LEAD

At least 128 people were killed in a magnitude 6.4 earthquake that struck a remote region of Nepal late Friday. According to Nepal authorities, over 140 people have been injured and the death count is expected to rise. 

Locals were filmed digging through rubble in the dark of night, searching for survivors in the wreckage of collapsed homes and buildings.

Several houses collapsed or sustained damage, as survivors huddled outside in fear, surrounded by the wail of emergency sirens. The earthquake's tremors even reached New Delhi, over 500 kilometres away.

Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra and Opposition MPs walked out of the parliamentary ethics committee meeting on the cash-for-query matter, questioning the way the meeting was conducted. The committee, however, shot back saying she did not cooperate and left in order to avoid answering more questions.

The ethics committee chairperson Vinod Sonkar said Moitra did not cooperate during her cross-examination and walked out in order to avoid facing questions. "Mahua Moitra did not cooperate with the committee and the investigation. The Opposition members also made allegations in anger and suddenly walked out of the meeting to avoid answering more questions," Mr Sonkar said. "Objectionable words were used against the panel's functioning and me."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina jointly in virtual mode on Wednesday inaugurated three development projects - Akhaura-Agartala Cross-Border Rail Link, Khulna-Mongla Port Rail Line, and Unit II of Maitree Super Thermal Power Plant in Rampal, which are assisted by Indian government.

A policeman of Jammu and Kashmir Police was killed by terrorists in Baramulla on Tuesday. Head constable Ghulam Mohammad Dar was fired upon by terrorists outside his home at Kralpora in the Pattan area of Baramulla. He later succumbed to his injuries while undergoing treatment at the Sub-District Hospital in Tangmarg.

The entire area has been cordoned off, and a large-scale search operation is underway to track down the perpetrators, police said.

An analysis of the Kalamassery blast site in Ernakulam district of Kerala by forensic experts has revealed that Dominic Martin, the self-confessed operative, used low-grade explosive from firecrackers and around 7-8 litres of petrol to make the crude bomb, people familiar with the matter said on Monday.

A radio frequency system, in this case a mobile phone, was used to detonate the bomb, which means Martin had to be within 400-500 metres of it, they said, declining to be named. The findings have been shared with investigators of Kerala Police and National Investigation Agency (NIA).