SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 14 September 2025, Shift 2 · General Awareness · Question 10 of 100

We transcribed this text from the pictures on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; the answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 11 September 2026.

Where this paper and its answers come from

SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. From 2025 the candidate response sheet prints every question and option as a picture, so the text here is transcribed from those pictures for this shift and checked against them independently; where the layout carries meaning, the picture is shown as well. Each answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. SSC released a tentative key for challenge and later its final one, both only to candidates behind a login, and the sheet does not say which of the two it carries. The solutions are written by UnlockIAS.

Following a significant change in leadership at India's premier space agency, which distinguished scientist was appointed as the new Chairman of ISRO and Secretary of the Department of Space in January 2025, succeeding S. Somanath?

(a)K Radhakrishnan
(b)K. Sivan
(c)V. Narayanan
(d)S. Sashidhar Sinha

Answer

Why

Correct — C. ISRO records that Dr. V. Narayanan, Distinguished Scientist (Apex Grade), assumed charge as Chairman, ISRO, Secretary, Department of Space and Chairman, Space Commission on the afternoon of 13 January 2025.

He succeeded S. Somanath, chairman since January 2022. Before that, Narayanan was Director of the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), headquartered at Valiamala in Thiruvananthapuram. So option (c).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
K Radhakrishnan — K. Radhakrishnan is a past chairman, in office from 2009 to 2014, more than a decade before the 2025 change.
(b)
K. Sivan — K. Sivan was chairman from 2018 to 2022 and was succeeded by S. Somanath. He is Somanath's predecessor, not his successor.
(d)
S. Sashidhar Sinha — S. Sashidhar Sinha is not a name on ISRO's line of chairmen, which runs from Vikram Sarabhai to Somanath and then Narayanan.

Concept

The ISRO chairmanship comes with two other posts: Narayanan took charge as Secretary, Department of Space and Chairman, Space Commission at the same time.

Recent holders: A. S. Kiran Kumar (2015-2018), K. Sivan (2018-2022), S. Somanath (2022-2025) and V. Narayanan (from January 2025).

ISRO describes Narayanan as a rocket and spacecraft propulsion expert who joined the organisation in 1984.

Key facts

V. Narayanan assumed charge as Chairman, ISRO, Secretary, Department of Space and Chairman, Space Commission on 13 January 2025.
He had been Director of the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre since January 2018.
He succeeded S. Somanath, who had been chairman since January 2022.
K. Sivan was ISRO chairman from 2018 to 2022, between A. S. Kiran Kumar and S. Somanath.

Study next

The Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre and ISRO's cryogenic stagesGaganyaan, India's human spaceflight programmeISRO's chairmen from Vikram Sarabhai onward

Common traps

Picking K. Sivan, Somanath's predecessor, when the stem asks for his successor.
Reaching for a familiar former chairman's name over the current one.

Here a 2025 appointment is asked with the predecessor named in the stem. Appointments to top government posts also appear at 23 Sep 2024, 12:30, GA Q.5, which asks who became Chief Economic Advisor in 2022 (keyed Venkatramanan Anantha Nageswaran).

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Scientific Research — all 178 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.