Nepal earthquake: Rescue, relief work as they happened on Tuesday

• Our heart goes with victims of earthquake-hit Nepal. State is disbursing 5 Crore to victims and one day salary from our MLAs as solidarity: Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh.
• Total number of Helicopter sorties today - 35 (by 7 PM), cumulative - 120. IAF has so far evacuated 2865 persons frm Nepal 2 India by 36 sorties and airlifting 238.5 tons of relief & equipment 2 Nepal, says spokesperson MOD.

• Approximately 4000 Indians are being brought in 80 buses from Nepal. The bus route is probably the best way to return to India now, as least affected by weather. Buses are not going empty; they go with relief material, returning with people. Our engineering teams too are helping in Nepal quake relief to keep the roads operational: Foreign Secretary.
• As a result of helicopter sorties, better appreciation of severely affected areas now. Intend to use both Kathmandu and Pokhra as bases from where helicopters can fly to badly affected areas. Have evacuated 741 Nepalis, cumulative relief material of 24 tonnes to the interior affected areas. 19 mountaineers have been evacuated from Lukala. 3 field hospitals with 45 beds operational; surgeries have started. 342 Indians evacuated by IAF, bringing cumulative number to 2,865: Defence Secretary.
• Full assistance assured to states, no assistance sought from them. 3 ministers would be visiting Bihar soon. As per inputs from DG, SSB, 251 foreign nationals have entered India through land route. 3 NDRF teams have reached Nepal today, 3 more teams reaching today, altogether 16 teams: Home Secretary.
• A few more rescue and relief flights plying today. Our Ambassador called on the Nepal PM and Army Chief today, both of them appreciated Indian assistance. 170 nationals from 15 countries evacuated by air so far. As per latest reports, remains of 6 tourists handed over, 7 more Indian fatalities: Foreign Secretary.
• NDRF, IAF, Indian Army and voluntary bodies are doing a commendable job in Nepal. Their efforts bringing some relief in tough times: Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi today reiterated India's commitment to do everything possible to help quake-hit Nepal and said that it was not alone at this moment of tragedy. Speaking at a joint press briefing with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, Modi said that India will certainly be there when the citizens of Nepal rebuild their lives and homes.
• A total of 98 large-scale aftershocks were recorded till 12 noon today, 72 hours after the massive earthquake with epicentre in Gorkha district shook the country on Saturday. The tremor measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale was felt with the epicentre at Barpak, Gorkha, at 11:56 am on Saturday morning. After that, two large scale tremors measuring over 6 on the Richter scale and 96 aftershocks from 4 to 6 Richter scale were recorded.
• Over 50,000 pregnant women affected in Nepal quake: UN.
• Death toll in Nepal earthquake crosses 5,000, as per reports.
• An AN-32 aircraft with two tons of food material lands at Pokhara airfield, says Defence Ministry.
• Nepal's ambassador to India Deep Upadhyay thanks Indian Air Force for bringing relief material.
• Over 8 million people have been affected by the massive Nepal quake, says UN
• India's organisation Vishva Hindu Parishad said it would offer extensive support to quake-ravaged Nepal by helping to rebuild residential houses, temples and shrines which have been flattened by the devastating temblor. The VHP will also bring orphaned children from the country to India and provide for their education and upbringing at its numerous educational institutions spread across the country.
• The US praises India's leadership role in helping earthquake-hit Nepal. "India has demonstrated its global leadership in recent weeks, first in Yemen and now in Nepal. We are grateful; we are impressed; we are inspired. And because our cooperation is expanding, India is using C-17s and C-130s on the front lines of its response," US Ambassador to India Richard Verma said.
• India presses six more teams of NDRF personnel into its relief and rescue operations in Nepal. With the induction of the new teams on the fourth day of the disaster, the total number of National Disaster Response Force teams in Nepal has gone up to 16 with 10 already engaged in rescue operations there for the last few days. Each NDRF team has about 45 personnel.​
• GIC Re, the largest re-insurer in Nepal, said the company is expecting to pay a whopping Rs 1,000-crore claim against the damages caused by earthquake. The company hinted that it may increase its reinsurance premium in Nepal in the future.
• The Indian Railways have added additional coaches in several trains for different destinations to accommodate the families of those hit by devastating earthquake in Nepal.
• A convoy comprising 5,000 blankets,500 tents, 50 tarpaulin and 800 plastic sheets left for Pokhra from COD Kanpur today.

• Four teams from Médecins Sans Frontières or Doctors Without Borders have reached Nepal to assess the most urgent medical needs following the earthquake.
• One Indian Army medical team which moved to Barpak in Nepal is now operational for medical assistance.
• Six persons have been evacuated by an Indian Army team from Barpak/Marpak to Kathmandu.
• Remaining members of the Engineering Task Force took off for Kathmandu today along with two SSL, one JCB, one water truck, one light vehicle, one load carrier and satellite phones.
• The National Disaster Response Force suspends relief operations in Kathmandu until rain subsides.
• Heavy rainfall in Nepal's capital Kathmandu, hampering rescue work of disaster teams.
• The US has announced fresh aid of USD 9 million for quake-hit Nepal. Talking to reporters, US Secretary of State John Kerry said his country has sent a disaster response team along with rescue dogs to search for survivors.
• The Indian Army establishes 45-bedded hospital at Lagankhel, Nepal to help those injured in the quake.
• India asks its citizens in Nepal not to panic in the wake of the devastating quake, saying an evacuation process is in place and the situation is improving. "There are a large number of Indians. We have an open border and visa-free access and easily walk in to each other's country. Our priority right now is to focus on the injured, elderly people, children and women," India's Ambassador to Nepal Ranjit Rae said.
• The death toll in Nepal`s earthquake could reach 10,000, Prime Minister Sushil Koirala told a news agency, admitting that it was challenging time for his country. "The government is doing all it can for rescue and relief on a war footing," Koirala said in an interview. "It is a challenge and a very difficult hour for Nepal."
• India's External Affairs Ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup tweets that his country sent more materials for rescue and relief efforts to Nepal today.

