IPL Chairman Rajeev Shukla's executive assistant Akram Saifi was forced to resign after being accused of demanding prostitutes in return for selection in the UP team, a BCCI official said. Saifi was initially suspended after a sting operation alleged he sought favours in "cash and kind" to facilitate selection. "The resignation should be accepted with immediate effect," Shukla reportedly said.

According to Lok Sabha rules, a government must always have majority support in the Lok Sabha to remain in power. A no-confidence motion can be moved by any House member who feels the government in power doesn't have the majority. Minimum 50 members have to accept the motion, after which the ruling party has to prove majority in the House.

Actor Shahid Kapoor's wife Mira Rajput on Thursday slammed Samsung India, saying it gave the "worst customer service experience". "After it's mobile phones, I think Samsung appliances will start exploding in sympathy with its consumer," Mira posted on her Instagram story. In another post, she wrote she received "many me-too messages" from customers who faced similar issues with Samsung products.

Sridevi's daughter Janhvi Kapoor's debut film 'Dhadak', which released today, "is a simple tale told in a beautiful way," wrote Bollywood Hungama. The film has supreme performances by Janhvi and lead actor Ishaan Khatter, said Koimoi. Times Now called 'Dhadak' "an excellent piece of film-making with captivating performances". It has been rated 3.5/5 (Bollywood Hungama, Koimoi) and 4/5 (Times Now).

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday said that after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, India will have a new Prime Minister and he will be from Uttar Pradesh. Adding that demonetisation, unemployment, and GST have angered people, Akhilesh asserted, "People want to see change as they are unhappy with policies and decisions of central government."

During a debate on the Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill, 2018 in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, interim Finance Minister Piyush Goyal said he fails to understand the "foreign accent" of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor. In a tweet, Tharoor replied, "Interesting to see that Piyush Goyal says he can't understand my words...That explains why his party keeps misinterpreting and distorting them!"

BJP has been allocated three hours and 33 minutes to speak in the no-confidence motion debate in the Lok Sabha on Friday while Congress can speak for 38 minutes. Meanwhile, AIADMK and TMC have been allotted 29 minutes and 27 minutes of speaking time respectively. Further, BJD, Shiv Sena, and TDP have got 15, 14, and 13 minutes respectively.

Ahead of the no-confidence motion debate in the Lok Sabha on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, "Today...India will be watching us closely." His tweet also read, "I am sure my fellow MP colleagues will rise to the occasion and ensure a constructive, comprehensive & disruption free debate." The TDP moved the no-confidence motion against BJP-led NDA government on Wednesday.

The dairy farmers in Maharashtra will get ₹25/litre for milk with effect from July 21, the state government announced in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday after a four-day agitation by dairy farmers. The farmers had been demanding that the rate for milk be fixed at ₹25/litre, seeking a hike of ₹5/litre in the procurement prices.

Lakshmivara Tirtha, the head of the Shiroor mutt in Karnataka's Udupi, died on Thursday in a Manipal hospital, which suspects he was poisoned. He was admitted to the hospital on Wednesday after he complained of breathlessness. Tirtha, who allegedly had differences with six other seers, suffered 'massive' gastrointestinal bleeding and died despite dialysis and blood transfusion, the hospital said.

Expressing dissatisfaction over the cleaning of River Ganga, the National Green Tribunal on Thursday said the situation was extraordinarily bad and hardly anything effective had been done. "It's the most prestigious river in the country which 100 crore people respect but we're unable to protect it. Let's try to make the mechanism as strong and effective as possible," it said.

Billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla-promoted Idea Cellular lost 25.31 lakh subscribers in May, the maximum among Indian wireless carriers. Idea Cellular's customer market share declined to 18.94% during the month, according to TRAI. India's largest telecom operator Airtel added 3.6 crore subscribers led largely by Telenor merger, while Reliance Jio added 93.5 lakh wireless subscribers during May.

