Chandigarh/Udaipur, April 6, 2026:
The Governing Body meeting of the North Zone Cultural Centre was held today in Udaipur under the chairmanship of the Hon’ble Governor of Punjab and Chairman of the Centre, Shri Gulab Chand Kataria. Representatives and nominated members from Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Chandigarh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, and Ladakh participated in the meeting. The Additional Secretary, Ministry of Culture, Government of India, also joined the meeting online and shared her suggestions.
Several important decisions were taken to promote cultural exchange. It was decided to prepare a detailed plan for organizing Kashmir and Ladakh festivals in Chandigarh, Punjab festival in Rajasthan, and Rajasthan festival in Kashmir.
Approval was granted for the construction of an auditorium under the Tagore Cultural Complex scheme at Kalagram, Chandigarh. Approximately 40% of the cost (around ₹5.6 crore) will be provided by the Chandigarh Administration. All members welcomed and appreciated this decision.
Additionally, annual awards for folk artists and young artists from member states were approved. A total prize amount of ₹12 lakh is provided from the personal funds of the Chairman and Governor, making it a unique initiative of the Centre.
The expenditure of ₹14.56 crore for the year 2024–25 was approved, while a program budget of ₹15 crore for 2025–26 was proposed. An establishment expenditure of ₹5.10 crore was also approved.
Discussions were held on the ₹4 crore renovation of the Centre’s Patiala office, and emphasis was laid on expediting the construction of a boundary wall on the allotted land. Instructions were also issued to initiate the tender process at the earliest for a multi-purpose hall at Kalagram, to be built at a cost of ₹2.54 crore.
The meeting expressed satisfaction that the North Zone Cultural Centre was entrusted with the responsibility of being the nodal agency for the cultural program held at Kartavya Path on Republic Day. The Centre successfully executed the program with efficiency and cost-effectiveness. The performance, featuring around 2,700 artists, received a Special Jury Award. Notably, the event was completed at a cost of ₹15 crore against the approved budget of ₹22.5 crore.
In his address, Hon’ble Chairman Shri Kataria emphasized the need for cultural exchange among states to preserve the country’s rich cultural heritage. He also stressed the importance of developing a robust system to identify talent at a young age and provide them opportunities to showcase their skills.
The meeting also appreciated various events organized by the Centre, including the National Craft Mela (Chandigarh), Gita Jayanti (Kurukshetra), Patiala Music Festival, Harivallabh Music Festival (Jalandhar), Sindhu Darshan (Ladakh), Bharat Parv (Red Fort), Lokarang (Jaipur), and other cultural programs. The members also appreciated the monthly theatre evenings and efforts to revive the Teej festival in rural Punjab.
At the end of the meeting, all members lauded the Centre’s activities and expressed their gratitude to the Chairman. The meeting concluded with a vote of thanks.

Chandigarh:

A team of PGIMER doctors led by Prof. Dhandapani SS and Prof. Hemant Bhagat has published, for the first time in the world literature, on the molecular footprint of keyhole brain surgery compared with that of traditional neurosurgery in Neurosurgical Review, a reputed international journal.

According to press statement, Minimally invasive keyhole surgery is an evolving concept in Neurosurgery that aims to achieve a smaller opening in the skull to reach the target area with minimal collateral injury to nearby structures. It is used in a wide variety of diseases, including aneurysms and tumors. Though it is cosmetically better, with less post-operative pain and other side effects, there has never been solid evidence before this study on whether it is truly minimally invasive in terms of its biochemical footprint.

The PGIMER team of doctors, Dhandapani, Prasant, Tejasvi, Mukilan, Apinderpreet, Navneet, Vivek, Sushant, Chandrashekhar, Hemant, and SK Gupta have published a study in Neurosurgical Review on the comparison of levels of CRP, an inflammatory biomarker, and Caspase-3, an indicator of apoptosis, from before treatment to after treatment across various modalities, and shown keyhole surgery to have less inflammatory reaction than open neurosurgery. This is very relevant, as it shows why keyhole brain surgery can offer significant long-term benefits, such as reduced risk of post-operative seizures and cognitive deficits.

Chandigarh: Maat-Pita Godham Trust, Mohali is organizing Global Shravana Awards Ceremony, 2025 on April 10.

Addressing a press conference here on Monday, the Trust’s founding trustee Gochar Gyan Das said Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini would be the chief guest at the awards ceremony and Rajya Sabha MP, Rekha Sharma will be the very special guest on the occasion.

Former Haryana speaker Gyan Chand Gupta, Political Secretary to Haryana CM Tarun Bhandari, Panchkula BJP District President Ajay Mittal and BJP leader from Dera Bassi S Gurdarshan Singh Saini will be special guests.

The Global Shravana Awards will be given in the categories of  India, Chandigarh, Haryana, Punjab, Delhi and Maharashtra.

Chandigarh, April 5 – Haryana Minister of State for Sports, Sh. Gaurav Gautam said that the community centre being developed in the name of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya will serve as an inspiration for the region. He said that the State Government is continuously working for the holistic development of Palwal district.

The Minister was addressing people after laying the foundation stone for the construction of a boundary wall, track and park at the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Community Centre complex in village Kushlipur (Ward No. 10), Palwal.

He said that the main hall of the building will be constructed at a cost of approximately Rs. 2.50 crore, while Rs. 1 crore will be spent on the boundary wall, track, park and other beautification works. These facilities will provide better amenities to residents and create a conducive environment for youth to engage in sports activities. He added that the facility will remain open to all sections of society, including all communities, and will serve as a venue for social, cultural and community programmes.

