The Table of Scores - The 2nd NLS Debate - Junior '12

Hello everyone!

Here is the complete tabulation of scores for those of you who are curious to know your exact standing in the tournament, as well as broken down results round by round. While we follow specific rules with tabulation, do let us know if you have any queries with regard to how a tab works.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ApY3Qb9F2RvydE5jYS1VbS1zNU4zWk1pZXIwRjdoMmc

Cheers!

Report and Results of The 2nd NLS Debate - Junior, 2012

Following up from our previous edition, The 2^nd NLS Debate – Junior was held from 22^nd – 25^th November, 2012 on the NLSIU Campus. The tournament began with an introductory workshop on how to debate, followed by three days of tournament. 45 participants fought it out in 5 preliminary rounds held over three days, followed by three elimination rounds on the third day of the tournament, in the Asians Parliamentary Format.

In the Grand Finals, the team ‘Spock’ representing Christ Junior College, and comprising of Ekta Chavan, Sourabh Ashok and Simran , faced off ‘The Justice League’ comprising of Sumedha Sircar, Aditya Ohrie and Gautam Kathuria representing National Public School, Indiranagar. The debate was on the motion, “This house will not allow reservation for students from economically weaker sections in private schools”, based on the recent judgment by the Indian Supreme Court holding the Right to Education Act allowing 25% reservations for economically weaker sections in private schools. The debate was won by the Opposition, NPS, Indiranagar on a majority verdict of a 6-1 split, demonstrating how close the contest was.

Samprada Patil, representing Christ Junior College, won the award for the ‘Best Speaker’ of the tournament, while Padma from National Public School, Indiranagar won the award for the ‘Most Stylish Speaker’, meant to reward the transition from other speaking competitions at the school level to this format.

With many teams coming back to this tournament and format for the second time in two years, we were thrilled to observe teams providing well developed arguments on several complex themes such as ethics and its role in a war, the moral value of justice, and many other themes. Speeches this year, in contrast to last year, were for 6 minutes, with 5 preliminary rounds and 3 main rounds. 

Here’s a summary of the results of the tournament:

The Top 8 Teams (in order of break)

1. Skadoosh [Christ Junior College] (Quarter-finalists)
2. Inventure 5 [Inventure Academy] (Semi-finalists)
3. The Justice League [National Public School, Indiranagar] (Winners)
4. Lawgical [National Public School, Indiranagar] (Quarter-finalists)
5. Spock [Christ Junior College] (Runners-up)
6. Inventure 1 [Inventure Academy] (Quarter-finalists)
7. The Devils [National Public School, Indiranagar](Quarter-finalists)
8. The Parliament [SSRVM] (Semi-finalists)

The Top 10 Speakers of the Tournament

1. Samprada Patil [Christ Junior College] (Best Speaker)
2. Rhea [Inventure Academy]
3. Shraddha [Inventure Academy]
4. Chirag [National Public School, Indiranagar]
5. Padma [National Public School, Indiranagar] (Most Stylish Speaker)
6. Simran Jain [Christ Junior College]
7. Malini Srikrishna [SSVRM]
8. Richa Rebello [Christ Junior College]
9. Sudarshan [Inventure Academy]
10. Shared by Shrishti and Amol [both from National Public School, Indiranagar]

The Motions

Round 1 (Prepared) [Free Speech and Liberty]

This house believes that social networking sites ought to be held responsible for inflammatory content posted by their users

Round 2 (Impromptu) [Social Norms]

This house will punish people who do not care of their parents in their old age

Round 3 (Prepared) [War and Morality]

This house condemns the use of drones for targeted killing

Round 4 (Impromptu) [Policy]

This house will give more votes to voters who have received university education

Round 5 (Impromptu) [Education]

This house will ban coaching centers for competitive exams

Quarter Finals (Impromptu) [Ethical Conflict]

This house believes that Dr. Manhattan should let Rorschach reveal the truth

Semi Finals (Impromptu) [Self-Determination]

This house believes that India should let Kashmir go

Grand Final (Prepared) [India’s Future]

This house will not allow reservation for students from economically weaker sections in private schools

We thank all those who helped us organize this tournament, and we look forward to returning even bigger and even better next year. Until then…

Motion for the Grand Final - The 2nd NLS Debate - Junior

Lack of education has been seen as a major detriment to India’s development.  The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act or Right to Education Act (RTE), passed by the Indian parliament in 2009, seeks to remedy this problem by making education a fundamental right of all citizens of India. The act contains various provisions that prescribe norms for ensuring education to all Indians. However a particularly controversial provision is one that mandates a 25% reservation of seats for children from Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) in private schools.  This provision has been seen as an unreasonable imposition on private schools’ freedom and a case of the government shifting the burden of education on to private entities. On the other hand, the provision could lead to greater social harmony through interaction between children from EWS and children from more privileged sections of society.  Is the compulsory 25% reservation justified? Or is it an unreasonable infringement of a private school’s freedom?

