India, Nov. 5 -- The inaugural Chandigarh Schools Debating Championship (CSDC 2026), held at Learning Paths School, Mohali, on October 31, brought together 88 students, 22 teams and 16 schools from Punjab, Delhi and the Chandigarh tricity. Organised in collaboration with the Indian Schools Debating Society (ISDS), it celebrated independent thinking and reasoned disagreement. Participating institutions included Sat Paul Mittal School, Ludhiana; Springdale Senior School, Amritsar; Vivek High School, Carmel Convent School, St John's High School, Bhavan Vidyalaya and Chitkara International School from Chandigarh among others. The day opened with a yoga presentation by Learning Paths School students and a one-minute mime performance. The competition comprised three preliminary rounds, a semi-final and a final, testing participants' ability to build arguments, respond to unfamiliar viewpoints and think under pressure. Tagore International School, Delhi, emerged champion, winning the CSDC Champions Trophy and the travelling CSDC Legacy Champions Trophy, which passes from one year's winners to the next. The top-10 speakers earned direct entry into Level 2 of the ISDS Nationals. Nitya Aggarwal of Learning Paths School bagged second place overall, while Sanhita secured seventh rank. Speakers from Vivek High, Springdale Senior and Chitkara International also featured in the top-10. A panel discussion, 'In the AI Revolution - What to Hold On To, What to Let Go, What to Learn New?', moderated by Muskaan Sofet Sardana, founder and CEO of GradPilots, featured Vandana Saxena, principal of Learning Paths School; Manu Bhandari, founder and CEO of SKY School; Ankit Bhatia, VP, engineering, at Antier Solutions; and Shaurya Sharma, head of training and curriculum at ISDS. They discussed independent thinking, sound judgement, meaningful relationships, asking better questions and evaluating technology's output in an AI-driven world. The championship reinforced debating's enduring lesson: disagree respectfully, challenge ideas without diminishing people and remain open to other perspectives. Beyond the trophies, its achievement lay in nurturing critical thinking, courage and the grace to listen. HTC...