The first edition of Controversus ’15, the annual fresher’s conventional debate was held on 14th of October at Daulat Ram College (DRC). A total of 15 teams participated from various colleges like SRCC, IIT Delhi, Kirori Mal and so on. The debate was bilingual and the motion for the same was “This house believes that internet.org is the beginning of digital colonisation”.
The event was judged by Dr. Shachi Chawla, an assistant professor at DRC, Dr. Meena Sharma, a member of Hindi Sahitya Academi and Dr. Madhu Jha, who has a lot of publications to be credited to her name. As the topic of the debate is quite relevant to the news that has been making headlines since the past few days, a keen interest was witnessed in both, the participants to put forward their views and in the judges to comprehend the points correctly.
The proponents of the motion gave arguments based on net neutrality, and called internet.org nothing but a monopoly of the wealthier companies to assert their power. The opponents of the motion, on the other hand, talked about free basics and it being a platform to familiarise people and give them exposure. After hearing both the sides and deliberating over the presented arguments, the judges came to a conclusion and announced the results.
The best team was awarded to IIT Delhi comprising of Kartikeya and Atharva. The best speaker for the motion was presented to Aditi from DRC, and against the motion was presented to Dimple from KMC. The best interjector was awarded to Priyam from DRC. The judges, in their addressals to the audience, talked about the importance of a thought and how one should always be versatile and aware enough to adopt the right school of thought in life.
This was followed by an award ceremony where the winners were felicitated with the trophies. The judges too were presented with mementos as a token of thanks on behalf of the entire debating society of the college.
“I am elated that our society has been able to pull off two major events within a span of one month. To observe the participants speak with such enthusiasm makes all the hard work worthwhile” said collectively Disha Singh and Shubhi Vadehra, the President and Vice president of the debating society, DRC, respectively.
Nishita Agarwal
Featured Image Credits: Nidhi Jain
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