Nine Pakistanis feature on Forbes ‘30 under 30’ Asia list

Every year Forbes releases it's much anticipated "30 under 30" Asia list and just like last year, this year again Pakistanis have managed to make it to the list.

Here are the nine Pakistani's who have made it to this year's list:

Muhammad Asad Raza and Abrahim Ali Shaha

Muhammad Asad Raza and Abrahim Ali Shaha.

Health care is fast becoming one of the most sought-after industry. So it is no surprise the new wave of entrepreneurs are heading towards it.

Muhammad Asad Raza along with his partner Abrahim Shaha launched Neurostic, a healthcare startup which aims to provide low cost and high quality wearable and implantable medical devices for the developing world.

Neurostic also provides prosthetic services for amputees in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and Syria, places that have little or no access to rehabilitation facilities.

Muhammad Shaheer Niazi

Muhammad Shaheer Niazi

Seventeen-year-old student and scientist Muhammad Shaheer Niazi was the first to photograph the movement of ions that create the honeycomb shape made when electrically charged particles try to pass through a pool of oil

In 2016, Niazi was Pakistan's first participant in the International Young Physicist Tournament in Russia. His work has also appeared in the Royal Society Open Science journal.

Adnan Shaffi and Adeel Shaffi

Adnan Shaffi and Adeel Shaffi

E-commerce is another industry that has started to flourish in Pakistan.

Siblings Adnan Shaffi and Adeel Shaffi, founded PriceOye in 2015, a price comparison platform for electronics in second and third-tier cities in Pakistan.

The platform uses data analytics to provide marketing information to retailers and at the same time finds the best deals across a variety of retailers for the consumers.

Sadia Bashir

Sadia Bashir

For her work in bridging the gap between education and gaming, Sadia Bashir was chosen by Forbes.

She cofounded Pixel Art Games Academy, which aims to bridge the gap between the gaming industry demand and education by providing training in video game development and recruitment opportunities.

Hamza Farrukh

Hamza Farrukh

Founder of Bondh-E-Shams, Hamza's company aims to tackle the problem of water scarcity in the most poorly connected areas of Pakistan.

The solar-powered wells supply clean water to 1,500 residents of a village in Pakistan. One pump can supply clean water up to some 5,000 people every day.

Syed Faizan Hussain

Syed Faizan Hussain

The 23-year old has a host of projects under his belt.

Founder of Perihelion Systems, the start-up uses technology to make lives better.

Some of Perihelion's products include Edu-Aid, a sign language translating software; One Health, a disease surveillance and tracking system used to predict outbreaks and alert health institutions to expedite intervention; and Glove Gauge, wearable technology to facilitate professional production processes such as measurements.

Momina Mustehsan

Momina Mustehsan

Singer Momina Mustehsan made it to the list for her fight for women's right.

The Coke Studio singing sensation made it big, after her version of Afreen Afreen became the most viewed song on YouTube. Since then she has been using her star power to champion for women's right across Pakistan. 

Strings tell all about new singles, Coke Studio and upcoming performances

Photo: File 

Pop rock band Strings who are releasing eight singles this year to mark 30 years of the band shed light on their rise, Coke Studio and their much-awaited comeback.

"At this point in time we feel like when we first started off," an excited Faisal Kapadia said during an appearance on Geo Pakistan on Tuesday morning.

Sharing the enthusiasm for the release of their singles this year, the singer said, "We are so excited for our new music."

In their first appearance on a TV show after six years, the band told Geo Pakistan that they "want to get out there and perform."

"We want to go to Islamabad too as we performed in Karachi and Lahore recently," Kapadia said regarding their return to stage after a hiatus of four years.

The two college friends, Faisal and Bilal Maqsood, shared that they will release eight songs this year, the first of which is already out.

Sajni, written by the legendary Anwar Maqsood and directed by Yasir Jaswal, was released on March 17 and has fans eagerly waiting for the second one.

