As some parts of Asia see light at the end of the Covid-19 tunnel, entrepreneurs, scientists, activists and young leaders on the Forbes Under 30 list are hard at work realizing the new normal. Among others, three Pakistanis Misha Japanwala, Hannia Zia and Abdullah Siddiqui have made it.

Misha Japanwala, a visual artist and designer whose work addresses issues such as domestic violence and honour killings in Pakistan, collaborated with Gigi Hadid last year on a sculptural mask for a special issue of V Magazine that the supermodel guest-edited. Another of Japanwala’s works, a collection of breastplates and other wearable body castings, was featured in a six-page spread in Vogue Spain in 2018, modelled by French model Cindy Bruna.

Hannia Zia is the Pakistan government’s sole product manager of its pandemic tech response and one of the three founding members of the Prime Minister’s Digital Pakistan Initiative. She launched a WhatsApp bot to spread Covid-19 awareness in seven local languages that has connected to 500,000 users and was endorsed by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. It has a Covid-19 ringtone, which has been heard by 113 million Pakistanis. PM Imran Khan recognized her contributions with a WHENTK award.

Abdullah Siddiqui, an independent artist producing English-language electronic music, appeared on Nescafé Basement - a Pakistani TV series that showcases the music of underground artistes. He has written and produced music for some prominent singers in Pakistan including Fawad Khan, Meesha Shafi, Shamoon Ismail and Aima Baig.

Fashion brand Maryam Hussain launched its latest Luxury Festive Lawn Collection 2021 featuring Saba Qamar. The collection is based on bespoke embroidered pieces.

To make a difference through their branding to stay ahead of fashion trends, the brand aims to be a global leader in fashion-knit and fashion outerwear by authorizing innovation and design to provide total customer satisfaction. They say that beauty is omnipresent by dragging all their creativity and brilliance from the varied global arena and bringing it together in one place.

The Turkish government has selected Pakistani actor Imran Abbas as a goodwill ambassador so that he can visit African countries with known Turkish actors and help in providing basic necessities of life to the people there.

The actor said it was an honour for him to be chosen by the Turkish government for this purpose. He further revealed that the Ministry of Religious Affairs has selected him as a goodwill ambassador from Pakistan to visit African countries, including Tanzania, to accompany Turkish artistes and provide water, food, education and other basic necessities.

McDonald’s has tapped Korean pop sensation BTS to promote a new meal, in a move that the world’s largest fast-food chain hopes will expand the reach of its US-based celebrity promotional campaigns to a global scale since the revenue outside the US has dropped during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Grammy-nominated band BTS’s meal will be launched in nearly 50 countries, including South Korea and will include Chicken McNuggets, Fries and two Dips. The BTS meal follows similar US-only deals with singers J Balvin and Travis Scott which boosted McDonald’s sales in late 2020.

Unfortunately, for Pakistani fans of BTS, the meal is not available in the country and will not be anytime soon. The news has upset people and many have taken to Twitter asking McDonald’s to send BTS meals to Pakistan too. They even managed to get the hashtag #BringBTSMcDealInPakistan trending on Pakistani Twitter but there was no update from McDonald’s about bringing the meal to the country.

Moran Birger has been appointed as the Head of Sales for South Asia, the Middle East and Africa at British Airways. Moran will be based in the airline’s headquarters in London.

Prior to this, Moran was British Airways’ Head of Sales for the Asia Pacific and the Middle East and Japan and was based in Tokyo. He has previously worked in Ghana and has also held the position of Commercial Agreements Executive – Revenue Management, for British Airways.

J. Fragrances has launched JK 555 inspired by the squash legend Jahangir Khan. The olfactory journey of JK 555 is crafted with rich and sparkling touches of star anise, bergamot, mandarin, pepper, cardamom at the top and an explosive bouquet of floral and rich touches of cinnamon and coriander at the heart.

JK 555 defines the aura of a champion and is a successful new addition to the exquisite fragrance range of J Dot. J. is the leading perfumer in Pakistan with exquisite fragrances ranging from Oriental to French, for both men and women. During this time, J. has recognized the contributions of many influential personalities by introducing the concept of signature fragrances in the country.

Ali Kazmi’s film ‘Funny Boy’ is on a winning streak as it has been nominated in multiple categories at the Canadian Screen Awards which aim to celebrate the best in Canadian film, television and digital media. The actor took to Instagram and shared the good news while thanking his cast and crew.

The film has been nominated in 9 different categories including 2021 Best Motion Picture, 2021 Achievement in Makeup, 2021 Achievement in Direction, 2021 Achievement in Music — Original Score, 2021 Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role, 2021 Achievement in Sound Mixing, 2021 Achievement in Sound Editing, 2021 Adapted Screenplay and 2021 Achievement in Visual Effects.

