Nestlé Pakistan has introduced paper straws across its entire ready-to-drink (RTD) product range, making it the first food and beverage company in Pakistan to do so. The initiative will eliminate over 400 million plastic straws, marking a breakthrough in its sustainable packaging transformation journey.

This is in line with the company’s global pledge to make its packaging 100% recyclable and reusable by 2025. Nestlé Pakistan’s brands – NESVITA, MILO®, FRUITAVITALS, NESFRUTA and NESCAFÉ’s RTD products – are now in the market with paper straws that are made from Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified paper.

Samer Chedid, Chief Executive Officer, Nestlé Pakistan said, “We have introduced paper straws across our RTD products that have been sourced responsibly, meet stringent quality requirements and are safe to drink from.”

Highlighting Nestlé’s global sustainable packaging transformation journey, Chedid stressed, “Our vision is that none of our packaging, including plastics, ends up in landfill nor in oceans, lakes and rivers. To achieve this, we have set ourselves the commitment of ensuring 100% of our packaging is reusable and recyclable by 2025, and the switch to paper straws is a major step towards this.”

Chedid also added that while many people are used to plastic straws, making the switch to paper straws will bring a slightly different consumer experience. “We encourage millions of trusted Nestlé consumers in Pakistan to embrace this change and join us in our journey towards a more sustainable future.”

Total PARCO Pakistan Limited (TPPL) and Careem have signed an agreement to provide Careem captains with TPPL’s mobility-related solutions at special discounts. Through the partnership, Careem captains are to receive a flat discount on purchase of TPPL’s fuels, lubricants and other services, like car wash and oil change at selected service stations. This will be integrated into Careem’s application so that captains can easily access the offer.

Careem is a leading hail ride provider while TPPL has a largefootprint as an oil marketing company.

Pakistani actor Fawad Khan will soon be seen in, ‘Ms Marvel’. He is said to be joining Nimra Bucha and Samina Ahmad along with India’s Farhan Akhtar.

Directed by Meera Menon, Adil El Arbi, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and Bilall Fallah, ‘Ms. Marvel’ focuses on Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani), a Pakistani-American teen based in New Jersey. The superhero first appeared in 2014 as Marvel Comics’ first Muslim character to star in her own comic series. She will become Marvel Studios’ first onscreen Muslim hero. The series is set to release on Disney+ in late 2021.

Moving from television plays to films, Maya Ali is now into fashion. Popular for ‘Teefa in Trouble’, ‘Parey Hut Love’ , ‘Aunn Zara’ and ‘Mann Mayal’, and now performing in ‘Pehli Si Muhabbat’, Maya has now launched a clothing line in collaboration with her cousins Zainab Qadeer and Ansa Qadeer.

She recently showcases her Capsule Collection called ‘Gul Bahaar’ which is an amalgam of l fabrics and hues with embroidered motifs and traditional embellishments.

ICAP and IBA have joined hands to form the ICAP-IBA Research Unit to promote research in Accounting and Finance.

Chairman ICAP-IBA Research Oversight Committee & Council member ICAP Khalilullah Shaikh and senior officials from ICAP and IBA attended the signing ceremony for the 1st batch of Research Grants.

Indus Motor Company (IMC) has re-launched the Fortuner with a brand new look. The diesel or gasoline engine SUV is available in three variants i - Sigma 4 (4X4 1GD Hi Diesel), Fortuner V (4X4 2TR Hi Petrol) and Fortuner G (4X2 2TR Std Petrol). All 3 variants have a new exterior look, a more premium feeling interior, and for the Diesel variant, a performance refinement. The ex-factory RSP range between Rs.7.99 million and Rs 9.65 million.

While Sonya Hussyn’s coming TV serial ‘Mor Moharaan’ and her upcoming film ‘Tich Button’ is awaited by fans, she has announced another project directed by Adnan Sarwar and written by Umera Ahmed. Judging from the picture of a uniform, , she seems to be playing the character of an SP named Sarah. It seems that the actor has a knack for choosing roles that shed light on social taboos.

