A 24-year-old Indian national suspected of killing his wife inside a Dunkin' Donuts earlier this month has been declared "wanted" by the FBI here which is offering a $20,000 reward for information leading up to his capture.

Superstar Rajinikanth, yoga teacher Ramdev, Bharatiya Janata Party leader and veteran actor Shatrughan Sinha were among the 1,793 prominent persons whose names were recommended for this year's Padma awards but ignored.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat today said the state government has sent 25 buses and a team of officials to help in relief operations in earthquake-hit Nepal. 

South Korean president Park Geun-Hye has accepted the resignation of her prime minister Lee Wan-Koo over a widening bribery scandal that has tainted senior members of her faltering administration.

Nearly a million children have been severely affected by a severe earthquake in Nepal that has killed more than 4,000 people, a spokesman for the United Nations Children's Fund said, as rescue and aid workers struggle to cope. With hundreds of thousands of Nepalis sleeping out in tents or in the open, UNICEF said its relief workers were watching for waterborne and infectious diseases.

Social networking giant Facebook said it will match the donations made by people to International Medical Corps for victims of Nepal earthquake, up to $2 million. "Donate to International Medical Corps today and Facebook will match your donation. Facebook will match your donation up to $2 million to contribute to local relief organisations," Facebook said in a statement.

Although the science of earthquake forecasting is quite advanced, it is nowhere near the stage of reaching a deterministic prediction. For this to happen, seismologists need to find something that reliably happens in a small window of space and time before the earthquake strikes in other words a diagnostic precursor.

Tremors shook parts of Kathmandu, three days after a severe earthquake caused devastation, killing more than 4,000 people and sending thousands of residents rushing out of their homes fearing for their safety. Key highways have been blocked by landslides, and many villages and communities are without water and electricity, surviving on salvaged food and with no outside help.

Climber Nick Cienski has not given up on his world record bid to scale six 8,000-metre peaks this calendar year, despite narrowly escaping a huge avalanche on Mount Everest set off by an earthquake that killed thousands of people in Nepal. The avalanche unleashed by the 7.9 magnitude quake blew tents, people and gear hundreds of feet, only just missing his team. 

Baba Ramdev has said that he will adopt orphans who have lost their parents and family members in the earthquake in Nepal. Baba Ramdev, who himself survived the disaster by a few minutes at a yoga camp, called upon his volunteers to donate blood to save the lives of people injured in the quake. Baba Ramdev said he would remain in Nepal till the situation is brought under control. He has set up a relief camp in Kathmandu to provide food and shelter to the victims.

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach expressed surprise at media reports that India may bid for 2024 Olympics saying that it's too early for India to host Olympics. "A year after returning from Olympic suspension, the IOA still needs to find its feet. We are surprised with the speculation about the Olympic bid. It's too quick now for India to host the Olympics in 2024," Bach said.

Much like India's evacuation ops from Yemen, requests from other countries seeking help to evacuate its nationals from Nepal has come in. Spain has asked India to help with evacuating its people.

Foreign secretary S Jaishankar says, "We have requests from many countries to bring back their nationals. Thirty foreign nationals brought back. Roughly 5400 Indians have been rescued from Nepal."

India evacuated 1000 people stranded in Yemen from 41 countries. 

Update from the external affairs ministry on the Nepal quake.

Tents, blankets, milk and milk products, medicines, noodles and food packets are what India has been sending to Nepal, says foreign secretary S Jaishankar.

"130 people have been brought back today. We hope to bring back a total of 1600 Indians. We have a team from Indian Oil Corp helping with the fuel situation there.

"One important development today is that the power gird team which will help in restoration of power in Kathmandu has reached.

"Three additional NDRF teams going in today. Another big change today from yesterday is more movement on the ground," says Jaishankar.

"India has also sent 100 buses to Nepal to evacuate people by road. Our expectation is that the buses that have gone will reach Kathmandu and Pokhara by the end of the day.

"We have had 21 trucks which were sent by the UP Govt with food, water and medicines as well as a medical team of 47 people."

PM Modi has donated one month's salary to the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund, for assistance to those affected by the recent earthquake.

Before you swoon in admiration, all MPs have pledged to donate a month's salary for the quake-affected in Nepal and India.

Model and former Bigg Boss contestant Pooja Mishra evacuated from earthquake hit Nepal arrives at IGI airport T3 in New Delhi on Sunday. 

Tremors felt again in parts of Bihar and West Bengal. Patna and Siliguri affected, but no reports of damage. The quake measured 5.1 on the Richter Scale. The epicentre of quake is believed to be on the Indo-Nepal border. This is the 57th tremor since Saturday's devastating earthquake in Nepal.

