C. The Padma Vibhushan, India's second-highest civilian award, went to tabla player Ustad Zakir Hussain in the 2023 Padma list.

It completed his set of three — Padma Shri (1988), Padma Bhushan (2002), Padma Vibhushan (2023). The name alone cannot decide this item because the same name answers to three different awards in three different years, so the year in the stem is what makes option (c) fit.

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Padma Bhushan — The Padma Bhushan is his 2002 award, not his 2023 one. He was among the youngest instrumentalists to receive it, which is why shifts asking about 2002 key this option instead.
(b)
Bharat Ratna — No Bharat Ratna has been conferred on Zakir Hussain. Among musicians it has gone to M S Subbulakshmi, Ravi Shankar, Lata Mangeshkar, Bismillah Khan and Bhimsen Joshi.
(d)
Padma Shri — The Padma Shri is the lowest of the three Padma grades and came to him decades earlier, in 1988. A question fixed to 2023 cannot land here.

Concept

The Padma awards are announced every year on the eve of Republic Day in three grades — Padma Vibhushan for exceptional and distinguished service, Padma Bhushan for distinguished service of a high order, and Padma Shri for distinguished service.

They sit below the Bharat Ratna, which is a separate and higher honour, not a fourth Padma grade.

A long career can collect all three Padma grades, so an SSC question about an artist is really a question about a year.

These items pair one artist with one year and offer the four honours as the options. The work is in the year, not in recognising the name.

Key facts

Ustad Zakir Hussain received the Padma Vibhushan in 2023.
He received the Padma Bhushan in 2002 and the Padma Shri in 1988.
The order of precedence is Bharat Ratna, then Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri.
Padma awards are announced on the eve of Republic Day each year.

Study next

The three Padma grades and the citation each carriesBharat Ratna recipients from the performing artsSangeet Natak Akademi Award and Fellowship (Akademi Ratna)

Common traps

Reading the name and skipping the year — Zakir Hussain is the correct answer to questions keyed on three different awards.
Assuming a musician of this stature must hold the Bharat Ratna.

SSC holds the fact still and moves the year. The 2002 Padma Bhushan side was asked on 9 Sep 2024, 16:00, GA Q.5 and again on 12 Sep 2024, 09:00, GA Q.3.

The 2023 Padma Vibhushan was asked from the other direction on 18 Sep 2024, 12:30, GA Q.17, where the award is given and the musician has to be named.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.