The 41st edition of the Manik Chandra Barooah National level debate competition was held at the Kalaguru Bishnu Prasad Rabha Auditorium at Cotton University today. The competition witnessed 52 participants from 26 participating institutions from Delhi, Meghalaya, Assam and other parts of the country to debate on the issue of climate crisis. The topic of this year’s competition was “Climate Crisis Affects Developing Societies like India with far-reaching implications on their geopolitics, economies and sustainability in the global race today”.
While Shreyasi Vedashruti and Sanjana Rani of St. Edmund’s College, Shillong bagged the Best Team award, Masoom Priya and Vasu Khajuria of Hindu College, University of Delhi won the second Best Team award. Md. Hasan Sabreen Rohman of Sibsagar Commerce College and Sanjana Rani of St. Edmund’s College, Shillong won the best debater and 2nd best debater awards respectively. Ankita Sarmah Bordoloi of Cotton University won the best interjector award.
Associate Editor of The Hindu, Sandeep Phukan presided the house as the speaker. Eminent journalist Teresa Rehman, Director (R&D) of the Centre for Environment & Climate Action Foundation Dr Kamal Kumar Tanti and Head of Human Resource and Legal Department at Numaligarh Refinery Dr Kajal Saikia were the jury members of the debate competition.
The inaugural event of the competition was graced by DGP, Assam, G.P. Singh. During his address, he said, “Debating is a primary skill that propels you to greater heights. Those who can speak their hearts out and express themselves are true leaders. The topic of today’s debate is contemporary and is of extreme importance to the people of this planet. I hope today’s debate will not only enable everyone to speak their minds on the issue, but also serve as a roadmap to policy planners to mitigate the climate crisis”.
Vice Chancellor of Cotton University Prof Ramesh Chandra Deka, Pro-Vice Chancellor Prof Ganesh Chandra Wary and Registrar Dr Arindam Garg were also present at the inaugural event. Vice Chancellor Prof Deka in his speech stated that the topic of the debate is very timely and that the climate emergency calls for more research in a bid to mitigate the crisis.
In his welcome address, Registrar of Cotton University Dr Arindam Garg also stressed on the role of debating in promoting critical thinking and skills of problem solving and other soft skills, as he welcomed everyone present in the programme. The inaugural event ended with a vote of thanks by Debating and Symposia Section Secretary Binoy Kalita.
This year’s competition was organised with a two-day agenda on September 7 and 8 respectively. A talk on the visionary Manik Chandra Barooah was organised on September 7. It was delivered by eminent writer and critic Mayur Bora who highlighted the invaluable contributions of the visionary. The main competition, which was held today i.e September 8, saw the presence of a large number of students, members of the faculty and invited guests, apart from the delegates of the participating institutions. A souvenir was also released by DGP G.P. Singh at the inaugural ceremony today. The event was organised by the Cotton University Students’ Union. Dr Merry Baruah, Prof-in-charge of the said section, thanked all the participants, award winners and invited guests.