"The next song, Uth Jao, will release on April 6," Kapadia added.

Bilal shared that his father, Anwar Maqsood, has written most of their new songs and the eighth and final song will be released in their album '30'.

Shifting focus to Coke Studio which the band produced for four seasons and quit in October last year, the duo recalled that the platform had a lot of high points.

"There were a lot of high points, especially in Season 7 when we brought together legends Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Abida Parveen for Chaap Tilak," the band said.

"To bring the two on one platform was impossible," Bilal added.

Kapadia added that normally they have two to three retakes for a song but for Chaap Tilak they only recorded it once and there were no rehearsals. "When two greats sat down you just couldn't ask them to do it again," he said.

The duo also said that Amjad Sabri and Rahat's 'Rung' was another such moment. "We were crying after that song," Kapadia said.

The college friends recalled that they've been friends for 30 years now. "We met at Government Commerce College and the day we met, our band came into existence," they said.

Strings released their first song in 1988 and reached their peak in 1992 with their famous Sar Kiye Yeh Pahar.

However, the band went on a break till 1999. "We had to complete schooling," Kapadia said.

Recalling that Bilal went to art school and he to the US for higher education, Kapadia said, "Our focus was always that we want music as a hobby not a profession."

But things have changed and been upwards for the band since.

In 2004, they were approached by Columbia TriStar Films of India to include their next single Najane Kyun on the soundtrack of the Hindi version of the Hollywood blockbuster Spider-Man 2.

"We couldn't believe it and thought it was some sort of a prank so didn't tell anyone about it, including our families," the duo said.

Further delving into the music they've produced over three decades, the band said, "Moor was the first time we ventured out of our own comfort zone."

"That was a good bridge for Coke Studio as we got a call from the platform soon after and we never approached them ourself," Kapadia said.

"God has been really kind in these 30 years," the band said. 

Stars flock down for Feroze Khan's mehndi

Photo: Twitter

Pakistani actor Feroze Khan who is set to tie the knot this month had his star-studded mehndi on Saturday.

The Khaani and Gul-e-Rana star is rumoured to be marrying an industry outsider.

Earlier, Khan's sister Humamima Malik had taken to social media thanking fans for their "love and respect" and requesting privacy during the event.

The star power of the Pakistan entertainment industry descended down to partake in the celebrations, splashing Instagram with the happenings of the mehndi night.

Here are the celebrities that were present at the event:

#ferozedaveyah

A post shared by king feroze Khan (@kingferozekhan) on Mar 26, 2018 at 4:02pm PDT

Photo: Instagram - kingferozekhan

Meray pyaray @duamalik @ferozekhan #ferozedaveyah

A post shared by HUMAIMA MALICK (@humaimamalick) on Mar 25, 2018 at 7:21am PDT

A post shared by Meera Irtaza (@meerajeeofficial) on Mar 26, 2018 at 3:41pm PDT

A post shared by Meera Irtaza (@meerajeeofficial) on Mar 26, 2018 at 3:39pm PDT

A post shared by Meera Irtaza (@meerajeeofficial) on Mar 26, 2018 at 12:19pm PDT

#ferozedaveyah #aboutlastnight #mehndi @ansarialert @ferozekhan

A post shared by Nomi Ansari (@nomiansari) on Mar 27, 2018 at 12:11am PDT

DJ nu bulwaaaa looo, mere veeeer di wedding hai @ferozekhan #FerozeDaVeyah #DholkiNight

A post shared by Ayaz Samoo (@ayazsamoo) on Mar 25, 2018 at 7:00am PDT

Farhan Akhtar deletes Facebook account

Bollywood actor-cum-director Farhan Akhtar has joined the list of celebrities who have deleted their Facebook accounts in the wake of a data breach row involving the social media giant.

"Good morning. This is to inform you all that I have permanently deleted my personal Facebook account. However, the verified FarhanAkhtarLive page is still active," the 44-year-old tweeted.

