Noted Hindi writer Manohar Shyam Joshi died on Thursday in a Delhi hospital. He was 73.
The author of the first of the popular television soap operas Hum Log and Buniyad was admitted to the National Heart Institute in south Delhi on March 25 with acute respiratory problems. He died at 6.40 am on Thursday.
"He suffered from acute respiratory failure and cardiac arrest," said Virendra Yadav, an attending doctor. He added that Joshi was suffering from respiratory problems for a long time.
Joshi, editor of the Morning Echo weekly brought out by the Hindustan Times in the late seventies, was author of several books and written immensely popular series Mungeri Lal ke Haseen Sapne and Kakka ji Kahin that were then the staple of television audiences in the pre-satellite TV era.
Joshi was honoured with the Sahitya Akademi Award in February 2005.