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12 May 2007

North South University, Bangladesh has won the bid for All Asian 2008

I would like to officially anounce that North South University, Bangladesh has won
the bid to host the 15th All Asian Debate Championship,2008 in
Bangladesh. We welocome everyone to the first ever Asians in South
Asia next year!

Regards,
Sheemtana Shameem
http://www.northsouth.edu/

10 May 2007

University of Dhaka Bangladesh Debate Festival 2007

University of Dhaka Bangladesh Debate Festival 2007

English Public Speaking Championships Champion:
Mehedi Kaiser from Dhaka University

The Bangla Barowari Debate Champion:
Enamul Kabir from Haji Mohammad Mohsin Hall Dhaka University

The 7th DU Inter-Hall Bangla Debate Champion:
Masterda Surjasen Hall

The 4th DU Inter-Hall English Debate Champion:
Mohsin Hall

Best Debater of the Tournament
in Bangla: Zia-ul-Huq Sheikh from Masterda Surjasen Hall
in English: Mehedi Kaiser from Mohsin Hall

Viqarunnisa Noon Debating Club Debate Festival Bangladesh 2006-07

Viqarunnisa Noon Debating Club Debate Festival Bangladesh 2006-07

Club Champion: Dhaka University- Oporajeyo Bangla
College Champion: Viqarunnisa Noon College
School Champion: Motijheel Govt. Boys' High School
Children Champion: Viqarunnisa Noon School

Baroari:
Club 1st: Fahmida Sultana (IBA)
College 1st: Moshfeqa Karim (Viqarunnisa Noon College)
School 1st: Tanzid Mahmud Tonoy (Motijheel Govt. Boys' High School)
Children 1st: Maisha Munawara (Viqarunnisa Noon School)

World Schools Motions

The Motions Selection Committee for the 2007 World Schools Debating Championships has finalised its selections for the prepared motions to be debated by the teams at this year's championship is Seoul. They are as follows:

PRELIMINARY ROUND PREPARED MOTIONS
- This House believes that free trade harms the developing world
- This House believes that Holocaust denial should be a crime
- This House believes that the United States should withdraw from its military bases in Asia
- This House would make the development of clean industry a condition for receiving non-emergency aid

GRAND FINAL MOTION
- This House would abolish the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

Teams should arrive in Seoul prepared to debate both the Proposition and Opposition sides for each of the four preliminary round prepared motions.
The draw (listing which teams will be debating each other in each round, which teams will be in proposition and opposition for each debate, and the order in which the prepared motions will be debated) will only be released shortly before the start of the championship.

Whilst preparing for the debates, teams are strongly advised to read through the WSDC Guidelines on Defining Motions & Constructing Cases.

OTHER ROUNDS
All teams involved in the championships will participate in eight preliminary round debates - four of which will be prepared debates on the motions listed above,* and four of which will be impromptu debates for which the motions will be released only one hour in advance. The octo-finals, quarter-finals and semi-finals will also be impromptu debates.
(* Note: If the total number of participating teams is an odd number, one team will sit out each preliminary round and instead participate in a 'bye-round', so four teams will debate only three of the prepared motions if that is the case.)

For impromptu rounds, the team members will be kept in preparation rooms during the hour running up to the debate, and will not be allowed to consult with their coaches during that hour. Under the WSDC Rules, teams may not bring any published or handwritten materials into their preparation rooms for impromptu debates, except for one English Language dictionary, one bilingual dictionary, and one single-volume encyclopaedia or almanac. They are also not allowed to bring in any devices that are potentially capable of accessing information from outside the preparation room, such as mobile phones, laptop computers, pagers, PDAs, BlackBerries, etc.

Motions for all rounds of the competition are selected by the Motions Selection Committee, which consists of five members elected by the World Schools Debating Council and two members selected by the host organising committee. For 2007, the members of the Motions Selection Committee are: Mark Gabriel (Singapore), Andrea Coomber (Australia), Albert Fornis (Greece), Noel McGrath (Ireland), Christopher Bishop (New Zealand), Jumin Lee (South Korea) and Joshua Park (South Korea).

If you have any questions regarding the rules or format for debates at the championships, please feel free to e-mail me for clarification.

Best of luck with your team's preparations for the competition.Regards,
Mark Gabriel
Chair, WSDC 2007 Motions Selection Committee /Co-Chief Adjudicator, WSDC 2007 /Secretary,
World Schools Debating Council Executive Committee

South Africa Wins The Inaugural ASDC

South Africa Wins The Inaugural African Schools Debating Championships!


After six rounds of intense debate on issues ranging from Chinese investment in Africa to the role of socio-economic rights in developing nations, South Africa convincingly clenched the final and emerged as the winners of the ASDC Nations Cup! Competition from the likes of Kenya, Zambia, Lesotho and Namibia was stiff but ultimately the young South Africans took the lead with their strong analysis and charismatic style.

The winners of the ASDC Schools Cup which saw the top 10 South African debating schools go head to head was St. Andrews College Grahamstown.

Whilst the competitive component was thoroughly engaging, most participants reported that the element they found most valuable was the incorporation of various panel discussions and talks by leading members of the civil society, government and business. For instance the tournament was officially opened by keynote speaker Professor Richard Mkandawire, The Nepad Advisor on Agriculture, who addressed participants on the role of African youth in shaping the development agenda. Friday saw the main auditorium packed to capacity as The Palestinian Solidarity Committee and the South African Union of Jewish students debated the topic “ Is Israel an Apartheid state?”

Participants were particularly enthralled by Advocate Gilbert Marcus’s discussion on socio-economic rights which was followed by a debate between COSATU representatives and university students on quiet diplomacy with Zimbabwe as well as a talk by Tapera Kapuwa of the Institute for Democracy in South Africa.

All in all the ASDC provided an amazing forum for youth and members of the public to engage in dialogue critical to the democratic advancement of Africa and as such the Anglo American Chairman’s Fund and St John’s College must be commended for their financial and logistical support for the tournament.