This house will not allow reservation for students from economically weaker sections in private schools

This is a debate that will not only shape the contours of our country's future in ensuring basic education, but will fundamentally determine the viability of working out such policies within a society that is driven by socio-economic class factors from the very grassroots. 

Take a chance, get cracking! We wish you all the best.

Motions for Rounds 1 & 3 - The 2nd NLS Debate - Junior

Here are the motions for the first and third rounds of the tournament. While rounds 1, 3 and the finals are prepared, we release the motions for the rest half an hour before the match begins.

Round 1

In December last year, Kapil Sibal, then the Minister for Telecommunications, made comments calling for the ‘regulation’ of content on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter since certain content posted on such websites can hurt ‘sentiments’ (both religious as well as, ahem, political). While it is true that sometimes content posted by users on these websites may be inflammatory to certain sections of society, does that necessitate regulation of content? Where would this regulation end? Do we not fear going down the same road as governments in politically repressive societies such as China and Iran? At the same time, should social networking sites not have a duty to their users to ensure that deeply offensive content be restricted and the sentiments of their users respected? Should social media websites place restrictions on and be held liable for free speech? Are they even responsible? Who are the real culprits in this increasingly ubiquitous and significant controversy?

This house believes that social networking sites ought to be held responsible for inflammatory content posted by their users

Round 3

With recent advances in the field of precision warfare, targeted killing has been a new addition to the arsenal of military tactics employed by countries such as the USA. Targeted killing refers to the intentional killing of an enemy by a government or its agents, often outside the state’s borders. States usually claim that such individuals indulge in terrorist activities and are a direct threat to their security. In the post-9/11 world, where the United States considers itself to be in a state of  armed conflict against the Al-Qaeda, Taliban and other terrorist networks, it has used Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (i.e. drones) to kill prime terrorist targets, most prominently in Pakistan and Afghanistan, without the consent of these governments. Not only have these killings incited a heavy debate about their legality, they have also resulted in serious moral questions being raised on their use, with the unfettered power it gives to a soldier of one country, remotely operating these drones from thousands of miles away, to kill someone in another country. Should the US be allowed to safeguard its own interests and be let off for any collateral damage, especially when most of the people being killed might be terrorists anyway? Are wars even subject to such moral and ethical enquiries?

This house condemns the use of drones for targeted killing

These two preliminary round motions are highly relevant in today’s world and raise some very important questions. The finals motion will be released soon, so in the meantime, start reading up! The side you will be representing will be released only once the preparation time for the round begins, so a prepared speech won’t really be much help. 

Registration Details for the 2nd NLS Debate - Junior

Rs.  750 (Per participant) is payable for participation in the tournament which includes the following -

•  Detailed Parliamentary Debating Workshop sessions on Day 0 (22 November).  
• 4 Preliminary Rounds of debating over Day 1 and 2.
•  1 Preliminary Round and additional debates in the Knockout Stages on Day 3.
•  Competition Material – Stationery, Debate Primers, Schedule and Maps
•  Tea & Snacks on all Days.
• Lunch and High Tea on Day 3.
• Certificates will be given to ALL participating individuals. Along with prize money (amount to be decided), trophies will be handed over to the winners & best speaker. 

Please note:

  

Standard Team Cap per School is 4 teams (3 students per team).

To register teams, send a mail to: nlsdebatejunior@gmail.com

Registration fee will be collected on Day 0 (22 November) prior to the workshop session.

  A school may apply for more than 4 team slots. These extra slots may open up depending on how many vacancies are left after initial registration. 

      If you have any queries with regard to registration, please contact our committee members -

Sounak Sarkar (+91 80959 45654)

Tournament Director, NLS Debate – Junior.

And the rest of the Organising Team:

Surbhi Kuwelker (+91 9739265713)

Aditya Patel (+91 9535195405)

Nayan Banerjee (+91 9663370402)

Archana Subramaniam (+91 9538231160)

Viraj Parikh (+ 91 9620798608)

Schedule for The 2nd NLS Debate - Junior

With Just seven days left to go to the tournament, our team is working around the clock to come up with motions that are both challenging and fun. We hope you are as excited as us. Let’s have a great tournament!

Below is the Schedule for the Tournament.

