Current Final

Author: News Desk

  • Want to buy the new iPhone? Think again because the new Pakistan tax is shocking

    Want to buy the new iPhone? Think again because the new Pakistan tax is shocking

    If you are thinking of asking your relative or a friend to bring you iPhone 13 Pro Max 1TB from abroad, think again. The government has yet again increased taxes on luxury phones.

    Let’s suppose you buy the highest-end iPhone from abroad. The 1TB phone will cost you $1,730.92 which is 305,068.94 PKR, for the highest-end iPhone.

    If you will a buy a 128GB phone it will cost you $1,189.67 which is 208,571.16 PKR. Similarly, the price for a 256GB phone will be $1,297.92 which is 227,549.39 PKR.

    The price of a 512GB phone is 1514.42$ which is 265,505.84 PKR.

    A government source has informed The Current that phones from abroad are now being subjected to 17% sales tax instead of a fixed sales tax. The total tax will also include customs tax.

    Earlier, the fixed sales tax on the iPhone13 Pro max was Rs. 10,000 but if you now calculate a 17 per cent tax on 305,068.94 PKR in our case, the tax will be 51,861.7198. The customs tax is Rs 34,000 on the iPhone.

    If you now want to buy an iPhone 13 Pro max in Pakistan, the total tax will be 51,861.7198+34,000=85,861.17 for the 1TB Phone.

    If you have a passport on which you came back with the phone, it will cost you a little less, 51,861.7198+26,000=77,861.7198.

    Government sources while talking to The Current said, “If a person can afford a phone worth almost 300k, then he can pay 78k too. These phones have inelastic demands.”

    “Most smartphones sold in Pakistan (more than 80%) and mid category (between $150-200). 70% of these are now made in Pakistan and have very little tax on them. The ones in the range that are imported have a tax of around Rs 5-8k on them,” the source added.

  • Will Shaheen Afridi become Captain of the Pakistan Cricket Team? Shaheen speaks out

    Will Shaheen Afridi become Captain of the Pakistan Cricket Team? Shaheen speaks out

    Star pacer of the Pakistan cricket team Shaheen Shah Afridi praised the captaincy of the national team’s all-format skipper Babar Azam and wished for him to continue in this role for at least 10-15 years. The speedster said that he has no plan to captain the team as Babar is leading the team brilliantly.

    Read More – PM Khan predicts winning team of PSL 7

    In a pre-Pakistan Super League (PSL 7) media conference, Lahore Qalandars’ newly appointed captain Afridi was asked whether he would like to do the captaincy of the Pakistan team in the future.

    “I don’t have any plans for now as Babar is leading the side so well. Under his captaincy, the team gelled strongly and performed. I wish he continues as captain for at least 10-15 years,” he responded.

    “In the future, if any opportunity comes to me, I would love to do it for my country. But, for now, I want Babar to continue for long,” he added.

    It must be noted here that Shaheen and Babar will be leading their respective franchises Lahore Qalandars and Karachi Kings for the first time in PSL 7.

  • Shah Mehmood refuses to directly answer question about Biden not calling Khan, says it’s irrelevant

    Shah Mehmood refuses to directly answer question about Biden not calling Khan, says it’s irrelevant

    Foreign Minister (FM) Shah Mahmood Qureshi, while speaking on Samaa News programme, revealed that talks of Pakistan with the President of United States (US) Joe Biden are now irrelevant.

    Speaking on ‘Nadeem Malik Live’, Qureshi said, “These talks with America have no weight, they are irrelevant.”

    Nadeem interjected and said that Pakistan does not want to talk to America, to which Qureshi said, “We will talk to them, whenever required we will talk to them [America]. When they need to talk to us, they do so.”

    “When we require we engage with them. When I was in New York I met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, we had a great meeting,” said Qureshi.

    Nadeem questioned Qureshi if the relationship between America and Pakistan had scaled down? Qureshi negating the question said, “No, the relationship has scaled up now.”

    “Why can’t you talk to Biden?” questioned Nadeem. “Biden as a personality has many institutions and has many channels of communication. Those channels of communications are open to us and we use them,” responded Qureshi.

    Later when Nadeem reminded him that there was a time when foreign office used to actively work to get a call for the sidelines of the United Nations (UN) assembly, now Qureshi was stating that the Biden call is irrelevant.

    Negating his previous statement, Qureshi said, “There is no harm in meeting Biden. But if he [Biden] thinks that he is busy with things and he might have is own preferences, so we have no hurry as well.”

    “Why has Biden kept us away from him as a policy, and has disengaged with us,” questioned Nadeem?

    “[Biden] can give the answer to this,” said Qureshi.

