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It is true: Soham Parekh admits working multiple full-time jobs at once, says it was necessary

It is true: Soham Parekh admits working multiple full-time jobs at once, says it was necessary

India Today21 hours ago
India-based software engineerSoham Parekh has publicly admitted to simultaneously working full-time for multiple startups, in a disclosure that has reignited debates around remote work norms and ethics in the tech industry. The issue first emerged when Suhail Doshi, former CEO of Mixpanel, posted on X alleging that Parekh was employed by '34 startups at the same time' and had deceived Y Combinator-backed firms. Doshi claimed he terminated Parekh within a week after discovering the overlap. Additional founders corroborated Doshi's warning, leading at least one to cancel Parekh's trial week, while another revealed they had just interviewed him before learning of his dual roles.advertisementParekh eventually responded to the allegations during an interview on the tech show TBPN, openly acknowledging the truth behind the accusations. 'It is true,' he said, adding, '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 clarified that he personally handled all assigned work without the help of other engineers or AI tools.According to Parekh, he began juggling multiple full-time jobs around 2022 after postponing graduate school and enrolling in an online program from Georgia Tech. However, a spokesperson from Georgia Tech reportedly confirmed that there is no record of Parekh as an enrolled student—raising questions about the timeline or documentation.
Further exposure came via an exchange on X with Andriy Mulyar, CEO of Nomic AI, who confirmed Parekh worked there. Parekh stated he once held up to four concurrent roles, earning between $30,000 and $40,000 monthly. Mulyar later verified Parekh's identity and involvement.Another affected employer, Marcus Lowe of Create, described hiring Parekh after a strong interview performance but soon faced attendance issues. Lowe reviewed Parekh's GitHub activity and found code contributions to another startup, sync.so, during claimed personal downtime. He said the situation 'was a huge waste of time such direct immoral behavior felt worth speaking out about.'In addition to Lowe's account, several sync.so employees confirmed Parekh's involvement, supported by internal materials and online content showing his presence within their operations. The company declined further comment.The controversy has drawn attention to the growing trend of 'overemployment,' where workers take multiple remote jobs without disclosing full engagement. A Wall Street Journal report estimates about 5.5percent of Americans now hold two or more jobs—a trend accelerated by pandemic-era remote work freedoms. However, conflicts with employment agreements and fairness concerns have triggered scrutiny within startup communities, particularly among small teams reliant on full-time commitment.Following the public exposure, Parekh said he has accepted a single role with Darwin, a young startup. Darwin's founder and CEO, Sanjit Juneja, issued a statement expressing confidence in Parekh's skills: 'Soham is an incredibly talented engineer and we believe in his abilities to help bring our products to market.'advertisementParekh also responded via his confirmed X account, stating, '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 reassured that he has ended all other employment engagements and entered into an exclusive agreement with Darwin.- Ends
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‘Open defiance of courts': Lawyer who fought for a decade to get old vehicles banned on Delhi govt's U-turn
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‘Open defiance of courts': Lawyer who fought for a decade to get old vehicles banned on Delhi govt's U-turn

