NAGPUR: On the 8th floor of Deenanath Hospital in Pune, in a VIP room, an innocuous phone ring broke through the loneliness and gloom that usually permeates such places. The call on Tuesday afternoon was from the office of Sahitya Akademi in New Delhi, asking the patient if he was willing to accept the Sahitya Akademi Award this year. It took a while for the news to sink in. But poet Grace says that he gave his acceptance instantly.

Manik Godghate, popularly known as Kavi Grace, has got this national honour for his collection of essays titled 'Varyane Halte Raan.'

Jairam Ramesh mulls two new Tiger reserves near Nagpur

Environment Minister promises all possible help to protect flora and fauna of Vidarbha.

REKINDLING hope among nature lovers, Union Ministry for Environment and Forest (MoEF) is mulling a proposal of sanctioning two new tiger reserves Bor Tiger Sanctuary and Nagzira Navegaon Tiger Sanctuary - in Maharashtra. There are already three tiger reserves - Melghat, Tadoba Andhari and Pench ( Vidarbha ) and one in Sahayadri ( Western Maharashtra ).

MoEF Minister Jairam Ramesh, while announcing this new development before mediapersons at Nagpur, said that he had already written a latter to Chief Minister Ashok Chavan for declaring new tiger sanctuaries in Bor and Nagzira-Navegaon.