Although the Bollywood star did not delve into details regarding the reason for the move, it follows a series of similar moves by Elon Musk, Cher and Jim Carrey.

As the #DeleteFacebook movement gathered momentum, celebrities joined the chorus and quit the social media platform.

Last week, verified Facebook pages of Elon Musk's rocket company SpaceX and electric carmaker Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) disappeared, minutes after the Silicon Valley billionaire promised on Twitter to take down the pages when challenged by users.

"Delete SpaceX page on Facebook if you're the man?" a user tweeted to Tesla Chief Executive Musk. His response: "I didn't realize there was one. Will do." 

Facebook pages of SpaceX and Tesla, which had millions of followers, are no longer accessible.

Musk had begun the exchange by responding to a tweet from WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton on the #DeleteFacebook tag.

The hashtag gained prominence after the world's largest social network upset users by mishandling data, which ended up in the hands of Cambridge Analytica - a political consultancy that worked on US President Donald Trump's 2016 election campaign.

Singer Cher also removed her Facebook page on the same day.

Further, last month Jim Carrey tweeted: "I'm dumping my Facebook stock and deleting my page because facebook profited from Russian interference in our elections and they're still not doing enough to stop it."

Handmaid's Tale back for 'gut-wrenching' second run

Dystopian sci-fi series The Handmaid´s Tale returns in a month for its second season, promising more "gut-wrenching" television as it moves beyond the events of Margaret Atwood´s foundational feminist novel. Photo: The Handmaid's Tale

 

LOS ANGELES: Dystopian sci-fi series The Handmaid's Tale returns in a month for its second season, promising more "gut-wrenching" television as it moves beyond the events of Margaret Atwood´s foundational feminist novel.

The producers of the awards juggernaut, which became Hulu´s flagship show last year, are promising new locations, characters and plot twists -- but the same old dread that permeates the nightmarish hellscape of Gilead.

"I have been saying about the opening scene of season two that, whatever you think it´s going to be, just throw it out," the show´s award-winning star Elisabeth Moss told US cable network Bravo ahead of its April 25 release.

"It´s gone in a completely different way that I never would have expected."

Published in 1985, Atwood´s bestseller is required reading in schools, often mentioned in the same breath as George Orwell´s 1984, Aldous Huxley´s Brave New World and other works of speculative fiction.

It has spawned a movie, a graphic novel, an opera and a ballet, not to mention the first season of Hulu´s hit show that has eight Emmys, three Critics Choice Awards and two Golden Globes.

The series stars Moss (Mad Men) in a near-future in which New England has been dismantled in a theocratic coup and replaced with Gilead, a tyrannical regime where men mete out brutal punishments and rape is mandated by the state.

Moss plays June/Offred, one of the few remaining fertile women who work as "handmaids," given new names to reflect their "owners" and forced into sexual servitude in an attempt to repopulate the climate-ravaged world.

'Part of the resistance'

When the first season launched, Atwood´s nightmarish vision had never felt more relevant in the US, amid religiously-inspired massacres, campus sex attacks and a proposed assault on reproductive health care.

Critics suggested that The Handmaid´s Tale was a logical conclusion of the uglier realities of Donald Trump´s America and sales of the novel surged after the president´s November 2016 election.

Its gender-equality message became more resonant still with the downfall of Harvey Weinstein and numerous other powerful Hollywood figures in the latter months of last year, amid allegations of sex abuse and harassment.

Executive producer Warren Littlefield said after the show won best television drama at the Golden Globes in January that he sometimes wished it was not as topical as it had turned out.

"We went into development and then into production, and the world was a very different-looking place -- it was not a Trump world," he told reporters at the Beverly Hills ceremony.

"Midway through the first season the reality changes, and each and every day we are reminded of what we carry forward -- a responsibility to live up to Margaret Atwood´s vision, and also to be a part of the resistance."