Oscar-nominee and Emmy Award winner, Riz Ahmed is well-known for his activism as his projects like ‘Sound of Metal’ and ‘The Night Off’. However, he has taken the fight against discrimination one step ahead by launching an initiative for Muslim representation in films.

The actor made an announcement on Twitter that he will be launching something big in partnership with the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, the Ford Foundation and Pillars Fund.

He said later that in light of USC Annenberg’s new study on Muslim representation in media, where less than 10% of top grossing films from 2017-2019 had a Muslim character on screen and less than 2% of those characters had speaking roles, the coalition has created the Blueprint for Muslim Inclusion, as well as the Pillars Artiste Fellowship, offering selected grantees an unrestricted award of $25,000.

The fellowship’s advisory board includes Muslim artistes like Riz Ahmed, Mahershala Ali, Ramy Youssef, Lena Khan, Sana Amanat, Karim Amer, Rosa Attab, Nida Manzoor, Jehane Noujaim and Hasan Minhaj.

Riz calls for the industry to change.

Last year, Selena Gomez announced her makeup line ‘Rare Beauty’. It will be officially launching on September 3 at Sephora and on her official website. She enjoyed creating everything and couldn’t wait for people to try the brand.

The brand plans on going global as it will be launched in Turkey, France, Spain, Germany and the Middle East. The name of Pakistan wasn’t mentioned. However, when a social media user asked whether there would be a possibility of the brand making it to the Pakistani market, the brand gave a positive response.

Armeena Rana Khan, of ‘Bin Roye’ and ‘Janaan’, has turned producer with her first short film ‘Snapshot’. She collaborated with Sharaz Ali who has directed, written and co-produced the short. They previously worked together in two films ‘Writhe’ and ‘The Stranger Within Me’. Both made it to Cannes Film Festival together in 2013 and 2014.

Armeena recently made her comeback to TV after a long hiatus with the serial ‘Mohabbatein Chahtein’. She’s also been part of several international projects such as her British sci-fi short film ‘The Achilles Protocol’.

Singer Ali Sethi has released a new track titled ‘Yakjehti Mein’ in solidarity with the Palestinians who are suffering at the hands of the Israeli forces.

The track was made for Radio Alhara and broadcast live from Bethlehem on May 25 in solidarity with the people of Palestine. Ali has incorporated two famous poems ‘Hum Dekhenge’ and ‘Aaj Bazaar Mein’ by Faiz Ahmed Faiz, with permission of the Faiz Foundation. ‘Yakjehti Mein’, in collaboration with American composer Nicolas Jaar, is a masterpiece with eye-opening poetry that jolts one’s soul. The singer has used silence, pauses and sounds of instruments intelligently to emphasize on the heart-hitting lyrics. The song narrates the conversation between Ali and Nicolas about veils, solidarity and the poems of Faiz Ahmed Faiz.

Sajal Aly is appearing in Atif Aslam’s new music video ‘Rafta Rafta’. She was in Skardu shooting for the video. People are eagerly waiting for the song and video.

Sajal’s versatility shines bright. Her web series ‘Dhoop Ki Deewar’ with -husband Ahad Raza Mir is currently showing on Zee5.

SOC Films has released ‘Siyani Sahelian’ on YouTube. It is an adolescent girls documentary that highlights SOC Films’ collaborative flagship program with Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA) focusing on girls’ education in South Punjab.

With a campaign like Siyani Sahelian, both SOC Films and ITA aim to tackle gender inequality. The program has already empowered 36,000+ out-of-school adolescent girls in South Punjab through post-primary opportunities for learning gains, Technical and Vocational Education and Training [TVET], livelihoods and life skills.

This film highlights the importance of female participation in society as they actively try and fulfil their civic responsibilities.