By OUR STAFF REPORTER
DEHRADUN, 7 Aug: The Brother JG Masterson and Brother CJ Bergin Memorial Debate Competition was held at St George’s College on 5 and 6 August. Participants from various schools in the UP and UK region, Delhi, and other schools in the country participated.
The Opening Ceremony began with a Prayer. Ansh Singhal of Class 11 delivered the Welcome Address. This was followed by a brief introduction and insight into the lives of Brother JG Masterson and Brother CJ Bergin, two very distinguished literary geniuses, known for their flair for conversation, dedication and spirited zeal.
After a few general instructions, followed by the pairing of schools, the first round (prepared) commenced. The format was conducted in the World Schools’ Debating Format and was judged by an eminent panel. The judges on 5 August were Rahul Pant, Rishi Mohan Sanwal, Arnav Bhanot Sharma, Sarika Panchhi, Debarati Ghosh and OP Manocha.
The judges on the second day included Rahul Pant, Rishi Mohan Sanwal, Arnav Bhanot Sharma, Joyjayanti Chatterjee, Dr Manoj Gorkela and Arun Srivastava. The schools that participated in the debate were Rashtriya Indian Military College, The Doon School, St Joseph’s Academy, St Jude’s School, Welham Girls School, Unison World School, The Aryan School from Dehradun; Vasant Valley School, New Delhi, St Joseph’s Convent School, Kotdwar, Wynberg Allen School and St George’s College, Mussoorie.
The Debate was conducted in three preliminary rounds for each of the debates. The Chief Guest at the Closing Ceremony, Ashish Srivastava, IAS, felicitated the winners. The finals of the Masterson Memorial Debate was contested between St Joseph’s Convent School, Kotdwar, and Vasant Valley School, New Delhi, on the topic, ‘This house would allow first time offenders, with the consent of the victims, to pay compensation to them in place of a prison sentence.’
The Championship Trophy for the Winners of the Brother JG Masterson Debate was awarded to Amaeera Kher, Kavya Malik and Kaavya Mukherjee Saha of Vasant Valley School, New Delhi. The Runners’Up Trophy was won by Sreansh Baluni, Kanika Rawat and Anukritee Negi of St Joseph’s Convent School, Kotdwar. The Silver Medal for the Best Speaker of the Brother JG Masterson Memorial Debate was won by Amaeera Kher of Vasant Valley School, New Delhi. The Overall Most Promising Speaker of the Brother JG Masterson Debate was Kaavya Mukherjee Saha of Vasant Valley School, New Delhi.
On Day 2 , the schools were paired for the second and third rounds of the Brother Bergin Memorial Debate . The Semi-final Roundswere contested between Unison World School, St Joseph’s Academy, RIMC, Dehradun, and St George’s College –A Team on the topic,‘This house regrets the glamorization of start-up culture that encourages people to start their own companies rather than pursue traditional career paths.’
The Chief Guest, Dr Ashish Srivastava, and Guest of Honour Dr Manoj Gorkela were welcomed at the Closing Ceremony. The final of the Brother Bergin Memorial Debate was contested between St Joseph’s Academy and Unison World School on the topic,“This house believes that the feminist movement should actively fight to liberate men from their prescribed gender roles.” Aditya Semwal of St Joseph’s Academy, Dehradun, was adjudged the ‘Best Speaker’ of the Final Round and Ira Gayatri Jha of St Joseph’s Academy, Dehradun, was adjudged the ‘Most Promising Speaker’ of the Final Round. The Champion’s Trophy for the winning team of the Brother CJ Bergin Memorial Debate Tournament was won by St Joseph’s Academy, Dehradun. The Gold Medal for the Best Speaker of the Brother CJ Bergin Debate was won by Aditya Semwal of St Joseph’s Academy. The Overall Most Promising Speaker Award of the Brother CJ Bergin Debate was won by Ira Gayatri Jha of St Joseph’s Academy.The trophy for the Runners’ Up team of the Brother CJ Bergin Debate was awarded to Unison World School, Dehradun.
Principal Brother Joseph M Joseph congratulated all the winners and thanked all the Judges and Heads of all the institutions of participating schools for their enthusiastic participation.