In 2014, Delhi-based lawyer Vardhaman Kaushik moved the National Green Tribunal (NGT) over the Capital's choking air pollution crisis. A decade and orders from the NGT and Supreme Court later, a no-fuel ban on end-of-life petrol and diesel vehicles has barely lasted three days. On Thursday, in a letter to the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) — the overarching statutory body for matters concerning air pollution — Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa had said that it would not be feasible to enforce the ban 'at this juncture', and 'immediate implementation… may be premature and potentially counter-productive'. The ban came into effect on July 1. The Delhi government's move has drawn sharp criticism from several quarters. According to Kaushik, the 'poor implementation' of the ban order is 'an open defiance of courts'. 'The (Supreme Court) judgment (on fuel ban) had come in long ago, in 2018… and it has not been executed,' Kaushik told The Indian Express. 'The fuel ban was only a way to implement the court's directions. The hue and cry over this now doesn't make sense.' 'This is not a new rule. These rules for end-of-life vehicles have been there for a long time. The judgment is not being taken seriously,' Kaushik said, adding that only a few vehicles have been impounded over the years. Kaushik dismissed the argument that the ban unfairly targets the middle class. 'People who can afford cars and sit in air-conditioned rooms are cribbing at not being able to sell their car at good rates… Their opinion should not matter,' he said. 'The larger population that cannot afford cars bears the brunt of air pollution.' He insisted that emissions, not the age of the vehicles, should be the focus. However, he underscored that age remains a legitimate proxy. 'Even if an age cap is put aside as suggested by the Environment Minister, the fact remains that a (Bharat Standard) BS III or a BS IV vehicle will always be far more polluting than a BS VI vehicle. The government needs to take a call at this juncture.' In April 2015, acting on Kaushik's plea, the NGT had laid the legal foundation for phasing out old vehicles from the Capital's roads. In 2018, the Supreme Court banned diesel vehicles older than 10 years and petrol vehicles older than 15 years in Delhi. The legal backing for the ban was reinforced by the 2018 SC order, which had upheld the NGT order. 'The Transport Departments of NCR will immediately announce that all diesel vehicles more than 10 years old and petrol vehicles more than 15 years old shall not ply in NCR in terms of the order of the National Green Tribunal…,' the order had said. It also mandated the impounding of violators and directed that lists of such vehicles be published on the websites of the Central Pollution Control Board and respective transport departments. Following the CAQM's April order on enforcing a fuel ban, a phased rollout was planned, first in Delhi from July 1, then expanded to the districts of Faridabad, Gurgaon, Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddha Nagar, and Sonipat in November. The plan was to expand the ban to the rest of the NCR from April 1, 2026.

‘Promises kept': Donald Trump signs ‘Big Beautiful Bill' at the White House July 4 picnic
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‘Promises kept': Donald Trump signs ‘Big Beautiful Bill' at the White House July 4 picnic

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The India-US trade deal is on Trump's desk. Will he sign?
The India-US trade deal is on Trump's desk. Will he sign?

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timean hour ago

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The India-US trade deal is on Trump's desk. Will he sign?

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There are too many issues to resolve with too many parties," said Steven Okun, CEO, APAC Advisors, a Singapore-based consultancy firm. As of now, tariffs on Indian exports to the US (26%) are lower compared to those on Vietnam (46%), Cambodia (49%), Bangladesh (37%) and Thailand (36%), offering India a strategic tariff advantage in sectors such as electronics, apparel, and toys. In the case of China, tariffs on Chinese goods had previously surged as high as 145%, but following a truce in Geneva, they were brought down to 30%. Under the new agreement, however, these have now been restructured into a flat 55% rate—significantly higher than the tariff levels currently applied to Indian goods. Queries sent to the Indian commerce ministry, spokespersons of the USTR, and the US Embassy in New Delhi remained unanswered till press time. In the meantime, Indian exporters have been benefiting from steeper US tariffs on Chinese goods, which gave Indian products a competitive edge. China's exports to the US plummeted 34.5% year-on-year to $28.8 billion in May from $44 billion a year earlier, according to data released by China's General Administration of Customs on 10 June. This, however, was offset by China's rising exports to members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (up 15% year-on-year to $58.4 billion in May), and the European Union (up 12% to $49.5 billion According to data released by India's commerce ministry on 16 June, India's imports from China rose 21.7% to $10.32 billion in May from $8.48 billion a year earlier, driven by higher inflows of electronic goods, machinery, chemicals, and project-related equipment. Meanwhile, India's imports from the US declined to $3.63 billion in May from $3.85 billion a year ago, while exports to the country grew 17.3% year-on-year to $8.8 billion, led by higher shipments of smartphones and electronics. 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