Category: News

Bhadohi: A man who allegedly faked his abduction to his family in a bid to take money from his father was taken into custody in Maharashtra’s Pune, officials here said on Thursday.

The 28-year-old’s father, meanwhile, still had to pay to secure his release on bail after he was brought to a police station in Uttar Pradesh’s Bhadohi from Pune, where he was hiding.

According to officials, on March 7, Pradeep Chauhan sent a message to his father claiming that he had been kidnapped and then switched off his phone.

Concerned, his father, Rama Shankar Chauhan, reported the matter to the police.

The station in charge of Chauri police station here said during the investigation that Pradeep’s location was traced to the Hinjewadi police station limits in the Pimpri-Chinchwad area of Pune.

Pradeep admitted during questioning that he left home voluntarily without informing anyone and had not been kidnapped. Police said he confessed that he had sent the fake kidnapping message to his father to obtain money from him.

A case was registered against him under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). His father pleaded for his release, citing Holi festival. Since the charges were bailable, police granted him bail, Kumar added.

KUALA LUMPUR, March 13 — A senior police officer testified that Zayn Rayyan Abdul Matin’s mother was unable to answer key questions about how her son went missing near Block R, Apartment Idaman, on December 5, 2023.

According to the New Straits Times, ASP Nor Zaharuddin Sanip told the Sessions Court here that he questioned Ismanira Abdul Manaf while her statement was being recorded in a police patrol car on the night of the disappearance.

“I asked her how he had gone missing, what had happened, and what his interests were. She couldn’t answer,” Zaharuddin said during the trial.

Zaharuddin, who was previously the senior investigating officer for the Petaling Jaya distric police, also said that as the case was solely that of a missing child, there had not been efforts to identify suspects.

When cross-examined by defense lawyer Haresh Mahadevan, he also denied that he and another officer had been pressured by his superiors to rush the investigation.

Zaharuddin confirmed that he was aware of press conferences held by the Selangor police chief and the Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department on the case, but said he did not pay these regular attention.

The case was initially classified as a missing person’s report, but was later reclassified as murder after post-mortem results revealed criminal elements.

Ismanira and her husband, Zaim Ikhwan Zahari, both pleaded not guilty to an amended charge of child neglect related to their six-year-old autistic son, which drew nationwide interest at the time.

As part of the investigation, police reportedly took blood samples from around 250 individuals, though Zaharuddin said he was unaware of any weapons being seized.

Mr Baszucki founded the platform with Eric Cassel in 2004 and released it to the public in 2006 – a year before the first Apple iPhone appeared, heralding the start of the smartphone era.

Mr Baszucki describes his younger self as “less of a gamer, and more of an engineer”, and the pair’s first company was an education software provider called Knowledge Revolution. But they soon noticed that kids weren’t only using the product to do their homework.

“They wanted to play and build stuff. They were making houses or ships or scenery, and they wanted to jump in, and all of that learning was the germination of Roblox,” he says.

The name Roblox was a mash-up of the words “robot” and blocks” – and it stuck. The platform grew quickly in popularity – and there were also early warning signs of its future issues.

Mr Cassel noticed some players “starting to act out” and not always behaving in a “civilised” way a couple of months after it launched, recalls Mr Baszucki.

He says the roots of building a “trust and safety system” therefore began “very, very early” and that in those earlier days there were four people acting as safety moderators.

“It kind of is what launched this safety civility foundation,” he adds.

But despite attracting decent numbers, it was a year later, when the firm launched its digital currency Robux, that it really started to make money.

Players buy Robux and use it to purchase accessories and unlock content. Content creators now get 70% of the fee, and the store operates on dynamic pricing, meaning popular items cost more.

Mr Baszucki says there was some initial resistance among the leadership team about Roblox becoming more than a hobby for its players, with the introduction of a digital economy.

Robux stayed, and the firm is now worth $41bn (£31bn).

Its share price has fluctuated since it went public in 2021, but overall Roblox shares are worth about one third more than they were six months ago, at the time of writing. Like many big tech firms its value peaked during Covid, when lockdowns meant millions of people were indoors.

Mr Baszucki compares his experience of building Roblox with how Walt Disney may have felt about his creations.

He describes his job as “a little like having the opportunity he had a long time ago when he was designing the Magic Kingdom”, and is focused on Roblox’s ongoing evolution into a Metaverse-style experience where people go about their daily lives in a virtual world, in avatar form.

They have also been public in their ambitions to eventually attract 10% of the world’s gamers.

Asked to describe Roblox in three words, he replies: “The future of communication.”

We finish our time together playing a couple of his favourite games: Natural Disaster Survival and Dress to Impress.

We use his account and he’s constantly recognised by other players — but we still get smashed to pieces by a blizzard outside the Natural Disasters mansion.