• Around 200 people have been rescued from the Mount Everest, Nepal`s Tourism Ministry said on Tuesday and added that 19 people are dead.
• India's Home Minister Rajnath Singh, on Twitter, said that the National Disaster Response Force has rescued 11 individuals, recovered 67 dead bodies and evacuated more than 1,000 people in Nepal.

• India hands over more relief material to Nepal's Home Secretary.

• Hundreds of Nepalis, angered and frustrated by the government`s slow response, were digging through rubble themselves today to find remains of their loved ones.
• Eighteen trucks with relief material sent by the Uttar Pradesh government reach Nepal's capital Kathmandu. Out of 18, 10 trucks are carrying food, seven have mineral water and one has medicines. A team of doctors has also reached Kathmandu, says a UP government official.
• Officials of the Nepalese Consulate in Kolkata have not been able to get in touch with their families back home since Saturday, when the massive earthquake jolted the Himalayan country and killed over 4,000 people. Nepal's Consul General in Kolkata Chandra Kumar Ghimire said communications lines to the Himalayan Country are in disarray due to the earthquake.
• India is all set to evacuate more of its citizens from Nepal. 

• India's Minister of State for External Affairs Gen (retd) VK Singh, who oversaw evacuation in Yemen successfully, tells a news agency that the Indian government is doing a lot. Being citizens of this country, we also have a responsibility to help people of Nepal, says Singh.

• Nepal's Ministry of Home Affairs says that among one dozen worst affected districts, capital Kathmandu and Sindhupalchowk top the list with the confirmed deaths of 1,039 and 1,176 people respectively. 
• At least 4,352 bodies have so far been recovered, a Nepalese police official said. A further 8,063 people have been injured in the quake.
• In the wake of reports that Nepalis are frustrated with inefficiency of the government, Nepal's Prime Minister Sushil Koirala admits that the rescue and relief operations have not been effective. He further urges the political parties to work together in this national crisis.
• India's Minister of State for External Affairs Gen (retd) VK Singh, who oversaw evacuation in Yemen successfully, tells a news agency that the Indian government is doing a lot. Being citizens of this country, we also have a responsibility to help people of Nepal, adds Singh.
• Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on microblogging website Twitter, says Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan is coordinating relief work from Raxaul (Bihar) to help affected people.

• Experts have analysed that the earthquake that devastated Nepal shifted the earth beneath Kathmandu by about three metres (10 feet) southward, but the height of Mount Everest likely stayed the same.​
• ​Defence Ministry spokesperson Sitanshu Kar tweeted that a C-17 Globemaster III with 207 passengers on board from Nepal's capital Kathmandu has landed at Palam airport.

• A company has​ made high resolution imagery of Nepal's affected areas to help disaster teams on the ground. Colorado​-based DigitalGlobe spokesman Turner Brinton said the company captured clear imagery of the area on Monday with its WorldView-3 satellite that was being used by volunteers to tag damaged buildings, roads and other areas. 
• The United Nations said that up to eight million people have had their lives disrupted after the deadly earthquake. It added there was an urgent need for relief materials ranging from tarpaulin sheets and clean water to soap and medicines.
• A further 7,953 people are now known to have been injured in the quake, said Home Ministry spokesman Laxmi Prasad Dhakal.
• The death toll from the massive earthquake that hit Nepal on Saturday has risen to 4,310, the Home Ministry confirmed on Tuesday. The quake triggered a huge avalanche on Mount Everest that killed at least 17 climbers, including foreigners, the worst single disaster on the world`s highest peak.
• Nepalese officials have acknowledged they were overwhelmed by the scale of the disaster.
• Defence Ministry spokesperson Sitanshu Kar​ shared pictures showing the Indian Air Force carrying out relief and rescue operation.
• Shock turned to anger in Nepal today, as some of the tens of thousands of people stricken by Saturday's devastating earthquake expressed frustration at what they said was their government`s slow response to the crisis.
• Hospitals are full to overflowing, while water, food and power are scarce, raising fears of waterborne diseases.
• For a third night, many people across the country slept in the open, their homes either flattened or threatened by tremors that spread more fear among a traumatised population. In Kathmandu, as elsewhere, thousands are sleeping on pavements, roads and in parks, many under makeshift tents.
• NDRF director general OP Singh said heavy equipment could not fit through many of the narrow streets of Kathmandu, Nepal`s capital.
• The head of neighbouring India`s National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), one of the first foreign organisations to arrive in Nepal to help in the search and rescue effort, said finding survivors and the bodies of the dead would take time.
• International aid has finally begun to arrive in the Himalayan nation of 28 million people.
• A series of aftershocks, severe damage from the 7.9 magnitude quake, creaking infrastructure and a lack of funds have slowed the disbursement of aid to those most in need.