NDF 2012-Platform for Debaters

Promiti Prova Chowdhury

To provide the meritorious debaters across the country with a strong platform to learn and practice, National Debate Federation Bangladesh (NDF BD), one of the largest debate associations in Bangladesh, organised the 6th National Debate Festival 2012. The two day long festival took place in the auditorium of Residential Model College in Dhaka from February 24-25. A total of 135 schools, 82 colleges and madrasas, 22 medical colleges and 29 universities of the country participated in this festival.

AKM Shoaib, Chairman, NDF BD said, “Unlike a competition, this festival was open for all and it has brought students of diverse backgrounds under one roof. This is more of a campaign on 'debate' which helps students to understand the pros and cons of debate and also improves their communication skills. Many students from rural and remote areas of Bangladesh have participated, who consider this festival as an experience of a lifetime and when they will go back to their native homes they will proudly share this experience with others. The vision of this initiative was to bring out a commitment towards 'debate' among students across the country. Because debate not only helps one broaden his horizon of knowledge but also nourishes his articulation power. And in today's world it is crucial for the young generation to achieve such capabilities in order to develop the society.”

The festival included a grand rally by the participants, workshops and a discussion on the study of debate, script writing, rebuttal and applications, public speaking competitions, model debates showing formats like WUDC, parliamentary, fun, regional, traditional, plan chat and much more. Cultural shows, camp fire and a segment called 'meet the celebrity' were another set of attraction. The NDF BD lifetime achievement award was delivered to Faridur Reza Sagor, Managing Director, Impress Telefilm Ltd and Channel i. On day one, subject for the first Bangla model debate which was in NDF BD format, was 'Importing of Indian films are responsible for the fall of our own film industry.' Through this exciting debate the students got a basic idea of debating. The most applauded model was the regional format where the debaters talked in the regional accent of Dhaka, Sylhet, Barisal, Chittagong, Chapainawabganj, Rangpur, Noakhali and Kushtia. For this hilarious debate the subject was 'amar desher mati shobar cheye khati'.

Another unusual segment was debate in plan chat model. The hall suddenly became dark and smoky. The souls of personalities like, Muammar Gaddafi, Mother Teresa, Adolf Hitler, Kazi Nazrul Islam, Che Guevara, Princess Diana and Vupen Hazarika appeared on stage to boast on their own contributions to the mankind. The topic for this segment was 'ami aponare chara korina kahare kurnish'. The audience, especially students of primary level burst into laughter seeing such amusing performances. Afia Farzana, a student of class IX in Shaheed Bir Uttam Lt Anwar Girls' College shared, “In my school I was not a regular debater. I registered to attend this festival out of interest for debate. Now I have learned what needs to be done for being a good debater through the workshops conducted by NDF and also seeing the model debates. This is a very good platform for learning debate outside school and also in a fun way.” Besides watching the debates and attending the workshops some students also participated in cultural programmes by singing, dancing and reciting.

Another model debate in traditional format took place which was on the topic 'krishi unnoyone nagorik shikkharthider grammukhi howa uchit'. The chief guest for this session was Shykh Seraj, Head of News, Channel i. He shared his experience related to farmers and agriculture with the students. In a question and answer session he emphasised on agricultural education.

On the second day, Asif Newaz, former debater of North South University Debating Club (NSUDC) interacted with the participants enlightening them about different models, how to prepare for a debate, pre requisites to deliver a good speech, importance of synchronisation among the team members and much more. He said, “The best way to win a debate is to be simple. It is all about supporting logic with proper emotions.” He suggested everyone to keep the scripts that they prepare for a debate after the debate is over. It might help them in future. He also said that good pronunciation would be an added quality but not the primary factor to become a good debater.

Day two included two more model debates in Bangla and English on topics 'Only a strong election commission can ensure a proper election' and 'This house believes that the 15th amendment of the constitution is terminal to democracy' respectively. Uttam Roy, one of the judges of the model debates, pointed out how to define the key words of the given topic wittily in order to win the debate. The programme ended with a fun debate on the topic, 'Love e kono labh nei, shudhui loss'. The chief guest for the ending session was MP Nurul Islam Nahid, Ministry of Education, People's Republic of Bangladesh. Awards and certificates were distributed among the winners of the public speaking competition. Later, seasoned singer Tahsan Khan entertained the house with his performance.

This festival was sponsored by Janata Bank, Pepsi, Southeast University, Advanced Bangladesh Private Limited. Channel I and Radio Aamar were the media partners. The programme was hosted by AKM Shoaib.

DID YOU KNOW?

George Gamow

Physicist, Science writer George Gamow was born in the city of Odessa, Russian Empire (now in Ukraine) to mixed Russian-Ukrainian parents on 4 March 1904. His father taught Russian language and literature in high school, and his mother taught geography and history at a school for girls. In addition to Russian, Gamow learned to speak some French from his mother and German from a tutor. Gamow did not learn fluent English until his college years. Most of his early publications were in German or Russian, but he later switched to writing in English for both technical papers and for the lay audience. He was educated at the Novorossiya University in Odessa and at the University of Leningrad. Gamow studied under Alexander Friedmann for some time in Leningrad, until Friedmann died in 1925. At the University, Gamow made friends with three other students of theoretical physics, Lev Landau, Dmitri Ivanenko, and Matvey Bronshtein (who was later arrested in 1937 and executed in 1938 by the Soviet regime). The four formed a group known as the Three Musketeers which met to discuss and analyze the ground-breaking papers on quantum mechanics published during those years. On graduation, he worked on quantum theory in Göttingen, where his research into the atomic nucleus provided the basis for his doctorate. He then worked at the Theoretical Physics Institute of the University of Copenhagen, from 1928 to 1931, with a break to work with Ernest Rutherford at the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge. He continued to study the atomic nucleus (proposing the "liquid drop" model), but also worked on stellar physics with Robert Atkinson and Fritz Houtermans. In 1931 Gamow was elected a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR at the age of 28, being one of the youngest in the history of this organization!

Information Source: Internet