UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — India must focus on AI and its environmental impact

Q1. How many foundational pillars constitute the IndiaAI Mission approved by the Union Cabinet?

  • A. Five
  • B. Six
  • C. Seven
  • D. Nine

Q2. The IndiaAI Mission is operationalised through 'IndiaAI', an independent business division placed under which one of the following Union Ministries?

  • A. Ministry of Science and Technology
  • B. NITI Aayog
  • C. Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology
  • D. Ministry of Communications

Q3. In the context of the environmental footprint of AI and data centres, the term 'Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE)' refers to:

  • A. The ratio of freshwater withdrawn to freshwater consumptively used by a data centre, expressed as a percentage
  • B. The annual water consumption of a data centre (in litres) divided by the energy consumed by its IT equipment (in kWh)
  • C. The share of a data centre's total water demand that is met by recycled or reclaimed sources
  • D. The number of litres of water required to manufacture one GPU over its full life cycle

Q4. The 'Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE)' metric used to benchmark sustainability of data centres was developed under the auspices of which one of the following bodies?

  • A. International Energy Agency (IEA)
  • B. The Green Grid consortium
  • C. United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
  • D. International Organization for Standardization (ISO)