New Chief Justice of Pakistan, weather update, Nawaz’s medical report

Here are the stories, updates and developments we are following Wednesday, February 2, 2022:

Supreme Court Justice Umar Ata Bandial will take oath today (Wednesday) as Pakistan's 28th chief justice. He will continue as the chief justice till his retirement on September 18, 2023.

Justice Bandial pointed out the massive backlog of undecided cases as a major challenge facing the judiciary. He was speaking at a full-court reference held in honour of the outgoing CJP.

Justice Gulzar’s legacy: Karachi and Supreme Court changed forever

Outgoing Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed on Tuesday said he was pleased to have authored verdicts in 4,392 cases during his tenure.

The Pakistan Meteorological Department has forecast another spell of rain, thunderstorms and windstorms in the upper and central parts of the country. The westerly wave is likely to enter late Wednesday.

Windstorms and dust-raising winds are also expected to hit the Sindh and Makran coast which will continue till Thursday evening.

The Met Office issued a snow forecast in Murree, Galliyat, Nathiagali, Naran, Kaghan, Dir, Swat, Shangla, Buner, Neelum valley, Bagh, Haveli, Astore and Hunza.

Temperatures are likely to drop 03 to 05℃ in Sindh and Balochistan.

The International Monetary Fund’s Executive Board will meet today in Washington DC for the sixth Review and release of a $1 billion tranche under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF).

Pakistan has not met all the conditions of the IMF after getting the State Bank of Pakistan Amendment Bill passed by the Senate.

The IMF board meeting was postponed last time from January 28 to February 2, 2022. The loan programme has been stalled since April 2021.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Rehman Malik was moved to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a private hospital in Islamabad after contracting coronavirus. He is currently being treated for lung complications.

The PPP leader had recovered from the coronavirus recently but the health suddenly deteriorated.

Statistics 2 Feb 22:
Total Tests in Last 24 Hours: 61,190
Positive Cases: 6047
Positivity %: 9.88%
Deaths :29
Patients on Critical Care: 1559

— NCOC (@OfficialNcoc) February 2, 2022

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Covid positivity rate stayed below 10% Tuesday. In the last 24 hours, 6,047 cases were reported and 29 people died.

The Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz has submitted a new report on the health of party chief and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif before the Lahore High Court. However, federal ministers have questioned its veracity as the doctor who undersigned the report is based in the United States and not the United Kingdom.

Nawaz Sharif departed for London in November 2019 after being released from jail on the account of his deteriorating health. He was to undergo multiple surgeries at London’s hospitals, but the procedures were postponed.

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