Friday, March 29, 2024

BRAC University: The World Champions

On January 3, members of 400 participating teams along with distinguished guests gathered at the Main Hall of Technische University, Berlin. Thousands if not millions watched the live feed online, from all around the world, eagerly and anxiously waiting for an announcement, the results of the World Universities Debating Championship 2013(WUDC 2013). The tournament is dubbed as the World Cup of debating and it is also considered as the largest non-sporting event in the world. Bangladeshis around the world chimed in to watch the finals live on YouTube. At around 6 a.m. (Bangladesh time) the heart of the entire nation skipped a beat when it was announced that BRAC Bangladesh A team, Aaqib Farhan Hossain and Ratib Mortuza Ali, from BRAC University claimed the World ESL Championship for 2013. Tears of joy and a sense of disbelief flowed amongst each and every debater in Bangladesh as Aaqib and Ratib slowly crept up to center stage and collected the coveted trophy, while emotionally clinging to the Bangladeshi flag. In addition, Ratib Mortuza Ali was crowned ‘Darling of the Audience’, the best speaker of the final, as per the general consensus of the audience.
Over the course of seven days, BRAC University participated in nine preliminary rounds, of extreme debating, where they beat the universities of Vermont, Swarthmore, Utrecht, Haifa, Colgate and Nottingham among others. BRAC University then qualified for the ‘English as a Second Language’ (ESL) quarterfinals; this is a first for any Bangladeshi team. Soon, they debated their way to the semifinals and eventually to the ESL Grand Finals, where they faced off and triumphed over two teams, from Netherlands and Israel respectively.
The winner’s trophy may be a small porcelain bear, the Berlin bear; symbolic of the host city, but the value and pride that it bestows is incomprehensible. The thought that, ‘Bangladesh became the World Champions’ still took some time to grasp and once it was realized, the sentiment that followed was only natural. Ratib and Aaqib’s triumph established Bangladesh’s significance in the world debating arena. It also validates years of hard work put in by this pair in developing the Bangladeshi debating circuit. Moreover with this victory, they have set a high bar for all future debaters from Bangladesh.
The debaters have already given multiple interviews to the German media and are enjoying their well deserved popularity in Germany and Bangladesh alike.
Ratib (21), an economics student, and Aaqib (22), a business student, have dedicated their victory to all of Bangladesh. Well-wishers eagerly supported and celebrated their, BRAC University’s and Bangladesh’s, success wholeheartedly. This pair has also won three national debate championships in 2012, they say, ‘Debate needs a lot of external support, in terms of understanding and money’, and expressed hope that their victory will encourage and promote the debating culture in Bangladesh and attract support for debate from parents, universities and corporate sponsors.
In addition they have also expressed their deep gratitude towards their parents, peers and BRAC University for their continual support in their endeavors. Above all their triumph propels Bangladesh to the forefront of the debating world.

The writer is a member of BRAC University Debating Club

Article originally published on New Age

Related News

World Chocolate Day 2023: From history to celebration all you need to know

News Desk : dhakamirror.com World Chocolate Day, celebrated on July 7 each year, is a delightful occasion that brings people together. On World Chocolate Day, people indulge in a wide array of chocolate-infused delights, ranging from chocolate milk and hot chocolate to candy bars, cakes, and brownies. It is a time to revel in the ... Read more

Saudi Arabia: What happens to the 100 million Jamarat pebbles after Hajj?

World Desk : dhakamirror.com The annual Hajj pilgrimage, one of the five pillars of Islam, is a time of deep spiritual reflection for millions of Muslims. One of the most significant rituals during Hajj is the stoning at Jamarat, where pilgrims throw pebbles at three pillars, symbolising the rejection of evil. With over 1.84 million ... Read more

Still no facilities for cyclists

World Bicycle Day today Shahin Akhter Bicycles are the cheapest and most environment-friendly mode of transport in easing traffic congestion and reducing environmental pollution in the capital city, said green activists and entrepreneurs. Absence of separate lanes on roads and increased value added tax on spare parts, however, are hindering this mode of transport from ... Read more

Which are the 10 largest airports in the world?

The scenario of the global air transportation sector has drastically changed over the last few decades that has been subject to many variables over the past decade. Air travel is not only the most sought after and popular means of travel for long-distance but has made a major contribution to the world economy. It may ... Read more

Celebrating World Samosa Day

September 5 is celebrated as World Samosa Day and the day is solely dedicated to the crunchy oily snack. Be it rains or winter or summer, samosas are our savour. For those unaccustomed to the humble street food item, it’s a triangular-shaped pastry that comes with a range of fillings. Different parts of the world ... Read more

The land of beauty

by Mahfuzul Haque Bangladesh, a South-Asian country wrapped up with great streaming rivers, is indeed a land of green and natural beauty. The land possesses the longest sea beach and is home to the Royal Bengal Tiger. Sundarbans is also the biggest mangrove forest in the world. The country, once part of undivided Bengal, is ... Read more