The death toll in India from Saturday's monster earthquake on Monday shot up to 72 even as New Delhi ramped up relief and rescue efforts in Nepal to provide succor to the nation devastated by the temblor.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh informed the Lok Sabha that the toll in the country has climbed up to 72 with 56 deaths reported in Bihar, 12 in UP, three in West Bengal and one in Rajasthan.

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar says death toll in the state has risen to 57, while 200 have been injured in the earthquake.

MoD spokesperson Sitanshu Kar tweets: 1 IL-76 of IAF brings back 213 persons frm KTM to Palam. Landed at 5.15 PM, taking the total number of evacuees to 2246. Two more ALH Dhruv and 2 Cheetahs are being inducted to Pokhara to provide greater momentum to rescue and relief operations.

Rescue teams on Monday deployed specially trained dogs from India, France and Spain for locating victims buried under tonnes of debris following the devastating earthquake in Nepal. A team of 15 personnel and six dogs were brought in Nepal from France and Spain to assist in the rescue operations. Read

In Machha Pokhari, Kathmandu, NDRF men rescue a Nepali woman from deep within the rubble of a collapsed building. She was alive but injured. In the despair and desperation that has gripped Nepal, the rescue was met with cheers and clapping.  Overwhelmed authorities are trying to cope with a shortage of drinking water, food and electricity, as well as the threat of disease, as the government appealed for international help. The Nepal home ministry has put the death toll at 3726.

TMC MP Derek O'Brien who is the party's spokesperson in the Rajya Sabha has taken a sneak peek into the future and believes that the BJP will score a zero in the West Bengal civic polls. That was his riposte to BJP MP Varun Gandhi who was the central observer of BJP for West Bengal. O'Brien told Gandhi that all he had to do was wait and watch for the results to be declared (Wednesday) to see how the BJP would be washed out.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Anurag Thakur has written a letter (see image) to ICC President N Srinivasan, asking him to share the list of "unverified suspected bookies" with him and other BCCI officials so that they can keep away from them.

Thakur also accepted knowing Karan Gilhotra but denied having any knowledge of Gilhotra's activities as a suspected bookie. Thakur also accused former BCCI President of using International Cricket Council to send official complaint to the BCCI.

Just in: Radio Iran claims Islamic State (IS) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has died. Al Baghdadi had reportedly sustained severe injuries following an attack carried out by air strikes and has apparently succumbed to it.

And another MP who was ignored in Parliament today....

Kerala CPM MPs ignored CPI-M general secretary Sitaram Yechuri today since many of these MPs are loyal to the anti-Achuthanandan group while Yechury is an Achudanandan loyalist.

We interrupt news from the Nepal tragedy, to tell you what's been happening in Parliament.

The Punjab Congress Committee chief Pratap Singh Bajwa did the unthinkable inside Parliament House today. He ignored Congress prez Sonia Gandhi. The reason? Bajwa is close to Rahul, but has kept Sonia at arm's length because she encourages Captain Amrinder Singh who is his arch rival.  

In other news, a Delhi court dismisses the bail plea of journalist Shantanu Saikia, arrested in the Petroleum Ministry documents leak case. Delhi Police crime branch arrested the former journalist and another energy consultant Prayas Jain on February 20.

Saikia runs an energy portal named indianpetro.com. Saikia and Jain have been accused of buying the leaked documents, analysing them and selling them off to business houses, police say.

Jonty Rhodes seems to have made a life-long connection with India after he named his newborn daughter 'India Jeanne Rhodes'.

And the other person, who was named India, is the last viceroy's granddaughter -- India Hicks.

Chaos prevailed at Nepal's only international airport on Monday with hundreds waiting to be evacuated from the earthquake-ravaged country as India and other nations scurried to bring back their panic-stricken citizens. Read the report on Rediff.com.

The ministry of defence says that the two C-17 aircraft carrying communication equipment and Water, 1 C-130J and 1 IL-76 (NDRF teams) return to Palam (New Delhi) due to 'congestion' at Kathmandu airport. India has deployed 13 military aircraft to Nepal as part of Operation Maitri.

The MoD tweets this picture of a "Search and rescue" op being carried out by the NDRF in Kathmandu.The Indian government has advised Bihar and Uttar Pradesh state governments to set up relief camps along the border for people coming by road. Reuters reports that two days of powerful aftershocks and fearing shortages of food and water, many Nepalese are fleeing the country by road to India. Roads leading out of Kathmandu were jammed with people.

At least 150 Indians who reached the Indian border at Raxaul from Nepal this morning were sent to their homes by different trains and 10 buses were dispatched to Pokhara in the neighbouring country by Bihar government. 

Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav wrote to the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister seeking the withdrawal of PAN cards by farmers who spend cash above Rs 1 lakh.

