SSC
Who was the first woman President of Sri Lanka?
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Answer: Option A — Chandrika Kumaratunga
Detailed Solution
Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga was the first (and so far the only) woman President of Sri Lanka. She served as the country's fifth executive President from 1994 to 2005, for two terms. Before becoming President, she was briefly Prime Minister in 1994 and Chief Minister of the Western Province.
She comes from one of the most famous political families in the world:
Her father, S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, was Prime Minister of Ceylon from 1956 until he was assassinated in 1959.
Her mother, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, became the world's first woman Prime Minister in 1960. She served as Prime Minister three times (1960-65, 1970-77 and 1994-2000).
When Chandrika became President in 1994, she appointed her mother as Prime Minister. This made Sri Lanka the first country where a woman President and a woman Prime Minister served at the same time, and they were mother and daughter.
During her presidency, Sri Lanka faced the long civil war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). In 1999, she survived an assassination attempt by an LTTE suicide bomber, in which she lost her right eye.
Other women leaders in South Asia:
- Indira Gandhi: India's first woman Prime Minister (1966).
- Benazir Bhutto: Pakistan's first woman Prime Minister (1988), the first woman to lead a Muslim-majority democracy in modern times.
- Khaleda Zia: Bangladesh's first woman Prime Minister (1991).
- Sheikh Hasina: Bangladesh's longest-serving Prime Minister.
- Bidya Devi Bhandari: Nepal's first woman President (2015).
- Pratibha Patil: India's first woman President (2007).
Why not the other options?
- ✗Sirimavo Bandaranaike was Sri Lanka's (and the world's) first woman Prime Minister, not President.
- ✗Sheikh Hasina was Prime Minister of Bangladesh.
- ✗Benazir Bhutto was Prime Minister of Pakistan.
Quick tip
Remember: First woman President of Sri Lanka = Chandrika Kumaratunga (1994-2005); world's first woman PM = her mother, Sirimavo Bandaranaike (1960).
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Firsts in India & World — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Firsts in India & World, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers the first persons and events in India and the world: the first Indian to win a Nobel Prize, the first woman to hold major offices, the first to climb Everest or reach space, and India's first institutions, newspapers, railways and satellites. It also covers the largest, longest, highest and smallest records in India and the world. These are pure memory questions, so revise them as short lists by theme: first women, first in sports, first in science and space, and first in governance. Be careful with the exact wording, such as 'first Indian' versus 'first person of Indian origin', or 'first woman President' versus 'first woman Prime Minister', since options are often designed to exploit this. Practise the firsts in India and the world questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.