SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 23 September 2024, Shift 2 · General Awareness · Question 8 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 10 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.

Coir conductor Coomi Nariman Wadia was awarded with which of the following awards by the Government of India in 2023?

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

Answer

Why

Correct — D. Coomi Nariman Wadia was named in the Padma Shri list of 2023, in the field of Art.

She is a choral conductor — the stem's 'Coir conductor' is a transcription slip for choir — and led the Paranjoti Academy Chorus in Mumbai after Victor Paranjoti's death.

Padma Shri is the fourth-highest civilian honour and the entry grade of the Padma series, which is where a lifetime in one specialised performing field is usually recognised.

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Padma Vibhushan — Padma Vibhushan is the highest of the three Padma grades and India's second-highest civilian honour, for exceptional and distinguished service. The 2023 list placed her in the entry grade, not the top one.
(b)
Bharat Ratna — Bharat Ratna is not part of the Padma series at all. It is India's highest civilian honour, conferred rarely, and none was announced in 2023.
(c)
Padma Bhushan — Padma Bhushan is the middle grade, for distinguished service of a high order, and ranks third among civilian honours. The keyed grade sits one step below it.

Concept

India's civilian honours run on two tracks. Bharat Ratna stands alone at the top. The Padma awards form a three-step series below it — Padma Vibhushan, then Padma Bhushan, then Padma Shri.

They are announced on the eve of Republic Day and conferred by the President at an investiture ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan, usually a few months later.

Recipients come from fields including art, literature and education, science and engineering, medicine, social work and sport.

For an unfamiliar name the grade is still recoverable from the profile. A performer honoured for sustained work in one specialised art form is the standard Padma Shri citation, while the higher grades tend to go to nationally famous figures.

Key facts

The Padma awards have three grades — Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri.
Padma Shri is India's fourth-highest civilian award, below Bharat Ratna and the two higher Padma grades.
Padma awards are announced on the eve of Republic Day and conferred at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Coomi Nariman Wadia conducted the Paranjoti Academy Chorus in Mumbai.

Study next

The three Padma grades and their order of precedenceBharat Ratna recipients and the years each was announcedPadma awardees in music and dance from recent lists

Common traps

Reaching for the highest-sounding honour when the name is unfamiliar
Treating Bharat Ratna as the top rung of the Padma series, when it is a separate award

SSC asks the award grade for a named artist across shifts. Six of the 35 CGL 2024 shifts, this one included, put up the same four choices in some order — Bharat Ratna, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, Padma Shri.

19 Sep 2024, 12:30, General Awareness Q.9 does it for the Pandwani singer Usha Barle, and 11 Sep 2024, 12:30, General Awareness Q.1 for the tabla player Ustad Zakir Hussain.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.