-kMNB-U1021018938041uE-250x250%40HT-Web.jpg "Pawan Sharma")
Pawan Sharma, based in Chandigarh, is Assistant Editor in HT and presently writes on Haryana's politics and governance. During different stints over the past two decades, he covered Punjab extensively for 10 years and before that judiciary and Himachal Pradesh with focus on high-impact news breaking and investigative journalism.
Articles by Pawan Sharma
Ladhar willing to part with Rs 1.58 crore
With no support from legal, administrative or political fronts for his "misconduct", Jalandhar divisional commissioner Sucha Ram Ladhar is learnt to have agreed to part with the Rs 1.58 crore that he had charged as arbitration fee from farmers while deciding their land acquisition compensation cases.
Updated on Sep 28, 2012 12:33 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Pawan Sharma, Chandigarh
Punjab govt stops payment of Rs 2,000-crore bills
Punjab government has halted payment of over Rs 2,000 crore in bills, following its overdraft shooting by Rs 40 crore everyday, it is learnt.
Updated on Sep 26, 2012 02:02 PM IST
None | Pawan Sharma, Chandigarh
Punjab chief secy to visit Pak for bilateral talks
Punjab chief secretary Rakesh Singh will embark on a four-day visit, beginning on Wednesday, to Islamabad along with union commerce secretary SR Rao in what is being seen as an effort aimed at boosting people-to-people-contact and India-Pakistan trade through the Attari-Wagah border.
Updated on Sep 19, 2012 10:07 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Pawan Sharma, Chandigarh
Punjab govt chargesheets IAS officer
The Punjab government has slapped a chargesheet on senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Chandrasekhar Srivastava, holding him guilty of illegally recruiting a naib tehsildar in 2004.
Updated on Sep 18, 2012 07:35 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Pawan Sharma, Chandigarh
Punjab chief secy recommends chargesheet against IAS officer
Punjab chief secretary Rakesh Singh has recommended a chargesheet against Jalandhar divisional commissioner Sucha Ram Ladhar for his "misconduct" of charging arbitration fee from farmers while deciding their land acquisition compensation cases, it is learnt.
Updated on Sep 18, 2012 12:47 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Pawan Sharma, Chandigarh
Exit from cabinet was sole route left
Exit from the Punjab cabinet was the solitary route left for Gulzar Singh Ranike and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leadership to save the six-month-old Parkash Singh Badal government from further blushes.
Updated on Sep 16, 2012 11:32 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Pawan Sharma, Chandigarh
'Defiant' Bhagat opposed CM's order
Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal's order to ensure transparency in filling vacant MBBS and BDS seats under the NRI quota in private medical colleges was strongly opposed by medical education and research minister Bhagat Chunni Lal, it has emerged.
Updated on Sep 14, 2012 01:00 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Pawan Sharma, Chandigarh
Badal to hold yet another cabinet meet on Sept 3
Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal on Thursday decided to convene yet another meeting of the council of ministers on September 3 close on the heels of the August 28 meeting in which a slew of taxes were imposed to generate about Rs 900 crore per annum.
Updated on Aug 30, 2012 10:26 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Pawan Sharma, Chandigarh
State govt gives push to Ludhiana Metro project
The Punjab government has decided that the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) will be its official consultant for turning into reality the Ludhiana rapid transit transportation (metro rail) project.
Updated on Aug 18, 2012 12:47 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Pawan Sharma, Chandigarh
Constables' promotion test to be re-conducted
Punjab's director general of police (DGP) Sumedh Singh Saini has nullified the promotion-oriented basic proficiency (BP) examination of constables, held on July 15, following reports of cops posted in certain "politically influential" districts indulging in malpractices to pass the test.
Updated on Aug 17, 2012 11:44 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Pawan Sharma, Chandigarh
Law invoked to target CM under US scanner
The Supreme Court of the United States has been examining the sanctity of its law the Alien Tort Statute (28 USC, 1,350) or ATS which some US-based radical Sikh activists have invoked to target visiting Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal through a federal civil lawsuit in Wisconsin.
Updated on Aug 12, 2012 12:59 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Pawan Sharma, Chandigarh
Sikh radicals in US slam Badal with court cummons
The America based 'pro-Khalistan' activists have attempted to target the visiting Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal through a federal civil lawsuit by holding him "guilty" of the torture of Sikhs and "defending notorious" police officers "before the courts." Pawan Sharma reports.
Updated on Aug 09, 2012 10:31 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Pawan Sharma, Chandigarh
On US visit, Badal faces lawsuit by pro-Khalistan activists
The America based 'pro-Khalistan' activists have attempted to target the visiting Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal through a federal civil lawsuit by holding him "guilty" of the torture of Sikhs and "defending notorious" police officers "before the courts."
Updated on Aug 10, 2012 10:46 AM IST
Hindustantimes.com | Pawan Sharma, Chandigarh
Advocate general, CM saved PCS officer from suspension
Senior Punjab Civil Service (PCS) officer Dr Amarpal Singh has escaped suspension, despite then chief secretary RI Singh's order, in the Rs 24 crore iron ore export scam due to then advocate general Hardev Singh Mattewal's legal intrusion which chief minister Parkash Singh Badal accepted, it has emerged.
Updated on Aug 08, 2012 12:27 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Pawan Sharma, Chandigarh
Crores released for non-existent PWD projects in Mansa
An unusual inquiry and a series of dossiers in Punjab's public works department (PWD) have dug out leads to a slew of malpractices which, if investigated, have the potential to incriminate a number of senior engineers. The leads may also help join the dots of an engineer-politico nexus that is widely discussed yet hardly revealed.