Mulayam feels that this practice of seeking income details from small and medium farmers will open them up to harassment by income tax authorities.

The PMO and the North Block (which houses the finance ministry) interpret this as a ruse by the Samajwadi Party leader is to block the efforts of the BJP government weed out black money.

Caught on camera: The avalanche in the immediate aftermath of the Nepal quake. Watch.

And yes, Jost Kobusch, the mountaineer who filmed the video, survived the avalanche.

@rahulkanwal tweets: Seeing condition of villagers Indian Air Force crew air dropped their own rations for those stranded. #Selfless #Dedicated #Respect.

@vikramchandra An army man told me: generations of Nepalis have given their lives for the Indian army. It's time to honour that debt of blood.

Update from Sandeep Rathore (IG, NDRF) on the Nepal quake rescue and relief efforts: "We are sending six teams today, three from our battalion in West Bengal and three from Bhatinda. We have been able to locate 10 survivors so far and, roughly 46 bodies. If we find a dead body we are only going to hand it over to Nepalese authority, disposal of bodies is left for them to decide. Nepal is a separate country and has their own system."

Mass cremation in Bhaktapur underway as you read this. 

@DrSweta148 tweets: Golden temple will send 1,00,000 packets of
#meal per day to #Nepal everyday along with a few other # Respect.

Another important update from the govt of India: The MHA has decided to "give Gratis Visas to foreigners coming to India from Nepal," home minister Rajnath Singh announced in Parliament today.

Which means foreigners stranded in Nepal can take an Indian Airforce flight to India without paying a visa fee. The government has also decided to grant visas on priority to those who are to be evacuated from Nepal, said the home minister.

India responded immediately after a massive earthquake hit Nepal on Saturday, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said in Parliament today, commenting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi "knew of the incident before me and took swift action."

"Just five minutes before the earthquake, I was with the PM. He informed me about the earthquake. The quick response that should have been shown by me as home minister was shown by the PM," Singh said in a statement in the Lok Sabha on the disaster that has left at least 3617 dead.

"The government is in constant touch with the state governments and have assured them of all necessary help," Rajnath Singh said in Parliament today. 

Union minister Venkaiah Naidu today proposed that all MPs contribute a month's salary towards relief and rehab efforts in India and Nepal. "As a Parliamentary Minister I proposed that we should all contribute one month of our salary for rehabilitation program in Nepal and the affected states in India. All political parties unanimously agreed to this," Naidu said.

An inter-ministerial team comprising senior officials from ministries of home, defence, external affairs and NDMA today left for Nepal to coordinate rescue and relief operations in the quake-hit country.

Toll: 3,617 killed, 6,515 injured.

Meanwhile, seven pilgrims from Assam feared dead in Nepal. And news just coming in says Telugu film actor K Vijay dead in Nepal. The car he was travelling in overturned.

Vijay, 25, was in Nepal along with the unit of Telugu movie etakaram.com for shooting.

Music director Kishan said in Hyderabad that he received information Monday that Vijay died when they were returning from shooting. The car in which they were travelling overturned.

Baby food on its way to Nepal. 

Five people including a policeman and a woman were injured in clashes during an Army recruitment rally in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi district today.

Chaos broke out during the Territorial Army recruitment rally at Subsidiary Training Centre (STC) in Talwara belt of Reasi district as aspirants rushed towards the entrance in large numbers while those rejected started pushing each other on the way out, police said.

Police resorted to mild cane charge as the crowd clashed with them in which five persons including a cop and a woman suffered minor injuries, they said, adding that the situation was brought under control and the screening of aspirants is underway.

When empathy is missing, smart clothes distance you from the general public. When real change in voters' lives is not evident, changes in the PM's wardrobe stand out rather glaringly . It's the persona that brings the clothes into focus. Modi's not known for a soft touch. His is a shoot-from-the-hip, strongman image.

Sagarika Ghose's compelling piece for the Times of India. Read

@amitabhmattoo tweets: Holistic healer, motivational speaker, a grt human being Renu Fotedar is no more. An avalanche at Everest base camp washed her tent away RIP. 

Official figures from the Government of India:

Death toll in the Nepal earthquake (not counting India): 3615
Number of Indians rescued: 2500

Home minister Rajnath Singh making a statement in Parliament on the Nepal quake.

Immediate steps were taken by the GoI under the leadership of PM Modi after the Nepal earthquake. "PM informed me about the earthquake and the quick response that should have been shown by me as home minister, was shown by the PM. "Sankat ki ghadi mai Bharat ki sarkar Bharat-vaasiyon ke saath bhi khadi hai, aur Nepal-vaasiyon ke saath bhi. (In times of disaster and distress, the government of India will stand by both Indians and Nepalese)," Singh says.

