Kathmandu, July 31: India will give a grant of $ 10 million to Nepal for the construction of a 200-bed emergency and trauma centre here. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to this effect was signed yesterday by Nepalese finance secretary Bhanu Prasad Acharya and Indian ambassador to Nepal Shyam Saran, Indian embassy sources said.

"The MoU is expected to further strengthen the existing friendly ties between Nepal and India and their people," Saran said. The centre at the 124-year-old Bir Hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal's oldest state-run hospital, is expected to be completed in two years. The proposed eight-storey building will include five operation theatres.

Bureau Report