funds and other problems. This only led to the escalation in the project’s cost — from Rs31.2 billion to Rs80.35bn.

“The Kachhi canal was almost an abandoned project because of the time and cost overruns that occurred due to different reasons. However, with active support of the federal government and excellent work by Wapda engineers, the project was brought back on track and is now finally complete,” said Wapda chairman retired Lt Gen Muzammil Hussain while speaking to officials during his visit to the project site at Taunsa Barrage.

Wapda officials said the first phase of the project has been completed at a cost of about Rs80bn. The canal starts at Taunsa Barrage in Muzaffargarh district and ends at Dera Bugti district in Balochistan.

Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2017Treasuries as of March, but some analysts believe China's total U.S. dollar-denominated investments could be twice as high.

"Chinese assets are very safe," Geithner said in response to a question after a speech at Peking University, where he studied Chinese as a student in the 1980s.

His answer drew loud laughter from his student audience, reflecting scepticism in China about the wisdom of a developing country accumulating a vast stockpile of foreign reserves instead of spending the money to raise living standards at home.

Laughter is, of course, the perfectly rational response to Timothy's banalities about the safety of Chinese assets when parked in the currency of the country most responsible for the current crisis and leading the way in terms of fiscal and monetary recklessness.

I find it telling that regular