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Hans Raj College

Hansraj’s Annual Parliamentary debate plays host to 40 teams

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The 7th Annual Shanti Narayan Memorial Parliamentary Debate played host to some of the strongest institutional and cross teams of the circuit. The annual debate organized by the Hansraj College Debating Society was an open tournament and hence allowed any three individuals to form a team and allowed for independent adjudicators as well. A total of 40 teams participated in the four day event held between 18th and 21st January 2014.

This year Shanti followed the 3 on 3 Asians’ parliamentary debate format. The tournament also had a strict policy of finishing all rounds on team. The tabs team worked efficiently to ensure that there was no delay. Another plus was the free pizza for all participating teams and adjudicators courtesy Rossa.

The chief adjudicator of the tournament was Aashay Sahay. Reputed alumni of the Hans Raj Debating Society such as Anirudh Raghavan, Vibhor Jain and Abeer Sharma formed the organizing committee of the tournament. The tournament introduced new ideas like the ‘Chaimpiyan’ speaker and the compulsory point of information called ‘sosaje’.

The final was a duel between Kirori Mal College and the cross team Cold on the motion “This house rejects homework .” The winning team was Cold comprising of Karandeep Aazaan Khanna, Karthik Sivaram and Prasun Bhaiya. The best adjudicator of the tournament was Ankit (Ex-Ramjas).

After the conclusion of the debate, Shaurya Upadhyay of the Hansraj College Debating Society had the following to say-

“There was intense competition with the adjudication pool comprising veterans from the Indian Debating Circuit. It was overall a very successfully run tournament, with high level of competition, stellar adjudicators, and efficiently functioning organising committee.”

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St. Stephen's

NLU Delhi bags the winning title at St. Stephen’s MukMem 66

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The Mukarji Memorial attracts people from all corners and the 66th edition had not only the finest domestic talent but also three international teams. Trinity College Dublin, Lahore School of Economics and University College Lahore added immensely to the quality of debate at MukMem. A total of 48 teams participated in the four day event held between 10th – 13th January, 2014. It ended with the final between NLU Delhi and Trinity College Dublin.

Despite the fact that MukMem has been around for 66 years, the organisers have never been afraid to experiment with the format of the tournament. This time the core decided to implement the APDA format that they tested out at MukMem ProAm. Also to ensure a level playing field the tournament was closed this year. They further put a restriction in terms of a three-time participation limit for speakers at MukMem.

The adjudication core comprised of Akshay Ragupathy, Aditya Sarin, Dhruva Desai and Badrinarayan Seetharaman. The deputy CAs for the tournament was the Stephen’s team that the debating circuit has become used to seeing- Jagat Sohail, Soutik Banerjee and Apoorv Avram.

The final was a closely contested duel between NLU Delhi and Trinity College Dublin on the motion “The house will criminalize failure to provide reasonable assistance to individuals in distress situations.” The team of Ambar Bhushan and Rahul Seth from NLU Delhi emerged as victors on a 6-1 split in the finals. The best adjudicator for the tournament was Parnil Urdhwareshe.

After the conclusion of the debate, Soutik Banerjee, the Director of MukMem 66 had the following to say:

Mukmem 66 was a dream project, and to see it materialise gave me a sense of unparalleled joy. Mukmem 66 not only gifted a new format to the Indian debating circuit, it also brought together young minds from across the country as well as from Pakistan and Ireland. In the end, it really does not matter who wins the trophy because Mukmem 66 was all about winning hearts. But take nothing away from the debating. It was intense, stimulating, provocative and decisive. MukMem 66 was the best start one could make to 2014, and if the morning shows the day then we are in for a fantastic year.

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Ramjas College

Ramjas college wins The Great Debate, week-long trip to UK as prize

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In a performance that lasted a whole of 10 mins, Akshay Labroo and Nikhil Saha of Ramjas College delivered speeches that made them the winners of a one-week sponsored tour in the UK, which includes visits to historical sites, academic institutions, cultural events along with peer group interactions. The Great Debate, organised by the Delhi University in collaboration with The British High Commission  was witness to  participation of 46 teams of the 54 that registered.

In an interactive session on 8th January,2014 at the the British High Commission, Paul Rennie, Head of Political and Bilateral Affairs released the motions for the debate to the participants while , the coordinators of the debate Ms. Suchitra Gupta and Ms. Sumitra Mohanty explained the rules and regulations . Present at the event was Ms. Priti Patel, Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom who encouraged the participants to visit the country.

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The debate was divided into two rounds with the first being held on the morning of 9th Jan, 2014 and the final at 3 pm at the Viceregal Lodge, University of Delhi. The five teams that made it to the finals were Dayal Singh Collge, Janki Devi College, Miranda House, Ramjas College and Sri Venkateshwara College. The teams debated on the motion, “This house believes that it is the best time to be young” and were  judged by a panel of eminent judges including Ms. Ktty Tawakley, Deputy Head Press and Communications and Mr.Stephen King,General Manager Virgin Atlantic which had partnered with The British High Commission to sponsor this debate.

