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Govt. defends acquisition of 4 Mi-17s through credit line

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The government says additional Mi-17 transport helicopters are required to meet domestic requirements as well as the country’s commitment to the UN.

Authoritative sources said that the SLAF intended to acquire four more Mi-17s through a credit line offered by Russia.

Sources said so when The Island sought government response to Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa’s accusations that helicopters were being ordered at a time when the country is struggling to cope up with the growing threat posed by the Covid-19 epidemic.

Sri Lanka acquired Mi-17s in 1993. Sources said that out of 21 Mi-17 available with the SLAF only 10 were operational. They said that instead of overhauling the grounded aging Mi-17s, the SLAF felt the need to acquire four choppers to meet the existing requirements, especially for overseas commitments with the UN.

Of the 10 available Mi-17s, some have been deployed in South Sudan and Central African Republic under the UN command and the four choppers, too, were to be deployed on overseas UN missions.

The SLAF deployed units overseas under the UN command in 2014.

Sources said that the payments for the new helicopters could be made through funds received for their overseas deployment. At the moment of the ten available Mi-17s, six were deployed in South Sudan and Central African Republic.(SF)



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Digital Promotion Agency to be established – President

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President Ranil Wickremesinghe during a meeting with Governing and Opposition Members of Parliament held at the Parliament Complex, announced plans to establish a Digital Promotion Agency aimed at developing computer applications for the collection and monitoring of data from various government entities in Sri Lanka.

Previously, private companies had been responsible for creating such applications for government organizations and the President emphasized the need for a dedicated agency to carry out this task in the future.

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President holds crucial meeting with SLRCS and IFRC officials

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President Ranil Wickremesinghe convened a meeting today (7) with a delegation composed of members from the  Sri Lanka Red Cross Society (SLRCS) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).

The delegation comprised of Jagath Abeysinghe, President of SLRCS, Dr. Mahesh Gunasekara, Director General of SLRCS,  Alexander Matheou, IFRC Regional Director for Asia Pacific, and Udaya Regmi, IFRC Head of Country Cluster Delegation for South Asia.

The primary objective of the meeting was to provide President Wickremesinghe with a comprehensive update regarding the ongoing South Asia National Societies Leadership meeting held in Colombo on June 6th and 7th

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Enter correct age of children when setting up email accounts for them- Police Crimes Division

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Officials of the Police Crime Division told the Sectoral Oversight Committee on Reconciliation and National Unity that email accounts for school children should not be set up giving parents details but by entering the correct age of the children.

The officials pointed out that as online education has become a necessity it was necessary to provide the children with mobile phones (Smart Phone active) to access computer devices. However, they pointed out that by providing the parents’ data for this purpose when giving smart phones and setting up email accounts, the children will have the opportunity to access any website. But, if the information including the correct age of the children are provided, the internet system itself will control the ability and access of the children to view inappropriate videos and websites.

The Sectoral Oversight Committee on Reconciliation and National Unity met under the Chairmanship of Member of Parliament Dilan Perera in order to discuss the program to be carried out in collaboration with the National Reconciliation and Children and Women Bureau .

 

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