The second season, which adds Marisa Tomei (Spider-Man: Homecoming) and Bradley Whitford (Get Out), shows viewers how the dictatorship came to be and introduces the Colonies, a contaminated zone where dissidents are held.

´Gilead is within you´ 

Madeline Brewer, whose character Janine ends up there with fellow handmaid Emily (Alexis Bledel), told Hollywood´s PaleyFest television festival she formed her mental images of the no-go zone from the book.

"I feel like it´s so aligned, when I read the book, what I picture and what I see in the show, which is just like this aesthetically really beautiful rolling hills and cornfields," she said.

"And then you put a magnifying glass on it and it´s incredibly sinister and gut-wrenchingly terrible."

The show´s creator Bruce Miller describes the Colonies as "an extrapolation of the way they think about women -- as disposable," likening the stoicism of the women there to the resolve of people in concentration camps and Chinese labour camps.

"How do you build an individual life, a community, even in a place like that, even in a place where you think, ´This is my last stop -- this is the last house I´m going to live in?´" he mused.

Samira Wiley plays Moira, Offred/June´s best friend since college who was seen escaping to Canada at the end of season one, where she discovers Luke Bankole (OT Fagbenle), June´s husband from before Gilead.

Wiley said Moira is relieved finally to have escaped "being raped repeatedly, every day, all those things" but struggles with being away from everything that is familiar.

"One of the thematics for this year, that Bruce really used for season two, is ´Gilead is within you,´" added Littlefield.

"They both may be in Little America, up in Toronto, but they haven´t fully left Gilead and Gilead hasn´t fully left them. So we get to play with the trauma and the repercussions of all of that."

Salman Khan assures assistance for fellow actor

Bollywood actor Salman Khan on Monday said he's providing assistance to actress Pooja Dadwal after she tried contacting him to seek financial help for her Tuberculosis treatment.

Dadwal who starred in the 1995 film Veergati said in an earlier interview that she had been suffering from Tuberculosis and was trying to reach out to Salman Khan for financial help but hadn't received a response.

When questioned about this at a press conference, the actor said his team was "already into it". "I just heard about this and we are trying to help as much as we can. And our team is already into it. I was not knowing about this that she was going through this phase. I think she will be okay."

Salman also clarified that Dadwal was not his co-star but his brother-in-laws. "I know, it's really sad. She is not my co-star, but she was Atul's co-star," he added.

In a video, Pooja had stated she had been hospitalised for the past 15 days and was in need of urgent help.

Louis Vuitton appoints Virgil Abloh as its new menswear designer

Photo: Reuters

Louis Vuitton brand, the biggest revenue driver at the French luxury goods group, said on Monday it had hired Virgil Abloh, the founder of streetwear label Off-White, to design its menswear collections.

The appointment follows internal reshuffles at LVMH that included switching menswear designers at sister brand Christian Dior.

Abloh, a 37-year-old American who has worked as hip-hop singer Kanye West's creative director, launched his first men's and womenswear collections through his Off-White label four years ago.

The brand is known for its luxury urban style, featuring hoodies that start at $570, at a time when high-end brands are adopting some streetwear looks to attract younger shoppers.

Abloh, who interned with the rapper at LVMH's Fendi label, takes over from Briton Kim Jones - also known for introducing a streetwear look at Vuitton and who was last week named as the new designer of menswear at Dior.

Virgil Abloh. Photo: AFP

Vuitton chief executive Michael Burke said in a statement that Abloh's "innate creativity and disruptive approach have made him so relevant, not just in the world of fashion but in popular culture today."

Menswear is typically a much smaller contributor to sales than women's fashion for big brands, but LVMH is shaking up men's collections across a number of its firms, as well as revamping the management of several labels.

Its French label Celine aims to at least double revenues under incoming designer Hedi Slimane as it branches into menswear and perfumes as well as growing online.