Renowned tabla maestro and Padma Bhushan awardee Zakir Hussain was given an honorary Doctor of Law (LLD) degree for his exceptional contribution in the field of music, by the Bombay University at a special convocation organised in Bombay on 12th May. During the event, higher education minister Uday Samant announced plans of opening the proposed music academy in the name of late Lata Mangeshkar on her forthcoming birth anniversary. He added that the likes of Zakir Hussain, Shankar Mahadevan and Usha Mangeshkar had come forward to frame the syllabus for the academy.