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Nepal closes schools as deaths from heavy rains hit 129

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By Gopal Sharma

KATHMANDU (Reuters) -Nepal has shut schools for three days after landslides and floods triggered by two days of heavy rain across the Himalayan nation killed 129 people, with 62 missing, officials said on Sunday.

The floods brought traffic and normal activity to a standstill in the Kathmandu valley, where 37 deaths were recorded in a region home to 4 million people and the capital.

Authorities said students and their parents faced difficulties as university and school buildings damaged by the rains needed repair.

“We have urged the concerned authorities to close schools in the affected areas for three days,” Lakshmi Bhattarai, a spokesperson for the education ministry, told Reuters.

Some parts of the capital reported rain of up to 322.2 mm (12.7 inches), pushing the level of its main Bagmati river up 2.2 m (7 ft) past the danger mark, experts said.

But there were some signs of respite on Sunday morning, with the rains easing in many places, said Govinda Jha, a weather forecaster in the capital.

“There may be some isolated showers, but heavy rains are unlikely,” he said.

Television images showed police rescuers in knee-high rubber boots using picks and shovels to clear away mud and retrieve 16 bodies of passengers from two buses swept away by a massive landslide at a site on the key route into Kathmandu.

Weather officials in the capital blamed the rainstorms on a low-pressure system in the Bay of Bengal extending over parts of neighbouring India close to Nepal.

Haphazard development amplifies climate change risks in Nepal, say climate scientists at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD).

“I’ve never before seen flooding on this scale in Kathmandu,” said Arun Bhakta Shrestha, an environmental risk official at the centre.

In a statement, it urged the government and city planners to “urgently” step up investment in, and plans for, infrastructure, such as underground stormwater and sewage systems, both of the “grey”, or engineered kind, and “green”, or nature-based type.

The impact of the rains was aggravated by poor drainage due to unplanned settlement and urbanisation efforts, construction on floodplains, lack of areas for water retention, and encroachment on the Bagmati river, it added.

The level in the Koshi river in Nepal’s southeast has started to fall, however, said Ram Chandra Tiwari, the region’s top bureaucrat.

The river, which brings deadly floods to India’s eastern state of Bihar nearly every year, had been running above the danger mark at a level nearly three times normal, he said.

(Reporting by Gopal Sharma; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

Education

Buhari: Maiduguri varsity should remain UNIMAID – Shehu Sani rejects renaming

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Former federal lawmaker from Kaduna State, Senator Shehu Sani, has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s decision to rename the University of Maiduguri.

Ekwutosblog reports that the President, on Thursday, renamed the university as Muhammadu Buhari University, in honour of the late former president.

The decision, announced during a session of tributes by the Federal Executive Council, FEC, to Buhari, has sparked mixed reactions.

 

Both current and former students have condemned the move, describing the renaming as unnecessary.

In his response, Shehu Sani, in a post on his official Facebook page, stated that the university should remain known as UNIMAID.

He wrote, “Many former and present students of University of Maiduguri are not happy about the renaming of their prestigious university, but they are shy or afraid of rejecting or condemning it because of the person whose name was used.

“It’s not that difficult to say that UNIMAID should remain UNIMAID and nothing else. So far all our airports and train stations have been renamed.”

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Education

Kwara university students escape death in Ilorin bus fire

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Students of the Kwara State University, Malete, escaped death in an 18-seater bus in Ilorin on Wednesday.

The incident occurred at about 07:54hours, when the bus with registration number, XUF134ZD, went up in flames and was completely razed down.

The students were said to have been on their way to the main campus of the institution from Bovas filling station along Akerebiata axis on Ilorin-Sobi road.

According to the spokesman of the state fire service, Hassan Adekunle, “the Kwara State Fire Service responded swiftly to a distress call regarding a vehicle fire involving an 18-seater bus with registration number XUF 134 ZD along Shao Road, near Sobi Barracks.

“The fire crew responded swiftly and successfully extinguished the fire. Regrettably, the vehicle was completely consumed by the flames, with all parts severely damaged.

“Preliminary investigations revealed that the fire originated from a spark in the engine compartment, which rapidly escalated and engulfed the entire vehicle.

Director of the state fire service, Prince Falade John Olumuyiwa, extended his heartfelt sympathy to the bus owner and used the opportunity to advise all road users to carry out routine vehicle checks before embarking on any journey, as a precautionary measure against such incidents.

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Education

I’m not interested in legacy, I want to be remembered as fierce lover – Chimamanda

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Award-winning Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has revealed what she wants her legacy to be.

The renowned novelist said she wants to be remembered as a person who loved fiercely.

She, however, noted that she is not particularly interested in legacy because when she is gone, she wouldn’t know what would be happening in the world she left behind.

According to her, men are more concerned about legacy than women.

“I think it’s actually men who spend their time thinking about legacy. I don’t. I’m thinking about the next book I want to write,” she said in an interview with DW News.

“I want my legacy to be a person who loved fiercely. That’s all I want my legacy to be. And by the way, when we die, we don’t know what happened, so why should I care what my legacy is? I don’t know where I would be. I might not know…

“But more personally, I want to be remembered as a person who loved the people she loved and the places she loved very fiercely.”

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