US broadcasting giant Comcast has formally withdrawn its $65-billion bid to acquire most of media conglomerate 21st Century Fox. Comcast's bid was a premium of approximately 19% to the value of Disney's $52.4 billion all-stock offer for same set of assets. The company said it will focus on acquiring UK-based media giant Sky, for which it has offered $34 billion.

Noted Hindi poet and lyricist Dr Gopaldas Neeraj passed away on Thursday at the age of 93 in Delhi's AIIMS hospital. He was felicitated with the Padma Shri in 1991 and with the Padma Bhushan in 2007 for his contribution to literature. He wrote famous Bollywood songs 'Ae Bhai Zara Dekh Ke Chalo' and 'Likhe Jo Khat Tujhe'.

French defender Raphaël Varane has said 2018 FIFA World Cup's best young player Kylian Mbappé deserves to win the next Ballon d'Or. "I've known some extra-terrestrial talents in my time but...this is the first time I've met a young alien," he said. "If he doesn't win next Ballon d’Or, we'll tell him that it is not normal," Varane further said.

US Open 2018 men's and women's singles champions will get $3.8 million (over ₹26 crore) each and the tournament's total prize money will be $53 million (around ₹366 crore). In 2017, the men's and women's singles champions won $3.7 million apiece, with the competition's full payout being a then-record $50.4 million. US Open prize money has increased 57% since 2013.

Former WWE wrestler Hulk Hogan was re-inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame after three years. WWE had cut off ties with Hulk Hogan after he was found using racial slurs in a conversation recorded on a sex tape. The re-induction has been made after Hogan issued several public apologies and volunteered to work with young people.

Reacting to 17-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal flying in the economy class while going from Barcelona to his home island Mallorca, a user tweeted, "New definition for humility." "Prime difference between Rafa and Fed. Guarantee that we won't see Fed in economy," tweeted another user. "How long can that flight be? Looks so close on a map," tweeted another.

Denis Ten, the first Kazakh figure-skater to win an Olympic medal, was stabbed by two unknown assailants after he caught them attempting to steal his car mirrors. Ten, who won bronze at Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014, was taken to a hospital where he died a few hours later on Thursday. Kazakh authorities are treating his death as murder.

The government has issued a second notice to WhatsApp, seeking more effective solutions to curb fake news. In its notice, the government warned WhatsApp that the mediums used for fake news propagation can face legal action if they are mute spectators. The government's notices came after various incidents of lynchings took place over rumours spread via WhatsApp.

Facebook-owned WhatsApp is working with over half a dozen partners in India to design a digital literacy program for educating users on spotting fake news. Earlier, WhatsApp also released full-page ads in newspapers listing tips on how to fight fake news. It came after WhatsApp faced criticism from the Indian government over the circulation of rumours on its platform.

US President Donald Trump on Thursday said that he looked forward to his second meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and called their first meeting in Helsinki "a great success". Trump added he will work with Putin on various issues, including terrorism, nuclear proliferation and North Korea. Trump earlier said he held Putin responsible for Russia's meddling in 2016 elections.

The US, Australian and Japanese troops sunk the decommissioned USS Racine during the Rim Of The Pacific (RIMPAC) 2018 naval exercise. The warship was sunk with the help of torpedoes, harpoons and missiles off the coast of Hawaii. It was decommissioned at Pearl Harbour in 1993 after 22 years of service.

UK's Prince Charles will give evidence in an inquiry into child sexual abuse by bishop Peter Ball. The inquiry is examining how the Church of England handled allegations of abuse against him. Ball was sentenced to 32 months in 2015 for sexually abusing 18 teenagers and men between the 1970s and 1990s, and released in 2017 after serving 16 months.

The TIME magazine has in its latest cover morphed the images of US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin following their first bilateral meeting. The cover's designer Nancy Burson said the image was meant to make the readers "stop and think" about the similarities between the two leaders.