"Over 2500 Indians evacuated from Nepal. Tonnes of relief material sent to Nepal. A total of Rs 6 lakh has been pledged to families of Indians who have died in the earthquake," Rajnath said.

Centuries-old Nepalese history has been completely demolished by one stroke of nature's fury. At least four out of the seven Unesco World Heritage sites in the Kathmandu valley -- three of them ancient city squares -- have been severely damaged by the 7.9 magnitude quake that rocked Nepal on Saturday. Take a look.

Amid death, destruction and despair that the Nepal earthquake has wrought in the Himalayan kingdom and India, a moment of levity...

When former foreign minister Salman Khurshid pranced around with the German ambassador's wife! Take a look

PM Narendra Modi tweets his thanks to India and Indians.

"To all those saying #ThankYouPM -- appreciate the sentiment -- real thanks should be to our great culture, which teaches us 'Seva Parmo Dharma'.

"If we want to thank anyone, it should be the 125 crore people of India who have made Nepal's pain their own & extended all help.

"We must thank our armed forces, NDRF teams, doctors and all those volunteers who are overcoming every obstacle to restore normalcy in Nepal.

"We owe a big thanks to the enthusiastic youngsters who are mobilising contributions for relief work be it cash, resources & medicines etc.

"The immense co-operation between Centre & the States is a major asset in times like these. A big thanks to all State Governments.

"And above all, we salute the resilience of our sisters & brothers in Nepal & parts of India, for their courage in the face of disaster."

The Indian Army has named the aid to Nepal 'Operation Maitri' or friendship, after India started extending help to the neighbouring country that was hit by a massive earthquake just before noon on Saturday, leaving a trail of death and destruction.

In addition to the specialist teams of its National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), India has already moved large amounts of relief material to the Himalayan kingdom, besides its Air Force moving essential supplies to Nepal and flying back over 1935 of its stranded citizens from its capital Kathmandu since late Saturday.

India sends another batch of relief equipment to Nepal. India has already dispatched 10 NDRF teams to the quake-hit country. At least 1900 Indians have been rescued so far. Nepal police tell the media that they lack rescue equipment, which means they have been digging with bare hands. They say they don't even have shovels. Narrow lanes in Bhaktapur have also made it difficult for JCB cranes to gain access to the collapsed houses.

Nepalis are known for their toughness. But the country they have been navigating for years is one that tests resolve. Read the New York Times report.

More than a 100 people from Kerala, including tourists, are trapped in quake-hit Nepal, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said today. In a Facebook post, he said state Minister K C Joseph has gone to Delhi to initiate steps to get the stranded persons back to Kerala.

"Cabinet Minister K C Joseph is in Delhi to coordinate the efforts of getting the affected persons back to Kerala," Chandy said.

The Chief Minister also congratulated the Indian Army for their rescue effort. "Indian Army's rescue mission in Nepal is commendable. I wish them all the best for their efforts in Nepal," he said.

Vikas Swarup @MEAIndia  tweets: #IndiaWithNepal 22 tonnes of food packets, 120 large oxygen cylinders moved yesterday. More en route this morning.

Sitanshu Kar @SpokespersonMoDIndia tweets that India today sent telecommunication equipment to improve helicopter operations in Nepal.

Vikas Swarup @MEAIndia tweets that a team of 34 Indian doctors were sent to Nepal along with NDRF for relief and rescue. This morning, a RO Plant, oxygen regenerators, medicines, 1000 blankets, 100 tents, 3 teams of NDRF, field hospital equipment, Air Force Communication Centre vehicles were also sent.  

Swarup took over from Syed Akbaruddin.

Picture tweeted by the MEA of the medical equipment waiting to be flown to Kathmandu

NDTV's Vishnu Som reports that no flights are landing at the Kathmandu airport. Air India flight to Kathmandu has been delayed by two hours, a Jet Airways flight has been diverted.

In Delhi, the National crisis management committee (NCMC) meeting will take place at the Cabinet Secretariat at 11 am. Relief efforts in Nepal are intensifying after more than 3200 people were killed in the worst earthquake there in more than 80 years. Rescue missions and aid material have started arriving in the country, but the government has appealed for body bags, tents and water. Survivors have been sleeping outdoors braving the rain all through yesterday. Thankfully, the sun is up and shining on day 3. Markets are shut and very few shops are functional. There are long queues for provisions at whatever stores are open and even longer lines at petrol pumps.

Pic: People queue up to get drinking water from a tanker at an open ground. Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters

Indian Army chief General Dalbir Singh says the army will do whatever is needed in Nepal.  The government has said that at least 1900 people have been rescued so far.  The death toll in Nepal stands at 3200.