Parental pressure, employment, privilege, safety, security and innovation — these were the watchwords at the Great Britain Debate 2017 finals held at Gandhi Bhavan, Jadavpur University, on October 17. Thirty-eight college teams went through four rounds of intense debate on various topics centred around the theme ‘Skills, Entrepreneurship and Youth’.
The final round saw students of Jadavpur University and St. Xavier’s College battle it out over two rounds of speeches, a rebuttal round and a final summing-up address of the motion — “This house believes that security has sidelined innovation in India”.
Speaking for the motion, Xaverians argued that parental pressure has forced students and young professionals in India to take the safe path instead of the innovative one. The team from Jadavpur University argued that innovation and security cannot exist in isolation, especially among those who do not have the luxury of choosing the more perilous path of entrepreneurial innovation.
The house was divided on the motion but the judges — Bruce Bucknell, the British deputy high commissioner in Calcutta; Future Hope CEO Sujata Sen; and Mallar Ray, professor at IIEST, Shibpur, found the arguments placed by St. Xavier’s College stronger, thus declaring them the winner. The winners received a Kindle each along with a trophy, while the runners- up received individual trophies.
Text: Rushati Mukherjee
Pictures: Arnab Mondal
UNION TERRITORY: Controverse’17, a national under-30 debate hosted by Pi Theta Organisation (a non-profit youth-run organisation working for child and youth welfare) at ICCR on October 29, saw youngsters debate on whether student unions should be apolitical. Speaking for the motion were (l-r) Aroon Shah of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, Priyanka Chhawri from Delhi University, Ruchir Ash from National University of Juridicial Sciences and Prithviraj Tankha from St. Xavier’s College. (L-R) Dipsita Dhar from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Saikat Giri from Rabindra Bharati University, Ashutosh Chatterjee from Vidyasagar College and Srimati Ghosal from Presidency University spoke against the motion and won the debate. Pictures: Mayukh Sengupta