  • ‘Sad, judgmental, grow up’: Mathira slams Shahroz, Behroze Sabzwari for controversial remarks

    ‘Sad, judgmental, grow up’: Mathira slams Shahroz, Behroze Sabzwari for controversial remarks

    The father-son duo of Shahroz Sabzwari and Behroze Sabzwari recently appeared together on Nida Yasir’s morning show. On being asked by the host that who amongst the two is a more expressive husband, Behroze was quick to answer that he doesn’t believes in being expressive in public and finds expressive couples to be fake.

    This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is WhatsApp-Image-2022-01-20-at-11.22.54-1024x512.jpg

    His son Shahroz added that he doesn’t like Public display of affection and he can’t do it. He also mentioned that it’s indeed fake love that couples express in public.

    The Teri Rah Mein star added that he finds it weird when couples sit very close to each other, its just a pretense according to him and he can even challenge on this.

    “I can challenge, its fake, yeh 2 number miyan-biwi hain, isko 2 numbri kehte hai.”

    “Dikhaway ke liye kartay hain.”

    Now actor Mathira has commented on their statements, she expressed her disagreement and said that the remarks are very judgmental and sad in nature.

    The Blind Love star stated that public display of affection doesn’t make a couple fake.

    She concluded by saying that, “Please grow up”.

    ALSO READ: ‘2 number miyan biwi, no PDA’: Shahroz and Behroze Sabzwari lash out at industry couples

  • ‘Obsessed with this song’: Indian celebs praise Naseebo Lal-Abida Parveen’s chartbuster ‘Tu Jhoom’

    ‘Obsessed with this song’: Indian celebs praise Naseebo Lal-Abida Parveen’s chartbuster ‘Tu Jhoom’

    Indian celebrities including Daler Mehndi, who is one of the most popular Punjabi singer in India has praised Coke Studio’s song ‘Tu Jhoom’, with a special shout-out to Naseebo Lal.

    The song is sung by music veterans Abida Parveen and Naseebo Lal.

    “Today I want to tell you that Naseebo Lal has made a name for herself in India and everywhere in the world where people love music, ”he said in a video. “Whoever is watching me send lots of blessings to Naseebo Lal Jee,” stated Daler.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkWJGulr_aM

    Indian actor Aly Goni also shared a story of him listening to the song, and wrote, “Obsessed with this song.”

    Actor and Bigg Boss 15 contestant Donal Bisht is following Naseebo Lal on Instagram now after collaborating her on song Nikaah.

    Tu Jhoom is a song about a conversation about letting yourself go, opening your heart and understanding that you are enough and nothing will be gained by running after worldly things. The song rapidly gained fame among the masses leaving everyone captivated with the lyrics and its soothing melody.

    The chartbuster is written by Adnan Dhool, composed and mixed by Xulfi, arranged and produced by Xulfi and Abdullah Siddiqui.

  • Netflix confirms second season of popular Korean show ‘Squid Game’

    Netflix confirms second season of popular Korean show ‘Squid Game’

    Co-CEO and Chief Content Officer of Netflix, Ted Sarandos has confirmed the 2nd season of the global top trending Korean show ‘Squid Game’ of 2021.

    In 2021, the question was asked about the possibility of a second season of the Korean show on which Sarandos revealed, “Absolutely, the ‘Squid Game’ universe has just begun.”

    The Squid Game director also hinted about a second and third season of Squid Game last year while giving an interview to the Korea Broadcasting System, KBS programme, where he opened up about plans to release the next season of the web series. He said, “I’m currently in the midst of discussions with Netflix about Season 2 and Season 3 [of ‘Squid Game’].”

    Netflix is investing millions of dollars in the Korean entertainment industry in financing partnerships and co-productions in South Korea since 2015.

    Recently, Netflix released the first teaser and primary characters of Korean adaptation of the popular Spanish show ‘Money Heist‘.

    The audience will be able to view more Korean content in the year, 2022 including All of Us Are Dead which will release on January 28, 2022. The story revolves around high school students trying to survive a zombie virus epidemic.

  • Interior Minister questioned on rising terrorism, didn’t brief parliament for nine months

    Interior Minister questioned on rising terrorism, didn’t brief parliament for nine months

    The Opposition senators questioned the Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed over the recent terrorist attacks in Islamabad and Lahore in today’s Senate session.

    Earlier this week, in a gun attack, a police officer was killed in the capital and the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility. Lahore was attacked on Thursday which claimed the lives of three civilians.

    Senator Raza Rabbani said that Baloch Nationalist Army (BNA) had claimed responsibility for one of the attacks while Rasheed said the TTP was behind it. The senator demanded that the minister be summoned to clear the confusion, reports Dawn.

    Several other senators including Pakistan Muslim-League’s (PML-N) sought a reply. One of them said that “he had not seen the interior minister in the House for any briefing during the last nine months.”