Reiterating the government’s commitment, the Minister said that continuous efforts are being made for the overall development of Palwal district. To promote sports, stadiums, modern tracks and sports nurseries are being established in the district, enabling youth to hone their talent. He added that, for the first time, sports nurseries have been established on a large scale, providing opportunities to rural athletes to progress.

Minister inaugurates water and sewerage project

The Sports Minister also inaugurated a water supply and sewerage line project at Palwal. He said that under the AMRUT 2.0 scheme, sewerage infrastructure across the city will be strengthened at a cost of approximately Rs. 332 crore, while under the Ranney Well project, the rainwater supply network will be enhanced at a cost of about Rs. 522 crore.

Chandigarh:

The single theme workshop on “Neonatal Neurological Disorders” got off to a flying start in the auditorium of the Advanced Paediatric Centre, PGIMER. The honourable director of PGIMER, Prof Vivek Lal, inaugurated the workshop. Prof ON Bhakoo, former head of Pediatrics and Neonatology at PGIMER, also graced the inaugural function. Prof Vivek Lal — himself an accomplished adult neurologist — complimented the Neonatology Unit on conducting a workshop on a very challenging topic. He narrated several interesting anecdotes from his own training days to highlight the importance of combining sound clinical knowledge with modern investigations. Prof Praveen Kumar, Head of the Department of Pediatrics and chairperson of the workshop, spoke about the importance of focused workshops of this nature and said that these workshops were extremely popular among delegates because of their hands-on nature. Prof Sourabh Dutta, the organising secretary, mentioned that this was the 10th single theme workshop conducted and each time the delegates played a role in choosing the theme for the next workshop. Dr Jogender Kumar, the joint organising secretary, thanked the entire team in his vote of thanks.

​The scientific proof proceedings of the workshop started with a talk on normal neurological examination by Dr Supreet Khurana, in which she showed many videos of newborn babies to demonstrate the correct techniques. Dr Naveen Jain, an expert from Trivandrum, spoke about the approach to a newborn baby who presents with brain dysfunction. Prof Sourabh Dutta delivered a talk on the pitfalls in the diagnosis and treatment of meningitis and its complications in newborn babies. Prof Deepak Chawla spoke about the diagnosis and staging of brain damage due to asphyxia at the time of birth and how to treat selected patients with whole-body cooling or brain cooling. Dr Naveen Prakash Gupta from Delhi delivered a lecture on bleeding inside the brain of preterm babies or damage to the white matter in the brain. Dr Chirag Ahuja taught the delegates about how to read MRI scans and CT scans of both mature and premature babies.

​The highlight of the first day of the workshop were three practical hands-on sessions through which the delegates rotated by turn. They were shown how to actually administer whole-body cooling, to perform head ultrasound in newborn babies to rapidly diagnose problems, and to interpret EEG (brain electrical waves) in neonates.

​The practical workstations were followed by group discussions on three real-life case scenarios which involved newborn babies who had brain problems of various kinds. Delegate to s got a chance to interact one-on-one with experts in the field. The real-life case scenarios included clinical data, laboratory results and ultrasound and MRI images wherever applicable.

Chandigarh:

The two-day single theme workshop on “Neonatal Neurological Disorders” concluded today at the Advanced Paediatric Centre, PGIMER.

The morning session had three fascinating lectures delivered by the respective experts in the field. Dr Jogender Kumar, the joint organising secretary, spoke about the diagnosis and treatment of seizures (fits) in newborns. He emphasised that recent research had clearly shown that the vast majority of abnormal movements in newborns that are thought to be fits both by laypersons and even by experts are actually not fits, and on the converse, a large number of fits that are picked up on EEG studies of brain waves do not manifest as externally visible fits but they still damage the brain. He said that every paediatric facility that takes care of sick newborn babies must have continuous EEG monitoring facilities otherwise they will either overdiagnosis or underdiagnose fits. Prof Naveen Sankhyan spoke about the potentially devastating effects of low blood glucose levels in the early newborn period. He said that a sizeable proportion of children who present with very difficult to treat epilepsy have a history of low blood glucose in early life.

Dr Naveen Jain, an expert on long-term neurodevelopment, spoke about the need to have a structured follow-up program for high-risk newborn babies. He said that every follow-up visit must have a specific purpose and a plan of action which must be clearly conveyed to the parents.
In the prelunch session, Dr Bharti Sharma from the Department of Gynecology in PGI spoke about various protective strategies that Gynecologists can use during pregnancy to try and protect the brain of the newborn infant.

Two important interventions are the use of injection magnesium sulphate and injection steroids in threatened preterm delivery. Dr Sajan Saini spoke about the complex problem of hydrocephalus (excess water accumulating inside the brain) that sometimes folows bleeding inside the brain of preterm babies. He presented the currently accepted international guidelines for treating such patients. Dr Bijaylaxmi Behera spoke about the problem of brain strokes in newborn babies, their causes, modalities of diagnosis and treatment options. She said that some of these infants require low-dose heparin and occasionally aspirin to take care of the clots.

After lunch, the delegates participated in in-depth group discussions on three real-life case scenarios which involved newborn babies who had brain problems of various kinds.

Delegates got a chance to interact one-on-one with experts in the field. The real-life case scenarios included clinical data, laboratory results and ultrasound and MRI images wherever applicable. The cases included a preterm baby who had complications after brain bleeds, a mature baby who had brain damage due to very high jaundice, and a mature baby who failed to breathe the time of birth and went on to develop brain damage and fits.
In the feedback session, the delegates unanimously expressed great satisfaction with the format of single theme workshops in which a single topic is discussed in great depth over two days and in which there is ample scope for focused group discussions, time for interaction with experts, and hands-on workstations for improving practical skills.