'Gully Boy' fame rapper MC Tod Fod passes away, Ranveer Singh, Zoya Akhtar pay tributes
Mumbai(PTI): Actors Ranveer Singh, Siddhant Chaturvedi and filmmaker Zoya Akhtar on Tuesday mourned the loss of rapper Dharmesh Parmar, popularly known as MC Tod Fod, who passed away on March 20.
The Dadar-based rapper died aged 24.
His death was confirmed by the Mumbai hip-hop group Swadesi, of which he was a part of, on Monday. The cause of his death is not yet known.
Parmar was known for his rap songs in Hindi and Gujarati and was also a part of Akhtar's 2019 drama "Gully Boy", contributing to its music.
Singh, who fronted the story of a rapper's rise from the streets, took to Instagram and posted a photo of Parmar with a heartbreak emoticon.
Chaturvedi, who also starred in the film, took to Instagram and shared a screenshot of his chat with Parmar.
In the chat, the actor had congratulated him for his "Gully Boy" track "India 91".
"RIP Bhai," Chaturvedi wrote.
Akhtar posted a picture of the rapper on her Instagram feed.
"You have gone way too soon. I can only be grateful our paths crossed. Rest in peace Bantai," she wrote.
The official Instagram page of Swadesi Movement posted a video of the rapper's perfomance from 'Swadesi Mela'.
"You had to be there to experience it, his thrill, his love for playing live music. You are never forgotten, you will always live through with your music," the post read.
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Shashi Tharoor calls for regulation and taxation instead of banning online gaming
New Delhi(PTI): Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday criticised the government’s move to ban online money gaming, warning that such a step would only push the industry underground and strengthen criminal networks.
He also said he had not studied the three Constitution amendment bills seeking to provide a framework for the removal of prime ministers, Union ministers, chief ministers and state ministers detained on serious criminal charges in any detail.
“On the face of it, it is difficult to say it has any problem, but obviously if anyone does something wrong they should not be a minister anyway. I don’t know if there is any other motive,” he remarked.
Discussing the bill seeking to prohibit and regulate online gaming introduced in the Lok Sabha, he said, "I had written a very long article on the argument that by banning online gaming we are simply driving it underground, whereas it could be a useful source of revenue for the government if we legalise it, regulate it and tax it."
He added that many countries have studied the issue in detail and concluded that regulation and taxation can generate funds for social causes, while bans merely enrich “criminal mafias”.
In a post on X, Tharoor recalled that he had “gone on record in 2018 urging the government to legalise, regulate and tax online gaming, rather than drive it underground by banning it, which will merely enhance the profits of the mafia”.
“It’s a pity that the government seems to have derived no lessons from the experience of other countries that have considered this issue,” he wrote.
He added that the bill should at least have been referred to a parliamentary committee “to consider all the pros and cons before rushing it into law”.
The proposed bill prohibits online money gaming and its advertisements, prescribing imprisonment or fines, or both, for violators. It differentiates such games from eSports and online social games, while calling for their promotion.
1/2 I went on record in 2018 urging the government to legalise, regulate and tax online gaming, rather than drive it underground by banning it, which will merely enhance the profits of the mafia. https://t.co/KYi2aTxDQQ
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) August 20, 2025