The 2^nd NLS Debate- Junior

Tournament Schedule

Day 0 – Thursday, 22^nd November, 2012

[Day commences right after lunch]

When?	What?
1.30 pm – 1.45 pm	Welcome and opening address in the Briefing Room
	Quick recap of the workshop sessions in individual schools
	Briefing on the day’s modules and Importance of Day  0
	Explaining the split in modules
	Introduction of teachers for workshop
	Splitting up into 3 batches and Explaining rooms and format
1.45 pm – 2.45 pm	Module 1 of the workshop: Demo Debate
2.45 pm – 3.00 pm	Coke/Tea/Snacks break [Provided by the College] - Good time to get social!
3.00 pm – 4.15 pm	Module 2 of the workshop: Construction of Matter
4.15 pm – 4.30 pm	Another small break/interacting with other students
4.30 pm – 5.15 pm	Module 3 of the workshop: Deconstruction of Matter
5.15 pm – 5.30 pm	Closing remarks for the day’s proceedings in the Briefing Room
	Instructions for the next day
	Stuff you should ponder about after you go back home

       

Day 1 – Friday, 23^rd November, 2012

[Day starts after lunch]

When?	What?
1.30 pm - 2.00 pm	Opening Ceremony for NLSD Junior
	Welcome address
	Announcing schedule for the day
	Team briefing [Explanation of structure and rules of tournament]
2.00 pm – 2.30 pm	Match ups and motions release for Round 1 + 30 minutes prep time
2.30 pm – 3.15 pm	Round 1 [Including Adjudication feedback]
3.15 pm – 3.30 pm	Tea/Snacks Break [Provided by the College]
3.30 pm – 4.00 pm	Match ups and motions release for Round 2 + 20 minutes prep time (Pre-released motions)
4.00 pm – 4.45 pm	Round 2 [Including Adjudication feedback]
4.45 pm – 5.15 pm	Announcement of results for the day
	Experiences and Feedback
	Instructions for next day/Closing

Day 2 – Saturday, 24^th November, 2012

[Day starts after lunch]

When?	What?
1.45 pm – 2.15 pm	Match ups and motions release for Round 3 + 30 minutes prep time
2.15 pm – 3.00 pm	Round 3 [Including Adjudication feedback]
3.00 pm – 3.15 pm	Last break/Stretch your legs/Breathe some air/Get social!
3.15 pm – 3.45 pm	Match ups and motions release for Round 4 + 20 minutes prep time (Pre-released motions)
3.45 pm – 4.30 pm	Round 4 [Including Adjudication feedback]
4.30 pm – 5.00 pm	Announcement of results for the day
	Experiences and Feedback
	Instructions for next day/Closing

Day 3 – Sunday, 25^th November, 2012

When?	What?
9.00am – 9.30am	Announcing schedule for the day
	Instructions to teams
	Explaining the break
	Assigning rooms and runners et al
9.30am – 10.00 am	Match ups and Motions release for Round 5 + 30 minutes prep time
10.00 am – 10.45 am	Round 5 [Closed Round - No Adjudication feedback]
11.00 am – 11.30 am	Announcing the breaks!
	Explaining the Quarter Final rounds format - Closed Rounds and Panels judging
	Tea/Snacks Break!
11.30 am	Match ups and motions release for the Quarter Finals
11.30 am – 1.00 pm	Quarter Finals
1.00 pm – 1.30 pm	Lunch Break [Provided by the College]
1.30 pm – 1.45 pm	Announcement of Quarter Finals results
1.45 pm	Motion for the Semi Finals release
1.45 pm – 3.15 pm	Semi Finals
3.15 pm – 3.30 pm	Break, Announcement of Semi Final results!
3.30 pm	Motion for the Grand Finals! (Extended Prep Time)
3.30 pm – 5.00 pm	Grand Finals
5.00 pm – 5.30 pm	Announcing results of the Grand Finals and handing over prizes
	Distribution of Prizes for Best speakers & Special Prizes
	Meet Teacher Representatives, Explain Plan and Feedback]

A few things that you might want to keep in mind!

·         As this event involves a very intensive format, do expect to get very tired by the end of the day.

·         Sometimes, adjudication and tabulation of results might result in small delays at different points during the day. Hence, please do keep in mind that the schedule may not eventually be accurately followed, and the day might end later than mentioned here.

·         That said, we will do everything in our capacity to run the tournament as per schedule strictly.

·         If you have any queries on any part of this schedule, please contact our committee members –

Sounak Sarkar Chief of Staff/Convenor, The Literary and Debating Society	+918095945654
Surbhi Kuwelker Joint Convenor, The Literary and Debating Society	+919739265713 +919920131951
Aditya Patel Member, Organising Team	+919535195405
Nayan Banerjee Member, Organising Team	+919663370402
Viraj Parikh Member, Organising Team	+919620798608
Archana Subramaniam Member, Organising Team	+919538231160