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Touted as the warm-up to the WUDCs in Chennai, the IIT Bombay Parliamentary Debate turned out to be a mixed experience for most participants. This review is written on the basis of the data collected via feedback forms given out to debaters after the tournament, and aims to reflect their opinions. Quality of Teams - 5/5 This was a no brainer. With quality participation from most debating institutions in the country, competition in the tournament was excellent. The presence of multiple international participants as competitive debaters added to the “Pre-WUDC” image of the tournament, and ensured the out rounds were high quality match ups. Quality of Adjudicators - 4.3 /5 Multiple subsidised adjudicators from across the world ensured good decision making in most rounds. A high quality core meant debaters were largely satisfied with the feedback and constructive, and had lots to learn. The internal adj pool however, did not match the tournament standards. Some debaters believed

THW completely ban smoking.

By AASHAY SAHAY

Motion :- THW completely ban smoking. House :- Western Liberal Democracies. Opposition Case: [Courtesy - Vishakha Wijenayake ] Each and every individual has a right to decide those matters that are most intimately connected one’s well-being, including the duration and quality of one’s life and the circumstances of one’s death. According to this view, the right to smoke, or engage in any kind of self harm stems from a deeper right to self-determination, a right to shape the circumstances of our lives so long as we do not harm or imperil others. The State as an external party lacks sufficient knowledge of an individual’s own chosen structure of values and preferences to make an informed decision to coerce an individual to comply with the values of the Government. An influence can be categorized as undue only in circumstances where it is deceptive, and where it is aggressive to the extent that it blocks out contradictory sources of information, making it impossible for an individ

The Case of Speluncean Explorers (In a nutshell)

By AASHAY SAHAY

HYPOTHETICAL: THE CASE OF THE SPELUNCEAN EXPLORERS FACTS: Five cave explorers got trapped underground, whilst on an expedition, following the collapse of a cave wall. Any scope of rescue was at least 10 days away and the last radio transmission received by them was from a doctor (following which the radio; their only means of communicating with the outside world ran out of battery), conveyed to them that the only manner in which they could survive till the arrival of the rescue team would be if they were to consume one of their own, given that they had run out of food and water supplies. One of the explorers, Whetmore, suggested that they throw dice to determine (i.e. random probability) who amongst them should be the sacrifice. This was held as reasonable by everyone after which, they all agreed to follow through with the plan of action. However, just before the dice was thrown, Whetmore backed out of the agreement. He was outvoted, and a dice was thrown on his behalf.

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Debater's Diary
The Indian National Debate Championship

Fellow Debaters

THE TEAM

EDITOR:

AASHAY SAHAY

CO-EDITORS:

PRASUN KUMAR BHAIYA

VIPUL NANDA

PRABHAT MUKHERJEA

Contact

aashay.sahay@debatersdiary.com

Perspective versus Opinion

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THINK LIKE A DEBATER

By Aashay Sahay

If your thoughts aren't conflicting, you're doing it wrong. From the recent US Presidential Elections, across Europe to back home in India, people are getting increasingly polarised. Positions are becoming ever more absolute and the common ground is fast disappearing. This break down is ironic in an age where advancements in science and technology have expanded the common grounds like never before. Political and societal discourse has never been accessible to so many people and amenities like health, education and transportation are reaching ever more people through revolutionary disruption. Yet the progressives and intellectual elite across borders with conviction their commitment to the bottom tier of society continue to entrench themselves into their bubbles, condescending upon the middle income masses which are increasingly turning right. On the other hand, the expanding wing of right leaning populations are willing to barter away the accountability of thei

The Case of Speluncean Explorers (In a nutshell)

By AASHAY SAHAY

HYPOTHETICAL: THE CASE OF THE SPELUNCEAN EXPLORERS FACTS: Five cave explorers got trapped underground, whilst on an expedition, following the collapse of a cave wall. Any scope of rescue was at least 10 days away and the last radio transmission received by them was from a doctor (following which the radio; their only means of communicating with the outside world ran out of battery), conveyed to them that the only manner in which they could survive till the arrival of the rescue team would be if they were to consume one of their own, given that they had run out of food and water supplies. One of the explorers, Whetmore, suggested that they throw dice to determine (i.e. random probability) who amongst them should be the sacrifice. This was held as reasonable by everyone after which, they all agreed to follow through with the plan of action. However, just before the dice was thrown, Whetmore backed out of the agreement. He was outvoted, and a dice was thrown on his behalf.

