What is the name of Ashish's mother? Statements: Prakash is Ashish's father.…

Concept: In data-sufficiency questions, a statement (or combination of statements) is sufficient only if its stated facts alone — together with standard default assumptions such as one father and one mother per family — pin down exactly one value for whatever the question asks.

Application:

1. Statement 1 alone: Prakash is Ashish's father. This identifies the father only; it gives no information about the mother's name, so it cannot answer the question by itself.

2. Statement 2 alone: Smriti is Prakash's wife. Without knowing Prakash's relationship to Ashish, this fact never connects Smriti to Ashish at all, so it cannot answer the question by itself.

3. Both statements together: Statement 1 gives Prakash = Ashish's father, and Statement 2 gives Smriti = Prakash's wife. Since a father's wife is the child's mother, combining the two facts fixes Smriti as Ashish's mother.

Cross-check: Drop either statement and the answer collapses — without Statement 1, Smriti has no stated link to Ashish at all; without Statement 2, there is no name available for the mother. Since removing either statement breaks the determination, the two statements are required together, confirming that combined sufficiency is the correct conclusion.