Soham Parekh used India-Pak conflict to delay work, lied about 'drone strike' near Mumbai home amid moonlighting row
According to Telegin, Parekh falsely claimed that he was living close to a conflict zone in Mumbai during the tensions between India and Pakistan in May. He alleged that Parekh messaged him saying, "They shot a drone in the air near my house 10 mins away," to explain delays in work. Telegin further claimed that Parekh blamed him for being slow with coding tasks, saying, "Soham used to guilt-trip me for being slow on PRs when the India-Pakistan thing was going on, all while he was in Mumbai." He jokingly added, "The next person should hire him for the Chief Intelligence Officer role." Telegin also shared screenshots of their chats to support his claims.
The messages were exchanged during a tense period of military action between India and Pakistan, following Operation Sindoor. The operation came in response to the terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, where 26 civilians lost their lives on April 22.
Later, Parekh reached out to Telegin to apologise for the "trouble" he had caused. Sharing a screenshot of this apology, Telegin captioned it, "Soham character arc that I hoped to see."
In a separate post on X, Suhail Doshi, former CEO of Mixpanel, accused Parekh of juggling multiple jobs at once. Doshi claimed that Parekh had been working with "34 startups at the same time" and accused him of faking his CV to secure these jobs. He said that Parekh was fired within a week of being hired but allegedly continued to deceive other startups.
Warning others in the startup community, Doshi wrote, "PSA: there's a guy named Soham Parekh (in India) who works at 3-4 startups at the same time. He's been preying on YC companies and more. Beware," adding, "He hasn't stopped a year later. No more excuses."
Responding to the controversy, Parekh admitted his actions and said, "I'm not proud of what I've done. But, you know, financial circumstances, essentially. No one really likes to work 140 hours a week, right? But I had to do this out of necessity. I was in extremely dire financial circumstances." He also said that he completed the work himself, without using AI tools or help from other engineers.
Despite the backlash, Parekh has now joined a new AI startup called Darwin, based in San Francisco. He said he will no longer be taking on multiple jobs. Darwin's CEO and founder, Sanjit Juneja, defended the hiring, saying, "Soham is an incredibly talented engineer, and we believe in his abilities to help bring our products to market."
On June 3, Parekh posted on X, reflecting on the fallout from the controversy. "I've been isolated, written off and shut out by nearly everyone I've known and every company I've worked at. But building is the only thing I've ever truly known, and it's what I'll keep doing," he wrote.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
28 minutes ago
- Time of India
Model community: Why Tibetans in India deserve more help
A long time ago, in the 1950s, China took control of Tibet. The Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet, and thousands of Tibetans had to leave their homeland. They chose India as their new home, and since then, they've lived peacefully among us. India recently showed strong support for the Dalai Lama by saying that he alone should decide who the next Tibetan leader will be, not China. This is important because China wants to control even this decision. Tibetans in India: Peaceful and Proud Today, Tibetans live in 39 official settlements and many other places across India. They've shared their delicious food, traditional medicine, beautiful culture, and peaceful spirituality with us. Many of us know about prayer flags, momos, and the calming teachings of the Dalai Lama – all thanks to them! They have stayed peaceful, thankful, and respectful – all values that the Dalai Lama himself promotes. Meanwhile, in China, Tibetan culture is being changed, and Tibetan religion is tightly controlled by the government. But They Still Struggle Even though Tibetans have lived in India for over 70 years, they still face problems: They can't easily travel abroad . They can't own land or houses . Most of them can't get loans from banks . College and healthcare access is limited for many Tibetan youth. What Should Be Done? India has always welcomed refugees, like during the 1971 Bangladesh war, when we gave shelter to millions. So, helping Tibetans more shouldn't be hard. They've been model citizens – calm, helpful, and respectful. It's time to give them better support, like easing rules and helping them live more fully as part of Indian society. After all, they've added so much to our country — and they deserve our care and kindness in return. Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Disclaimer Views expressed above are the author's own.
Mint
28 minutes ago
- Mint
India makes a push for cheaper foreign loans in yen, rupee
India is pressing multilateral development banks (MDBs) to lend more in Japanese yen and Indian rupees in an attempt to reduce borrowing costs and manage exchange rate risks more effectively, two officials aware of the matter said. New Delhi has steadily expanded loans and official development assistance (ODA) in yen to gain from ultra-low interest rates and the rupee's appreciation against the Japanese currency. Many of these loans finance infrastructure and development projects. 'Yen rates remain close to zero, and with the rupee having appreciated significantly against the yen since early 2023, yen borrowings, including through Samurai bonds, have emerged as a compelling option," one of the two officials cited above said, requesting anonymity. Samurai bonds are yen-denominated bonds issued in Japan by foreign entities to raise money. The development assumes significance since MDBs such as the World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) play a central role in global finance, especially in developing economies. These institutions lend in dollar as well as other reserve currencies. ADB, which mainly lends in dollars, has also issued rupee bonds. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) too lends in yen, euro and rupees. The yen is part of IMF's special drawing rights (SDR) basket of currencies, and can be used depending on borrower preference and availability. India is pushing for loans in yen, the second official confirmed, adding "These loans and ODAs are not free, and we pay interest on them. A lot has changed now with India's rise at the global high table, and we are in a better position to negotiate our terms and conditions with the MDBs," said the second person. 