A student proves her point at an inter-college public- speaking contest. Picture by Bhola Prasad

Jamshedpur, Feb. 8: Some of the students spoke about graduate unemployment, while others spoke about the role the media plays in their lives.

The stage was set, as the 18-odd speakers presented their opinions on two different issues one after the other, at the inter-college public-speaking competition organised by Institute of Computer Accountancy (IAS) at the Maharastra Mandal premises today.

While nine able speakers attributed the rapid rise in the crime rate as a direct consequence of unemployment, the rest highlighted the importance of the media in the contemporary world.

Organised by the two-year-old institute, the objective behind this contest was to provide students with a bigger and better platform to exchange their ideas and to evaluate their oratory skills.

?Our efforts are directed towards developing the skills of students and to boost their confidence through public speaking,? said Jasmine Bugli, centre manager of IAS, giving an insight into the importance of such contests.

The competition was judged by Anand Krishna, senior manager at Tinplate Company of India Limited, Jyoti Bhatia, the head of the philosophy department at Jamshedpur Women?s College and N.K. Shyamsukha, the chairman of the Calcutta centre of IAS.

Students were awarded marks on their body language, eye contact, the content of their speech and their overall presentation.

Students from Jamshedpur Women?s College, Karim City College, Workers? College, Graduate School College for Women and Co-operative college, along with a team of ten from the organising institute, took part in the contest.

The semi-final rounds of the contest were held in the premises on February 4, which brought down the number of contestants from 30 to the current 18.

Mamta Kumari of IAS walked off with the winner?s trophy after she highlighted the problems of youth in the modern times, Isha Jaiswal of Jamshedpur Women?s College followed her landing the second spot, while Shabnam Guria, also of IAS, bagged the third position.