Social media addiction harming IAF pilots, says Air Chief
Bengaluru, Sep 15 : Addiction to social media affects the Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots, as they are being deprived of adequate sleep for flying duty, said Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshall B.S. Dhanoa on Friday.
"Much dependence on social media is taking away interpersonal and communication skills of our pilots. Earlier, if a pilot had too many drinks, the bar man would know. If he did not notice, others would know and the affected pilot would be laid off flying for the day. We need a system that can tell us if a pilot has been sleep deprived," Dhanoa said at a conference here.
Inaugurating the 57th annual conference of the Indian Society of Aerospace Medicine here, Dhanoa told the Institute of Aerospace Medicine (IAM) to develop a method to ascertain if a pilot was deprived of mandatory sleep.
"Getting hooked to social media like Whatsapp, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for long hours in the night was making pilots sleep late and less than required for flying. The IAM should find a method to de-addict the pilots of social media," reiterated Dhanoa.
As flight briefings are held very early in the day (around 6:00 a.m.) when the ambient temperature is above 40 degree Celsius, the pilots have to sleep early overnight and rest enough to be fresh and alert for flying sorties.
"We need to have more filters and mechanisms developed to deal with the excessive usage of social media, leading to anxiety and health issues," added Dhanoa.
"I request doctors to find a quick solution for the problem," he noted.
On the role of IAF in selecting and training astronauts for the manned mission in 2021-22 under the human space programme, the Air Chief said the IAM would be involved in their selection of astronauts and their health.
"Aerospace medicine specialist is the best friend of the air crew in the field," added the Air Chief.
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RR beat RCB by six wickets in IPL
Guwahati (PTI): Blistering fifties by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Dhruv Jurel powered Rajasthan Royals to a six-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their IPL match here on Friday.
Sent in to bat, RCB rode on a fighting half-century by skipper Rajat Patidar (63) to post 201 for 8.
Virat Kohli (32), Romario Shepherd (22) and Venkatesh Iyer (29) also chipped in with useful contributions.
In reply, Sooryavanshi (78 off 26 balls) and Dhruv Jurel (81 not out off 43 balls) shared a 37-ball 108-run partnership for the second wicket to set the platform. Krunal Pandya (2/30) tried to bring them back with back-to-back wickets.
But Jurel, in the company of Ravindra Jadeja (24), completed the task with another 68-run stand, with two overs to spare.
For RR, Jofra Archer (2/33), Ravi Bishnoi (2/32) and Brijesh Sharma (2/37) took two wickets.
Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: 201 for 8 in 20 overs (Rajat Patidar 63; Jofra Archer 2/33, Ravi Bishnoi 2/32, Brijesh Sharma 2/37).
Rajasthan Royals: 202 for 4 in 18 overs (Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 78, Dhruv Jurel 80 not out; Krunal Pandya 2/30, Josh Hazlewood 2/44).