'Also, given our past record, India also happens to be very attractive for these lending institutions as well, given our repayment history and the credit profile. We will follow the strategy which is in our best interest," the person added. An ADB spokesperson said the bank has received a handful of requests from India for yen-denominated loans in the last two years, with three such agreements signed in 2023 and 2024. These include the Delhi-Meerut RRTS Tranche 3 (2023), the Nagpur Metro Urban Mobility Project (2024) and the Amaravati Capital City Development Programme (2024). The ADB spokesperson pointed out that despite the rising interest in yen loans, 20 out of 22 sovereign loans signed by ADB in India in 2024 were in dollars. 'ADB's advice to borrowers is to choose the most financially advantageous termsbased on needs and risk exposure of the project and the borrower's overall external debt portfolio," the spokesperson added. Queries emailed to the spokespersons of India's finance ministry, World Bank, AIIB, IMF and Exim Bank remained unanswered. 'India is expected to expand its yen exposure further as part of a calibrated shift to longer-tenure, lower-cost financing to mitigate exchange rate risks. It will also explore greater use of the domestic currency. However, the dollar will remain dominant in the medium term, given its role as the principal global reserve currency," the official cited earlier said. According to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data, yen-denominated liabilities rose to 6.2% of India's total external debt at the end of March 2025, up from 5.8% a year earlier. In absolute terms, this equals $45.6 billion out of the total $736.3 billion in external debt at the end of FY25. India's total external debt rose 10% in FY25. The US dollar still dominated India's external borrowings, accounting for 54.2%, followed by the Indian rupee (31.1%), yen (6.2%), SDR (4.6%), and the euro (3.2%). While the appeal of yen financing is clear, economists caution that since India lacks a deep forex market for the yen, most conversions still happen through cross-rates with the dollar or euro rather than direct market-determined rates, adding layers of complexity. 'Rupee-denominated loans are preferable from a stability standpoint. As for yen borrowings, unless a more efficient and transparent yen market develops, the advantages remain limited. In many cases, dollar- or SDR-denominated loans might still be more practical," said Bhanumurthy N.R., director of the Madras School of Economics. India's yen borrowing strategy is gaining traction across both bilateral and multilateral channels. In FY24 alone, India signed yen loan agreements with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) worth over ¥276 billion (around ₹15,600 crore), funding metro rail, logistics, and renewable energy projects. In FY25, JICA followed up with six ODA agreements worth ¥191.7 billion ( ₹11,181 crore) to support urban transport, water infrastructure, environmental protection, and livelihood programmes, including Delhi Metro Phase IV, Chennai's desalination plant, biodiversity projects in Punjab, and an aquaculture initiative in Assam. A separate ¥84.3 billion loan for Mumbai Metro Line 3 took the year's total to ¥276 billion ( ₹15,655 crore). 'India's push to secure more yen- and rupee-denominated loans from MDBs reflects a prudent effort to lower external borrowing costs while reducing exposure to the volatility of major foreign currencies like the US dollar," said Venkatakrishnan Srinivasan, managing partner at Rockfort Fincap Llp, a financial advisory firm. 'From a bond market and risk perspective, rupee-denominated MDB funding is a strong fit. It eliminates currency mismatch, enhances debt predictability, and aligns well with India's broader strategy of deepening its local currency bond ecosystem. Yen-denominated loans, though historically low-cost, now come with added complexity due to heightened forex volatility and an uncertain interest rate trajectory in Japan," he added.
Hindustan Times
31 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Plot to kill MLA Sunil Shelke foiled in Pimpri-Chinchwad, SIT to be formed
The Pimpri-Chinchwad police have uncovered a conspiracy to murder Sunil Shelke, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA from Maval constituency. During a discussion in the state assembly on Friday, Shelke raised serious concerns through a calling attention motion, prompting the state government to take immediate action. The conspiracy came to light on July 26, 2023, when the anti-dacoity cell of the Pimpri-Chinchwad police carried out a major operation in Talegaon Dabhade based on a tipoff. (HT) Responding to the motion the same day, minister of state for home affairs Yogesh Kadam assured the House that a special investigation team (SIT) will be constituted to conduct an in-depth probe into the matter. Also Read | 'Treated like family': Lajpat Nagar double murder by helper shocks neighbours, co-workers The conspiracy came to light on July 26, 2023, when the anti-dacoity cell of the Pimpri-Chinchwad police carried out a major operation in Talegaon Dabhade based on a tipoff. Initially, two persons were arrested whereas a further probe led to the arrest of seven persons in total. All accused have a criminal history involving murder, attempt to murder, extortion, arson, and possession of illegal arms. The police recovered nine pistols, 42 live cartridges, machetes, and other deadly weapons from them. During interrogation, the accused revealed that the seized weapons were meant to be used in the planned murder of Shelke. The accused hail from Madhya Pradesh, Jalna, Vadgaon and Kalewadi and reportedly have no personal enmity with Shelke, raising suspicions of a powerful mastermind operating behind the scenes. Also Read | Meghalaya honeymoon murder accused Sonam Raghuvanshi's brother says won't hire a lawyer till... 'These accused come from poor backgrounds, yet they had access to expensive weapons and could afford top legal representation. Who is funding them? Who is the real mastermind behind the murder plot?' Shelke questioned in the assembly, pointing to a larger, more sinister conspiracy. Kadam informed the House that the accused had been in prison for a year-and-a-half and were later externed from Pune district for two years. Notwithstanding, they were found hiding in the district which Shelke highlighted as a serious lapse in enforcement. Also Read | Tandoor murder: 30 years on, echoes of a killing that shook Delhi's conscience Kadam assured that the matter is being taken seriously and if required, an SIT will be constituted to unearth the conspiracy. He said that information about a Madhya Pradesh-based arms supplier named 'Devaraj' has been shared with the concerned state government. However, after Shelke once again highlighted the serious nature of the conspiracy, Kadam assured that an SIT would be constituted to investigate the matter in detail. Kadam also asked Shelke to share whatever information the latter might have with the police so as to help take necessary action.