Additional reporting by Ammie Sekhon

CUMBERLAND Council is looking to capitalise on the falling number of Church of England baptisms with its secular baby naming ceremonies.

Across the UK there were 67,800 baptisms in 2023, down from more than 139,000 10 years previously.

Cumberland Council and the previous city council authority have offered their non-religious baby naming ceremonies since before the pandemic and are hoping to build on their popularity.

A naming ceremony is a modern, non-religious alternative to a christening which is ‘completely personalised’ to the family, according to Cumberland Council’s ceremonies and income generation service lead, Alyssia Ashurst.

“The event would be held in a venue that’s not religious so potentially at the registry office or if you wanted to hold it in a hotel or a social club or a village hall we could come out and attend,” she said.

“We work with the parents to kind of make a special script that’s personalized to that family and to that child, and instead of having godparents, which you would have in a christening, you would have special guardians.

“It’s just an opportunity to mark the birth of the child, welcome their arrival into the family, and celebrate really with a ceremony and officially announce them to the world.”

The ceremony is being advertised as an alternative to religion in an ever-changing, secular world.

“People aren’t always religious, and I think in the past they maybe felt pressured to have a christening due to past parents’ or grandparents’ beliefs,” said Ms Ashurst.

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“There wasn’t anything else really out there that you could do to celebrate the birth of a child, whereas now a naming ceremony, it does offer you that alternative.

“It can kind of solve an issue where if the parents have different religious beliefs or they can’t agree which church to baptize the child in, the ceremony is quite a nice alternative because there are no religious connotations there.”

Other tailored ceremonies that are offered by Cumberland Council include adoption ceremonies and ‘family blending ceremonies’.

Anybody who is interested in a special, personised ceremony should contact the ceremonies team on 0300 373 3730.

City Developments Limited (CDL) executive chairman Kwek Leng Beng has dropped the lawsuit against his son and group CEO Sherman Kwek. In a regulatory filing on Wednesday (12 March), CDL said that the court proceedings have been settled and will be discontinued, reported CNA.

It added that the board will continue to focus on strengthening the company’s business and will continue to act in accordance with good corporate governance and strive to maximise shareholder value. 

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to CDL for a statement. 

Don’t miss: From boardroom to courtroom: Does comms have a say in the CDL family feud? 

The elder Kwek first filed a lawsuit against his son on 25 February, alleging that Sherman Kwek tried to remove him from the role of executive chairman due to governance lapses and controversial board decisions. The legal action quickly became a media frenzy, receiving a total of 35,290 social engagement from 26 to 28 February, said media intelligence firm Truescope. 

Of the conversations held online, netizens expressed apprehension towards mixing family ties and businesses together. Some enquired about Sherman Kwek’s ability to run the company too, added Truescope. Meanwhile, the public feud had also impacted sentiments of the brand with conversations being 3.4% positive and 40.6% negative, said CARMA. Additionally, shares of CDL have also fallen 6.5%, reported The Straits Times. 

Should CDL put out a statement soon?

In a previous article, PR and communications professionals said that PR teams should be working with lawyers to come up with a communications strategy to shape the narrative and maintain control as the lawsuit ensues. However, now that the feud has come to a supposed end, what then becomes the role of PR? 

Oliver Ellerton, founder and director of Ellerton & Co Public Relations said that the role now shifts from damage control to reputation recovery. He said that leadership has to own the narrative and not shy away from media and the general public. “Avoiding questions will only prolong the damage. Transparency, honesty and humility are essential in shaping the post-crisis narrative,” explained Ellerton.

In addition, CDL must focus on rebuilding trust too. “The company must reinforce the message that, despite the legal battle, it has continued to operate, innovate and deliver value. This is the time to highlight business stability, showcase new initiatives and communicate growth plans. The goal is to demonstrate resilience and forward momentum,” added Ellerton.

This can come in the form of media engagement such as scheduling interviews with key journalists to set the record straight, address misinformation and provide reassurances about the future.

Similarly, Edwin Yeo, general manager at Strategic Public Relations Group said that once a court case concludes, companies must act swiftly to manage any reputational fallouts. “Ideally, these decisions should be made with input from communications professionals, ensuring that legal outcomes are translated into a clear, strategic corporate narrative,” said Yeo. 

“Senior PR leaders can help management anticipate and mitigate reputational risks, shaping a message that reassures stakeholders and reinforces CDL’s long-term vision. By proactively addressing concerns and communicating a clear path forward, the company can emerge from the dispute with its reputation strengthened rather than diminished,” he added. 

Interestingly, Jose Raymond, managing director at SW Strategies said that the strategy will have to shift from one which is defensive, or offensive, to one which is focused on restoration and rebuilding on trust. 

“The aftermath of the matter focuses on restoring public trust and the brands’ reputation by building a narrative that strays away from the case seamlessly and focusing on positive imaging,” said Jose. 

CDL has yet to put out a public statement, according to checks by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE.

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