Vinod Khanna, the original heartthrob of Hindi films, died Thursday morning.

He was battling
bladder cancer for years. The actor was 70.

Sources close to his family said that the funeral of the veteran actor will take place at 4.30pm
today at Mumbais Bangana crematorium. His friends and colleagues from the film industry,
political fraternity and celeb circuit have started reaching his home in Mumbai to pay their last
respects. Police also arrived at his house to make security arrangements as the actors body will
soon be brought home.

In April first week, his condition had considerably deteriorated due to dehydration. He remained
admitted at HN Reliance Hospital for close to a month. Hospital authorities claimed his
condition had become stable in between after doctors put him on drip although he had become
frail during hospitalisation. He was brought to the Girgaum based hospital in March end. A
picture that leaked from the hospital, showing a weak-looking actor left his fans shocked.

The hospital released this statement after the actors death, Veteran actor and Member of
Parliament Mr. Vinod Khanna, who was admitted to the Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital
breathed his last at 11.20 am due to advanced bladder carcinoma.

In his long Bollywood career, he worked in more than 100 films, and was an active politician,
and Member of Parliament from Gurdaspur, Punjab. Vinod is survived by his wife Kavita
Khanna, sons Rahul, Akshaye and Sakshi, and daughter Shraddha Khanna. Before marrying
Kavita, Vinod Khanna was married to Getanjali but they later got divorced.

Vinod was one of the most sought out films stars in the 1970s and 1980s. Initially he was offered
only negative and small roles, but in no time, he started bagging lead roles in many films. He had
made his film debut in 1968 with Mann Ka Meet, and later on he went on to becoming a star and
his performance in films like Mere Apne, Mera Gaon Mera Desh, Imtihaan, Inkaar, Amar Akbar
Anthony, Lahu ke Do Rang, Qurbani, Dayavaan and Jurm were truly appreciated.

NEW DELHI: The anti-corruption Lokpal should be set up without delay and the lack of a
Leader of Opposition should not hold up the process anymore, the Supreme Court told the
government today.

This means, the government can select an ombudsman without taking the Congress, the main
opposition group, on board. "Set up a Lokpal without the involvement of a Leader of Opposition.
There is no reason to delay the appointment of a Lokpal due to the non-availability of a Leader
of Opposition," the court said, acting on a petition that says the process has been delayed for
three years.

The law to set up a Lokpal was passed in parliament in 2013 - after a massively popular
campaign led by activist Anna Hazare that included Arvind Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan - and
enacted a year later.
Since then, there has been no movement. Last month, the government told the court that the
Lokpal cannot be appointed for now as there is no Leader of Opposition in the selection panel
and a change in law that would allow the Congress - as largest opposition group - to be a member
has yet to be approved in parliament.

In 2014, the BJP, which decimated the Congress after two terms, said the leader of opposition's
place in the Lokpal selection committee would stay vacant.