SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 26 September 2024, Shift 1 · General Awareness · Question 6 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.

Which playback singer was honoured with the Nightingale of Asia Award in 1987?

(a)Pulapaka Susheela
(b)Kavita Krishnamurthy
(c)Mubarak Begum
(d)Asha Bhosle

Answer

Why

Correct — D. The 1987 Nightingale of Asia honour named in the stem belongs to Asha Bhosle.

The identifying record around it is easy to hold: younger sister of Lata Mangeshkar, a playback career across Hindi and Marathi cinema, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for 2000 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2008.

None of the three rejected singers carries this award, so option (d) stands.

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Pulapaka Susheela — P. Susheela sang chiefly for Telugu and Tamil cinema, and her honours attach to that body of southern film work rather than to the 1987 award named here.
(b)
Kavita Krishnamurthy — Kavita Krishnamurthy is a Hindi playback singer and a Padma Shri awardee. Her list of honours does not include this one.
(c)
Mubarak Begum — Mubarak Begum is remembered for a small body of film songs, above all "Kabhi Tanhaiyon Mein" from Hamari Yaad Aayegi (1961), and not for this award.

Concept

Award-to-person items have no internal logic, so prepare them by person rather than by award.

For each major playback singer keep the two or three honours SSC actually names: the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the Padma series, and the National Film Award for playback singing.

Asha Bhosle's list is unusually long, which makes it worth learning as a list in one go rather than one award at a time.

The award's name is the hard part here — it is not one of the state or national honours that recur. The reliable handle is the singer, not the citation.

Key facts

Asha Bhosle received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for the year 2000.
She was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 2008.
She won the National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer for "Dil Cheez Kya Hai" from Umrao Jaan and for "Mera Kuchh Saamaan" from Ijaazat.
She is the younger sister of Lata Mangeshkar, both daughters of Deenanath Mangeshkar.

Study next

Dadasaheb Phalke Award recipients drawn from playback singingPadma awards held by Indian film and classical musiciansNational Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer and the films SSC names with it

Common traps

Letting the word Nightingale pull you towards Lata Mangeshkar or Sarojini Naidu, who both carry nightingale epithets. The 1987 award here is keyed to Asha Bhosle.
Assuming an award with an Asian or international-sounding name must belong to a classical rather than a film singer.

Playback singers are asked as award-to-name recall. Asha Bhosle's IIFA award was keyed to the film Lagaan on 23 Sep 2024, 09:00, GA Q.2, and the Karnataka Ratna 2005 was keyed to Bhimsen Joshi on 25 Sep 2024, 12:30, GA Q.12.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.