The Vice Chancellor Mr. Dinesh Singh and Sir James Bevan, UK High Commissioner joined the participants a little later in the session. In his speech ,Sir James Bevan listed the top ten reasons on why an Indian student must choose UK as the place to continue their studies over its other competitors. As for the amount that goes into sponsoring a UK education he said, “Studying in the UK is not cheap. But in life you get what you pay for,quality costs money and the cost of a UK education is possibly the best single investment you can make in your own future”. In his speech the Vice Chancellor regaled the the history of debating in India with the example of Mahatma Gandhi and stressed on the importance of form and matter in a debate.

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While everybody enjoyed the debate and the opportunity it presented,the participants were made to wait a long time before the declaration of the results of the preliminary round. At the feedback session, the coordinators were suggested to have an award or recognition for not just teams but also speakers individually, which they promised to include in the next season of this debate.The organisation of the programme under Pradyumna Bora was well performed and managed to resolve issues of late participants and disqualification of a team timely.

imagecourtesy: British High Commision

For more photos visit : http://www.flickr.com/photos/ukinindia/sets/72157639548562095/

For the transcript of Sir James Bevan’s speech :https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/uk-education-the-best-for-the-brightest–2

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Juxtapose

MUN v/s Debating

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The perplexing chaos of an unmoderated caucus or the passionate arguments put forward by a charismatic speaker?

With the debating season just around the corner, speakers and adjudicators gear up for another session of heated discussions and controversial questions. Now, this age-old tradition is being challenged by the more dynamic portrayal of the United Nations, with students posing as representatives of various countries who put forward ideas on a much larger platform.

This week, Juxtapose would like you to raise a motion on this topic.

Scroll down and leave your arguments.  

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Your Beat

Debating Societies in DU

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n515107959_781827_1769Debating in Delhi University is very different from debating at the school level. The main difference stems from the existence of Parliamentary Debating.

While conventional debating (the kind you did in school) involves a team with one person for and one person against an idea, Parliamentary Debating (PD) involves different teams with one team for and one team against an idea. A team can consist of two or three people (depending on the tournament) and teams typically fight in multiple preliminary rounds during a tournament, at the end of which the top 8 teams are selected to go into the quarter-finals.

PDs are different, not only because of their tournament style or the fact the one side will “win” but also because of the values involved. Your oratory ability is considered second to your points and adjudicators (who are also students and not the teachers or IAS officers you had in school) award the debate to the team that can best prove their case rather than the team that has the most fluent speaker.

While there are many Debating Societies that take part in PDs, there are many that don’t. Indeed, there are even colleges which don’t have Debsocs. Debsocs are vital, not only because of the network that allows you to be invited for PDs, but also because they provide the training that is crucial to winning.

The money in both conventional debating and PDs is good (although one has to be very good at PDs in order to win). In conventional debating, the writer’s records put the average prize at around Rs.900. Almost every department in every college in DU has their own festival which usually includes a debate. Therefore there are plenty of debates to take part in, especially during December. Most Debsocs that participate in PDs organize one or two every year.

Debsocs vary from college to college: some are very active and drill their juniors into shape, while others do not. In the end it depends on you college and priorities. Debating teaches one not only how to speak but also how to think logically about a situation and express one’s thoughts clearly, skills that will be of great use in the real world.

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Uncategorized

So, What’s up your SOC(K)?

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Every fresher will find to his or her amazement and hopefully excitement that the first week of college means a constant of barrage of society promotions and recruitments.  However don’t let the volley of auditions and college activities confuse and stray you from the path of your destined society, since the society you join ends up defining the circle of people you associate with.

Delhi University societies are not just friendship circles. They rely on hard work, talent and dedication. As a society, you participate in umpteen college, inter-college and inter-university competitions. Every society of every college has its own fest, and you can rely on these to keep your nose to the grind stone all year-long. As you audition for the various societies, the harsh and apparent nit-picking during selections will only be proof of the high standards and professionalism of the societies, making it a good idea not to take them too lightly.

The prominent societies (you might have to start getting used to calling them SOCs) with a presence felt in almost every college are:

  1. THE DEBSOC: Debating ought to come easy to you to not just join but stay in this one. Arguably this society houses Delhi University’s best speakers and hence is definitely worth being a part of.

  2. THE CHOREOSOC: Involving insane amount of rehearsing, the theme-based choreography done by a lot of Delhi university colleges is something you don’t want to miss.

  3. THE DRAMSOC: It’s time you got out of that shell. Trust this society to teach you that and so much more. You might just work with people having years of experience at the NSD.

  4. ENGLISH AND LITERARY SOCIETIES: The hub of intellectual and literary discussions and activities. A must for all aspiring writers out there as well.

  5. FILM AND PHOTOGRAPHY SOCIETY: For all the unconventional, or even so- called taboo movies that you missed watching and discussing, and to hone the photographer in you.

And DU BEAT: for the conscientious and prompt writer. A little bit of self-promotion never hurt.

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