Tourism in Bangladesh: problems and prospects

by Ziaul Haque Howlader Forty years has elapsed of Bangladesh’s tourism industry, yet we still see it in a nascent position in comparison to our neighbouring countries. Despite having all the potential to flourish, tourism in this country has been growing at a very slow pace. Bangladesh is not known as a tourist destination in ... Read more

A brief life sketch of Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose

Obaidur Rahman Born on 30th November, 1858, in the Rarikhal village of Bikrampur during the British era, which is now under the Munshiganj district of Bangladesh; Sir Bose was all together a physicist, biologist, botanist, archeologist and the author of the very first major work in the arena of Bangla science fiction, Niruddesher Kahin, written ... Read more

Focusing on community strength for disaster preparedness

OP-ED Focusing on community strength for disaster preparedness We can mobilise all the communities at every corner of Bangladesh and we will discover that they all have the same potentials. They by themselves will find a way out of their problems, writes M Mizanur Rahman. INVESTMENT in disaster preparedness can save five times as much ... Read more

Tourism prospect of Bangladesh

OP-ED Tourism prospect of Bangladesh If tourism is given due honour of industry and if both government and private organisations equally come forward for its development then it would open doors of immense possibility for us. At present, in our gross domestic product, the role of tourism is below one per cent. If it could ... Read more

New policy to promote tourism industry

The Nepali government has brought new tourism policy to promote tourism industry, The Himalayan Times reports. Addressing a press meeting, Minister for Tourism and Civial Aviation Hisila Yami said the ministry is planning a curriculum regarding tourism and the development of a separate Tourism University. “European arrivals are declining due to the global financial crisis ... Read more

A 19th-century Bengali scholar

By Monty Siddique for The News Today Abu Saleh Mohammad Siddique, whose ancestral home was in Tetulia (Zamindar family), Satkhira, Bangladesh, studied English Language and English Literature at St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata. He breathed his last in June 2007 and is buried in the Muslim section of the Greenford Cemetery in the London Borough of ... Read more

A modern day kobiraj

Jawad Hossain Nirjhor for The News Today This article is about alternative medical practices that are adopted by poor people suffering from myriad illnesses, giving us a glimpse of the health conditions and sufferings of the underprivileged population in this country. Afsar Ahamed lay near a corner of a street in Hatirpool, huddled in pain. ... Read more

Infectious diseases and vaccine sciences

What does the Programme do? ICDDR,B is a vibrant institution with various experts actively engaged in research on infectious diseases. Microbiologists conduct fundamental research on the characteristics of pathogens. Immunologists study host defences, including potential vaccine candidates. Clinical scientists study the diseases caused by these infectious agents and evaluate optimum therapy in infected patients. Epidemiologists study ... Read more

The story & esoteric significance of Rath Yatra

By Dr. Subrato Ghosh for The News Today The story of the origin of Rath Yatra given by the Goswamis is practically unknown. As the gopis think and cry for Krishna, so He too was always immersed in their thought and would feel acute pangs of separation. HISTORY OF RATHA-YATRA Once Krishna was deeply thinking ... Read more

Rabindranath: The Contemporary Forever!

By Aly Zaker It was in August of 1971. I was on an official mission of the Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra, escorting some foreign dignitaries to the refugee camp in the Salt Lake area ofCalcutta. After my official duty was over as I was getting ready to leave, I heard that the Mukti Shangrami’ Shilpi ... Read more

Struggle to Survive

By Jawad Hossain Nirjhor The ready-made garment industry employs around 3.5 million workers and accounts for 80 percent of the total export earnings is mainly depends on women workers .Following the countrywide demonstration last year, the minimum wage for the garment workers was slightly increased. On the eve of May Day, it is time to ... Read more

Junk science

Scientists are increasingly worried about the amount of debris orbiting the Earth, writes Dr K.H. Amin February 10th 2009 began like every other day in Iridium 33’s 11-year life. One of a constellation of 66 small satellites in orbit around the Earth, it spent its time whizzing through space, diligently shuttling signals to and from ... Read more

Agricultural breakthroughs

Khamin writes about the researches that have made positive differences to our agriculture sector Being mainly an agrarian economy with agriculture being the largest producing sector, the increasing performance in the sector in Bangladesh, has been fuelled by various scientific researches conducted over the past three decades. The fruition of the researches has brought about ... Read more

World’s largest mangrove forest

The Sundarbans, the largest single tidal halophytic mangrove forest in the world, is intersected by a complex network of tidal waterways, mudflats and small islands of salt-tolerant mangrove forests. The name Sundarban can be literally translated as “beautiful jungle” or “beautiful forest” in the Bengali language. The name may have been derived from the Sundari ... Read more