The St. John’s All-India/ International debate was inaugurated today by Dr. Vivek Lal( Director- PGIMER, Chandigarh). It was attended by an impressive audience.
What followed was a lively, argumentative dialogue based on facts and opinions. During the first round, Off the Cuff which was an impromptu round, students displayed their oratory skills and vast knowledge of the areas like the Aftermath of COVID-19, Nuclear power, SDGs etc. The stakeholders displayed their keen learning and defended their views during the fierce rebuttals.
Another innovative round was on videos presented to the debaters on which they had to propose the topic themselves. If a Picture is Worth a Thousand Words, Then Is a Video Worth a Million? Very clear and well-rounded thought was witnessed during this session. Intricate issues were lucidly expressed.
The judges were all from the higher echelons, with St John's proudly showcasing its alumni! For the first round the judges were, Mr. Sudhendu Bali( Prof. of Entrepreneurship- Punjab Engineering College), and Mr. Ranjit Bajaj( Owner- Minerva Punjab-FC&CC).
The judges for the second round were Mr. Pavan Khaitan( MD- Kuantum papers), Mr. Sandeep Kumar( MD- Global Ascent Partner) and, Mr. Gurpreet Pannu( Retd. Wing Commander)
Our esteemed chief guest, Dr. Vivek Lal( Director, PGIMER, Chandigarh) expressed his delight that St. John's was organizing a debate at this level which gave the students an excellent platform to hone their debating skills. He said that debating was most necessary and debating with self was also important about what we really believe in.
The Principal Mrs. Kavita Das expressed her pleasure about the huge reach of the debate and the ties that were being formed that would lead to a global brotherhood of like-minded students.