Tournament Review - IIT Bombay Mood Indigo Intervarsity 2014.

By Unknown

Touted as the warm-up to the WUDCs in Chennai, the IIT Bombay Parliamentary Debate turned out to be a mixed experience for most participants. This review is written on the basis of the data collected via feedback forms given out to debaters after the tournament, and aims to reflect their opinions. Quality of Teams - 5/5 This was a no brainer. With quality participation from most debating institutions in the country, competition in the tournament was excellent. The presence of multiple international participants as competitive debaters added to the “Pre-WUDC” image of the tournament, and ensured the out rounds were high quality match ups. Quality of Adjudicators - 4.3 /5 Multiple subsidised adjudicators from across the world ensured good decision making in most rounds. A high quality core meant debaters were largely satisfied with the feedback and constructive, and had lots to learn. The internal adj pool however, did not match the tournament standards. Some debaters believed

On Preparation Time

By AASHAY SAHAY

Over a period of experimentation, I have identified certain approaches to prep time that have yielded good returns for me. Let it be a standing disclaimer for all my posts henceforth on such matters that I do not claim my observations to be the rule by any yardstick and one might feel free to experiment for oneself. In the course of my growth as a debater, I started off with the primate's approach towards prep time. Beat every neuron in your head and thrash out as many arguments you have heard of or can think of. Try to stitch together a case from these independent scraps of wisdom and head out to battle. Every now and then there would be a moment of genius and there would be a well calculated stratagem deployed in the form of a delicately twisted definition or restriction to tilt the odds. There was even a phase when I was made to believe by a certain peach of a senior that a "good definition" was half the debate won. Hence a large chunk of the prep time went into

Delhi State Assembly Elections, 2013: The Whole Story

By AASHAY SAHAY

Delhi State Assembly Elections, 2013: The Whole Story ~Aashay Sahay~ The average citizen of Delhi experiences a quality of life that is relatively better than most of the nation. A large portion of people living in Delhi have families in the neighbouring states and are therefore aware that the state of civic amenities available to them are definitely superior to what their relatives have access to. The citizens of this city see work going on all around them, cranes all over the city, the government is working. The Metro and bus services make their lives easier. Large scale urbanization gives them a sense of growth and progress. The citizen of Delhi feels at comfort with the way things are and has therefore kept the Sheila Dikshit led government in power. In the course of her three consecutive terms, Sheila Dikshit has been masterful at winning over vote banks with governmental initiatives targeted at the largest segment of the voter population in Delhi, the poor livi

Motions from The RV Debating Tournament 2013

By AASHAY SAHAY

Round 1: THBT the government should encourage the creation of unions for sex workers. Round 2: THBT the state should actively investigate the supernatural. Round 3: THW have the free movement of labor as a requisite to Free Trade Agreements. Round 4: Hypothetical Context: -It is a week before the 2013 Delhi State Vidhan Sabha Elections. The Aam Aadmi Party has gone from scratch to being a serious contender to the Congress and BJP in the matter of months, with Arvind Kejriwal as the party's face. -The Core Committee of the AAP discovers evidence of Kejriwal's involvement in an act of corruption during while he was serving as an IRS officer. They know for a fact that this was a singular act and he hadn't indulged in corruption before and hasn't ever since. -The Core Committee realizes that if they were to suppress the evidence, it would be unlikely to surface. Motion: TH being the AAP core committee will suppress the evidence against Arv

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