Updated on Aug 05, 2012 12:58 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Pawan Sharma, Chandigarh
Top bureaucrats reject R120-crore e-project
The ambitious Rs 120-crore computerisation project being implemented by Tata Consultancy Services Limited came under sharp criticism from administrative secretaries during a review meeting convened by Punjab chief secretary Rakesh Singh on Friday, it is learnt.
Updated on Aug 04, 2012 12:50 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Pawan Sharma, Chandigarh
Jalandhar divisional commissioner's role comes under IT dept scrutiny
The conduct of Jalandhar divisional commissioner Sucha Ram Ladhar for resolving disputes between farmers and NHAI over the land acquisition compensation has come under the IT department's scrutiny.
Updated on Aug 01, 2012 11:16 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Pawan Sharma, Chandigarh
SAD, BJP sink differences to raise revenue
The top Shiromani Akali Dal leadership on Monday succeeded in convincing its alliance partner, the BJP, to kick-start the additional resource mobilisation (ARM) exercise-imposing taxes-to revive Punjab's grim fiscal health.
Updated on Aug 01, 2012 01:07 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Pawan Sharma, Chandigarh
SAD, BJP agree to revenue mobilisation
The top Shiromani Akali Dal leadership today succeeded in convincing its alliance partner, the BJP, to kick-start the additional resource mobilisation (ARM) exercise-imposing taxes-to revive Punjab's grim fiscal health.
Updated on Jul 31, 2012 12:45 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Pawan Sharma, Chandigarh
Punjab govt turns heat on serving, retired IAS officers
The Punjab government has decided to tighten the noose around a serving IAS officer and a retired one for their direct or indirect involvement in the multi-crore scam in four government-funded farm councils. CM Badal has directed chief secretary (IAS cadre-controlling authority) to decide the appropriate action against the offenders.
Updated on Jul 21, 2012 12:29 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Pawan Sharma
SC stays further trial against accused cops
The Supreme Court stayed a Punjab and Haryana high court ruling as well as further proceedings pending before Patiala's special CBI court against Punjab police personnel - serving as well as retired - facing charges of fake encounters while fighting terrorism.
Updated on Jul 14, 2012 12:10 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Pawan Sharma, Chandigarh
Rs 24-cr iron ore scam's file resurfaces after 21 months
A file pertaining to the Rs 23.93-crore iron ore scam - involving an IAS as well as Punjab Civil Service officers among others - has resurfaced after the Punjab chief minister's office allegedly kept it under wraps for more than 21 months, it is learnt.
Updated on Jul 12, 2012 12:46 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Pawan Sharma, Chandigarh
Ladhar's 'money-spinning': AG yet to get file seeking opinion
After moving with striking efficiency initially, the Parkash Singh Badal government now appears to have put on ice the case of Punjab-cadre IAS officer Sucha Ram Ladhar charging for arbitration between the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and landowners.
Updated on Jul 05, 2012 11:55 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Pawan Sharma, Chandigarh
Canine intervention saves the day for SAD-BJP govt
Ever heard of a state government taking refuge behind the might of stray dogs? That's what happened in the Punjab assembly when the Parkash Singh Badal government used the issue of the stray dog menace prevailing in the state to get out of a tricky situation created by the Opposition Congress.
Updated on Jun 29, 2012 12:04 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Pawan Sharma, Chandigarh
Budget estimates: Oppn Cong puts Punjab government on defensive
Opposition Congress triggered a major tremor in the SAD-BJP government today, leaving its finance minister red-faced and the bureaucracy stunned after Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Sunil Jakhar pointed out the "illegalities" the government had committed in 2012-13 budget by "breaching" the Punjab Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act, 2003.
Updated on Jun 26, 2012 11:00 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Pawan Sharma, Chandigarh
Badal's digs floor Congress in the Vidhan Sabha
The much-awaited presence of Punjab Congress chief Capt Amarinder Singh in the Vidhan Sabha was used to the hilt by chief minister Parkash Singh Badal to take potshots at his political foe.
Updated on Jun 26, 2012 01:31 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Pawan Sharma, Chandigarh
CCI slaps exemplary fine on cement firms
In a first-of-its-kind order, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has imposed a penalty of over Rs 6,000 crore on 11 leading cement producers after finding them guilty of forming cartels to control "prices, production and supply" of cement in the market.
Updated on Jun 24, 2012 06:23 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Pawan Sharma, Chandigarh
Verma deposits R10 lakh made through arbitration
Jalandhar divisional commissioner Anurag Verma followed in the footsteps of his predecessor Sucha Ram Ladhar and charged arbitration fee - without prior sanction of the Punjab government - for resolving disputes between farmers and the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) over land acquisition compensation.
Updated on Jun 14, 2012 11:51 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Pawan Sharma, Chandigarh
Ladhar made R1.6 cr from arbitration
Sucha Ram Ladhar, a senior Punjab-cadre IAS officer, has allegedly made Rs 1.58 crore in arbitration fee for resolving disputes between farmers and the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) over land acquisition compensation, according to top government sources.
Updated on Jun 01, 2012 11:39 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Pawan Sharma, Chandigarh
Ladhar in deep trouble as CM for action as per law
Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal has directed chief secretary Rakesh Singh to proceed as per law against Patiala divisional commissioner Sucha Ram Ladhar for charging arbitration fee from landowners while deciding their land acquisition compensation disputes.
Updated on May 26, 2012 11:41 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Pawan Sharma, Chandigarh