    Rasheed made a briefing and said that there are “special motives” behind the killing of the cop in Islamabad. However, about the Lahore tragedy, the minister stated that an investigation is underway. 

    Upon the Oppostion’s insistence of seeking an explanation from the government. Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani told the minister to brief the upper house in this regard and the steps taken by the government on Monday (January 24).

    After the capital incident, the minister had warned of more terrorist-related attacks. Previously in the past month, two terrorists allegedly belonging to the banned outfit TTP were arrested in Karachi.

  • Electrician arrested for murdering and then raping a woman in Karachi

    Electrician arrested for murdering and then raping a woman in Karachi

    Police on Friday claimed to have arrested a suspect for his alleged involvement in the rape and murder of a woman after brutally killing her in Lyari, Karachi, ARY news reported.

    According to details, the body of a woman was found near the Cheel Chowk area of Lyari on January 18 under mysterious circumstances, only to be found later that the victim, Sumaira was murdered by an electrician, who use to come for repairs at her home.

    SSP Sarfaraz Nawaz while confirming the arrest said that suspect was an electrician by profession and has been arrested from the Kalakot area.

    “He used to frequently visit her home for repair works,” he said, adding that on the day of the incident, the suspect went to her home to repair a light. The electrician murdered the woman and later subjected her to rape and fled from the scene.

    He was arrested after the evidence collected from the crime scene pointed towards him.

  • U19 CWC: Pakistan qualifies for quarter-finals after beating Afghanistan

    U19 CWC: Pakistan qualifies for quarter-finals after beating Afghanistan

    The Under 19 Pakistan cricket team has qualified for the quarter-finals of the U19 Cricket World Cup after winning two matches, defeating Afghanistan by 24 runs in the second match at the Brian Lara Cricket Stadium in Trinidad.

    Pakistan skipper Qasim Akram elected to bat first and his side scored a good total of 239 runs. Last match’s star Haseebullah Khan failed to impress fans, scoring only two runs while Muhammad Shehzad scored 43.

    Shehzad shared a 60 partnership with number three Abdul Faseeh who made 68 off 95 balls with the skipper Qasim adding 38 from number five.

    Maaz Sadaqat played a gem of an innings with 42 not out off just 37 balls, including seven fours, to drag his side up to 239 for nine from their 50 overs.

    Despite a slow start, Afghanistan took the contest deep, although their innings was characterised by some wild running between the wickets, with three runouts as well as a number of near misses. The Afghan team managed to score 215 for the loss of nine wickets.

    Awais Ali, who took six wickets in the match against Zimbabwe, took three wickets by conceading only 36 runs in nine overs.

    The Green Shirts’ next game of the group stage is against Papua New Guinea, scheduled to be played on Saturday, January 22.

  • PTI’s Dr Shahbaz Gill loses it when asked about his educational background

    PTI’s Dr Shahbaz Gill loses it when asked about his educational background

    Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Political Communication Dr Shahbaz Gill lost his cool when the credibility of his educational background was put into question during HUM News programme, ‘Breaking Point with Malick’.

     Anchorperson Mohammad Malick and Gill traded barbs while making personal attacks on each other.

    Malick and Gill’s argument revolved around the increasing inflation in Pakistan.

    Shahbaz Gill hit back at Malick saying that he is a journalist, not an economist. To which Malick questioned whether Shahbaz Gill is an economist or not.

    In response, Shahbaz Gill said he has done a PhD in Business from the University of Malaya. However, Malick took a dig at the university’s credibility claiming that it has a controversial status since there were talks that it is not a verified university.

    The personal attack did not sit well with Shahbaz Gill who said that Malick should leave journalism. Shahbaz Gill defended the university by saying that Malaysia’s Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad studied there.

    “That university is like Quaid-e-Azam University,” Dr. Shahbaz Gill said, highlighting its national importance in Malaysia. “You are giving a nonsense statement!”

    “If you’re talking about nonsense statements, then I think you are acting as a nonsense person,” Malick hit back. “You are being rude, look at your language, try saying ‘nonsense’ to your seniors in the party,” said Malick.

    Malick later said, “I hope the prime minister will teach his special assistants how to talk. We are hosts and on television, we cannot speak certain things due to professional obligations. This is not a Jalsa but a political talk show. I hope the ministers and special assistants of the government should have the patience and decency to answer questions in a decent manner.”

    We can give a lot of answers but we will not respond to insults,” said Malick.

    Gill took to Twitter and said, “If someone insults my school by calling it suspicious, then a harsh answer will be given back.”

    Later, Mohammad Malick tweeted that he misheard the university’s name.

    “Confusion arose when I misheard uni name and mistook it for another but that was a minor issue, the ugliness happened because of extreme aggressiveness of the gentleman and rowdy language,” said Malick.

    “Like I said, every conflicting opinion can be made without a conflict,” Malick tweeted.