Veteran singer Asha Bhosle,Bengali superstar Prosenjit Chatterjee and Justice(retd) Shyamal Kumar Sen were conferred the 'Banga Bibhushan', the highest civilian award of West Bengal, by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee here today.Others who were also conferred the award were academician Girija Shankar Roy, linguist Suhrid Kumar Bhowmick, litterateur Samaresh Majumder, former footballers Subratra Bhattacharya and Md Habib at a ceremony here.Banerjee announced at the programme that a senior official will personally meet legendary Kathak exponent Pandit Birju Maharaj and felicitate him with 'Banga Bibhushan' award.She also conferred the 'Banga Bhushan' awards to singers Sriradha Bandyopadhyay, Arundhati Home Chowdhury and voice-artist Partha Ghosh."We must dream and work towards realising it. Our aim is to make Bengal the best in the world. Bengal is the cultural capital of the world, it merit is famous globally. Bengal shows the way to the world in every sphere," Banerjee told the gathering.After coming to power in the state in 2011, Banerjee had instituted the 'Banga Bibhushan' and 'Banga Bhushan' awards in recognition of the services of eminent personalities in their respective fields.
