The Women's Commission has demanded an explanation for the "gender insensitive" question paper

The Staff Selection Commission or SSC, which runs an exam to make appointments in central ministries and other government departments, has apologised for a question paper that asked candidates which Bollywood actress was the tallest and gave a choice of four.SSC chairman A Bhattacharya said in a statement today, "It is improper, abominable, substandard... we are very upset and deeply sorry."An enraged Women's Commission in Kerala has demanded an explanation for what is being severely criticised as a "gender insensitive" question paper for the combined graduate level examination.The question on Bollywood was in a multiple choice section between a question on this year's Lok Sabha elections and one on the month in which Valentine's Day is celebrated. The candidates were asked who was the actress "tallest in height" among Huma Qureshi, Katrina Kaif, Deepika Padukone and Preity Zinta.Another section of the paper tested the deductive reasoning of candidates with the bizarre statement: "All women are cats, All cats are rats."Mr Bhattacharya said no one at the SSC had set the paper. Local teachers were appointed to set a bank of questions and a panel of experts chose from these to set a final paper, he said.

The SSC has agreed to the demands of the Women's Commission that the two controversial questions not be considered for evaluation.