Lata Mangeshkar conferred highest French honour

The 'Nightingale of India', Lata Mangeshkar has been conferred France's highest civilian award, the Insignia of 'Officier de la Legion d'Honneur' (Officer of the Legion of Honour).The award which has earlier been conferred on Oscar winning Indian director Satyajit Ray as well as megastar Amitabh Bachchan will be bestowed on the 80-year-old singer during an official ceremony in Mumbai hosted by Jerome Bonnafont, Ambassador of France to India, on December 2.Other famous personalities who have been awarded this honour include Steven Spielberg and actor Gerard Depardieu. The legendary singer who first broke onto the music scene with 'Aayega Aanewaala' in Mahal (1949), is considered the greatest playback singer in Indian cinema having sung more than 30,000 songs in a career spanning six decades.