Hundreds of people are facing a shortage of food, safe drinking water and sanitation in Kathmandu following the natural disaster, according to eyewitnesses.

A Nepalese private plane crashed and caught fire shortly after taking off from the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu on Wednesday, killing 18 people aboard, including a child, and seriously injuring the pilot -- the only survivor.

The leader of Nepal's largest communist party was appointed as prime minister on Sunday by President Ram Chandra Paudel to lead the coalition government with the Nepali Congress (NC), the largest party in Parliament, apart from other smaller parties.

India maintains Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura belong to it.

According to the National Earthquake Monitoring and Research Centre, the earthquake with an epicentre in Jajarkot district was recorded at 11.47 pm.

In a press statement, the foreign ministry here said 10 Nepali nationals lost their lives in the recent attack by Hamas in Israel.

The passengers aboard the helicopter are reported to be five Mexican nationals, whose identities have yet to be disclosed and pilot senior captain Chet B Gurung, the Himalayan Times newspaper reported

The main Opposition party Communist Party of Nepal-(Unified Marxist-Leninist) (CPN-UML) disrupted the National Assembly meeting on Wednesday, demanding the prime minister's resignation. The meeting has been postponed to 1 pm Thursday.

Kathmandu mayor Balendra Shah on Sunday said no Hindi film will be allowed to run in Kathmandu Metropolitan City until the dialogue "Janaki is a daughter of India" in Adipurush is removed not just in Nepal but also in India

Veteran mountaineer Kami Rita Sherpa scaled Mt Everest for a record 28th time on Tuesday, breaking his own record with the highest number of ascends on the world's highest peak, less than a week after setting it.

The 53-year-old record-holding mountain guide stood atop the 8,848.86 metres-high peak at 8:30 am on Wednesday, the department of tourism of Nepal said.

Anurag is undergoing treatment at a Kathmandu hospital and has shown signs of improvement, his brother Ashish Maloo said on Sunday.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal has suspended two employees of the air traffic controller department for "carelessness", according to CAAN spokesperson Jagannath Niroula.

With the support from eight political parties, 78-year-old Poudel's victory was certain. His rival Subas Chandra Nebmang had support of former prime minister KP Sharma-led CPN-UML.

The exit of CPN-UML may not immediately affect the Prachanda-led government, which is supported by the Nepali Congress which has 89 lawmakers in the House.

Nepalese authorities on Tuesday started handing over to family members the bodies of those killed in the January 14 crash of a Yeti Airlines passenger plane with 72 people on board.

The nine-member team is enquiring with the airlines' staff and concerned authorities in Pokhara to understand details of the ATR-72 aircraft crash.

As two more bodies were recovered from the accident site on Tuesday, the total number of confirmed dead has climbed to 71, Nepal Army spokesperson Narayan Siwal said.

The black box of the Yeti Airlines aircraft has been recovered from the accident site on Monday, as a search is on for the four persons still missing after the plane with 72 people, including five Indians, on board crashed into a river gorge while landing at Nepal's newly-opened airport in the resort city of Pokhara.

The Yeti Airlines aircraft took off from Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport at 10.33 am on Sunday and crashed on the bank of the Seti River between the old airport and the new airport in Pokhara, minutes before landing, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal.