Motions for Rounds 1 & 3

As promised, here are the motions for the first and third rounds of the tournament!

Round 1

With an initial investment of USD 400 million, the displacement of several hundreds of farmers, and the possibility of creating employment at best being seasonal, the construction of the Buddh International Circuit seems to have received a mixed response. Despite phenomenal competition, even the South African Football World Cup faced the ire of their natives when FIFA, and not the organizers, controlled distribution rights, pocketing large parts of the revenue. On the other hand, the benefits that arise from a venture of this sort include raising the image of the country, garnering "soft" power in the international arena, and potentially raising revenue from tourism in the long run. Following a rebuff by the FIA, Sports Minister, Ajay Maken, remarked that a sport like F1 did not belong to India. Can we to celebrate the first ever Indian Grand Prix guiltlessly?

This House believes that hosting an F1 race does more harm than good to developing countries.

Round 3

Anwar al-Awlaki was an imam once described as the "bin Laden of the internet", what with an extensive following on Youtube, Facebook and a blog. These fora allegedly helped motivate at least three attacks on US soil. Perturbed by his growing influence, he came under the scanner of national security analysts. Exactly one month ago, this American citizen was the victim of a successful "targeted killing" effort by the United States. Following his death, many have raised concerns of propriety, citing the fact that every citizen is entitled to due process before the judiciary, where evidence would be presented, crimes adjudicated upon and a sentence passed. However, the entire matter remains shrouded in secrecy. Are considerations of national security continuously eroding the values of the law or is the law itself growing in irrelevance, unready for the era of terrorism? An after-thought - what happened to free speech?

This House condemns the assassination of Anwar Al Awlaki

We will also release the motion for the finals. In the mean time, start reading up! The side from which you will be arguing shall, of course, only be released when the preparation time for the round begins.

And just by the way, you cannot get away with a prepared speech. :P