Baji-Budget

After this mini budget aka Baji-Budget it is certain that in current financial year Pakistan will have the largest fiscal deficit in country's history and a larger federal deficit as percentage of GDP than the last 5 years.

Government hasn’t revealed how it plans to plug this huge hole? Printing more money would increase inflation, while getting more debt would increase taxes in future?

Contradictory Judgements

Sheikh Rashid mentioned 983-kanal agricultural land in the nomination papers for the 2013 general elections while he actually owned 1,081-kanal agricultural land.

Similarly, Sheikh Rashid showed the purchase of one-kanal land in the Bahria Gold City for over Rs10million when the booking price of the land was over Rs48million, whereas the current market price of the same land was around Rs60million.

However, Justice Azmat Saeed Sheikh, who earlier disqualified Nawaz Sharif for not declaring a receivable salary, took a contradictory stance in Sheikh Rashid's case and didn't find anything wrong in non declaration of almost 100 kanal agricultural land along with undervaluation of residential property by Rs50million.

Chairman NAB, pack your bag

NAB sources told that it’s rare that a press release is issued in regard to an in-house order for the verification of a complaint. “This has been done a day before the executive committee of the NAB meets in Islamabad to discuss such matters,” a source said.

The source added that some most relevant officers in the Bureau did not know about this development as the direction to make the matter public before even its verification, came from the chairman’s office.

Why establishment dislikes 18th Constitutional Amendment?

The 18th constitutional amendment has eliminated the chance of any martial law in future. Although General Ayub Khan abrogated the Constitution of 1956, no military dictator has ever done this with the Constitution of 1973. Instead, it was either suspended or held in abeyance to capture power whereas Supreme Court of Pakistan validated these adventures.

The 18th Amendment has broadened the definition of treason through changes in Article 6 bringing in loop the judges who would validate in addition to generals thus ending an era of doctrine of necessity. Article 6 (2A) reads: “An act of high treason mentioned in clause (1) or clause (2) shall not be validated by any court including the Supreme Court and a High Court."

As the President of Pakistan’s power of dissolving Parliament and appointing governors have also been done away with, this is another step taken to discourage those thinking of martial law which was easily possible in past only through seizing power in the Center. Neither president can dissolve Parliament without the advice of prime minister nor can governors dissolve provincial assemblies without the advice of respective chief ministers after 18th Amendment which has heralded a new era of governance through consensus instead of coercion.

Not only any martial law is out of question, federal government has lost the right of imposing emergency in any province as was done against the NAP government in now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan through the imposition of Governor’s Raj during first PPP government, in Sindh during second PML-N government and in Punjab by fourth PPP government at federal level. Article 173 has been amended that says any such act requires ratification from the respective provincial assembly within 60 days.

Construction, destruction and reconstruction in Peshawar Metro project

The never ending cycle of construction, destruction and reconstruction in Peshawar Metro project proves that Pakistan's biggest problems are incompetence and mismanagement, creating opportunities for corruption and embezzlement.

Doing business is none of government business

Doing business is none of government business. All state owned companies and corporations should be put up for sale, including those that are doing commercial activity under defense cover. Nation's tax money should be spent on worthy causes, not on paying debts, liabilities and salaries of dead enterprises.

The stories of Jesus and the Quran

The stories of "Jesus (Peace be upon him) speaking from his mother's cradle" and "Jesus (Peace be upon him) and the birds, blowing birds into it and become real birds" are mentioned in the Quran.

Surprisingly, these stories are neither found in the New Testament nor found in the canonical Gospel of Mathew, Mark, Luke and John.

However, in 1886 a dead body of a monk was discovered in the desert of Egypt, he was from the fourth century AD. In the coffins of the monks there were multiple scrolls and these scrolls contained Gospels that are beyond the four canonical Gospels.

One of these Gospels was the Gospel of Thomas and in the Gospel of Thomas we have both of these stories. The story of Jesus (Peace be upon him) speaking as a baby and the story of birds becoming real birds.

It's amazing that for 15 centuries, these stories were not known to any Christian community.

God is Great