The film is an adaptation of Shyam Selvadurai’s Sri Lanka-set coming-of-age novel ‘Funny Boy’. It boasts of a star-studded cast, including Ingram, Nimmi Harasgama, Ali Kazmi, Agam Darshi, Seema Biswas, Rehan Mudannayake and Shivantha Wijesinha.

‘Funny Boy’ can be seen in Canada on CBC Gem and around most of the world on Netflix.

Danyal Zafar made his acting debut with the Ramadan special serial ‘Tanaa Banaa’. The new actor is getting massive attention for his good looks, character as well as chemistry with co-star Alizeh Shah.

‘Tanaa Banaa’ is a Momina Duraid Productions offering directed by Saife Hassan and written by Hassan Imam. The serial is a romantic comedy that portrays the complexities and trials that arise in relationships and families. The story revolves around two people who are poles apart but destiny brings them together.

In a recent interview, Danyal revealed that he can relate to the character Zain in the drama as he himself is a hopeless romantic and a flirt. Though he has successfully transitioned from singer to actor, he still feels that he is quite confident with his music as he knows what the end product would be while, in acting, he can never tell what it is going to end up like.

Atif Aslam did a beautiful rendition of ‘Asma ul Husna’ (99 Names of Allah) in Ramadan last year, in collaboration with Coke Studio. This time the singer has released a special naat ‘Mustafa Jaan e Rehmat’ to mark Ramadan.

It features four other singers - Ali Pervez Mehdi, Nouman Javed, Ahsan Pervaiz Mehdi and Kumail Jaffery. They are also part of the recitation as the group performs the verses of the famous naat written by Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi.

The best part of the beautiful rendition is that it is free from heavy background music, unnecessary instruments and relies only on the voices of the vocalists. The video is also simple with only gold and white in prominence.

Atif has been continuously talking about Islam in his interviews over the last few years. He has performed ‘Tajdar-e-Haram’, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s ‘Wohi Khuda Hai’ and the ‘99 Names of Allah’ as well.

Samina Ahmed is currently shooting for a Hollywood project in Thailand as per her husband Manzar Sehbai.

When someone inquired from Manzar Sehbai where Samina was, the actor revealed that she was in Thailand for a Hollywood serial.

Though Manzar did not talk about the project she is working on, many speculated that it was the famous ‘Ms. Marvel’, a project of Disney+ and Marvel Studios. Recently, news of Indian actor and filmmaker Farhan Akhtar filming for a Marvel Studios project in Thailand went viral.

‘Ms. Marvel’ features Iman Vellani in the title role. Pakistani actor Nimra Bucha has been cast in a supporting role while Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is working behind the camera amongst other directors for the film.

Whether it is ‘Ms. Marvel’ or any other film or series, it is indeed great news that another Pakistani actor has been internationally recognized.

Mansha Pasha and Jibran Nasir’s marriage was an intimate affair as they followed the SOPs while celebrating their big day. Mansha disclosed the news with a picture of her ring.

Following the post, Jibran also shared details about the event. “We got married Alhumdulillah in presence of our immediate families. Will hopefully celebrate with friends and family at large post-pandemic function.”

Jibran went on to thank Javed Ghamidi for solemnizing the nikkah.

NASA’s miniature robot helicopter performed a successful takeoff and landing on Mars, achieving the first power-controlled flight by an aircraft over the surface of another planet.

The solar-powered whirligig’s debut on the Red Planet marked a 21st-century Wright Brothers moment for NASA, which said success could pave the way for new modes of exploration on Mars and other destinations in the solar system, such as Venus and Saturn’s moon Titan.

Mission managers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) near Los Angeles burst into applause and cheers as engineering data beamed back from Mars confirmed that the 4-pound (1.8-kg) twin-rotor helicopter had performed its maiden 40-second flight as planned.

Shiza Hassan, one of Pakistan’s leading fashion designers, has launched her new unstitched collection Luxury Lawn’21. Known for her quality work of merging modern details into traditional allure, the designer has once again blended pleasing designs with captivating colours that are perfect for summer festivities.

Exhibiting sumptuous embroidery details, exquisite craftsmanship, attractive colour palettes, and prints that are sprucely embellished with decorative motifs, mirror work, flock printing, and gorgeous Kashmiri embroidery, Shiza Hassan’s new summer collection is an encapsulation of traditional charm combined with extravagance and sophistication.

Aiming to provide a sublime summer experience, the whole collection has been designed to complement the different moulds of confident and strong women with variety and timeless grace.