TALK DE BAIT

Lyceum, the post-graduate Students’ Association of M.A (international studies) under the Department of International Studies, Political Science and History, organized a debate competition, Talk De Bait, on Saturday, 25th September 2021, from 11 am to 12 pm. Kasvi Batra, through her excellent moderating and hosting skills, smoothly carry forwarded the whole event. The debate was judged by Ningthem Oinam and Archi Kulkarni. The event was then proceeded by introducing the topics and rules for the first round wherein students of MAIS from the first and third semester, namely Deepanshu (1MAIS), Priya Shakti M (1MAIS), Pranjal Prakash Pandey (1MAIS), Kalpana Pandey (1MAIS), Sakshi (1MAIS), Simran Tondi (3MAIS), Sandeep Ghoshal (3MAIS), Vineeth Daniel Vinoy (3MAIS) took part. The topic of debate for the first round was – ‘U.S. doctrine of humanitarian intervention: an exercise in collective security or a form of Neo-colonialism’. The participants showed extreme enthusiasm and zeal to prove their stance and answered the rebuttal questions with all their might. The first round being eliminatory, only the best four of these participants moved to the second round, namely, Vineeth Daniel Vinoy, Pranjal Prakash Pandey, Simran Tondi, and Priya Shakti M. The topic for the second round was- ‘Afghanistan, a Graveyard for Western Institutions’. In this round, the participants were challenged with switching sides when prompted by the moderator. The debaters were swift with changing sides when prompted and made bold and crisp arguments throughout. The second round was followed by a brief Q & A session with the judges. After much deliberation, the judges announced the winners; Vineeth bagged the first position, followed by Pranjal Prakash Pandey and Priya Shakti, who won the second and runner-up positions, respectively. The Judges provided their feedback which was insightful as well as encouraging for the participants. The event ended with the rendering of a vote of thanks by Vibha Venugopal.