Renowned litterateur and Padma Shri awardee Usha Kiran Khan passed away at a private hospital after a brief illness here on Sunday. She was 78.

• Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar expressed his condolences over Khan’s demise, praising her as a prolific writer who contributed significantly to Hindi and Maithili literature.
• Khan’s literary contributions earned her widespread recognition, including prestigious honours such as the Padma Shri in 2015, the Sahitya Akademi Award, the Mahadevi Verma Award, the Dinakar National Award, and the Bharat-Bharati, among others.
• Born at Laheriasarai in Darbhanga district in October 1945, her notable works include her Maithili novel ‘Bhamati: Ek Avismaraniya Premkatha’, for which she received the Sahitya Akademi Award, and her Hindi novel ‘Sirjanhaar’, which earned her the Kusumanjali Sahitya Samman from the Indian Council for Cultural Relations in 2012.