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GREAT Britain Debate comes to Patiala

Patiala will host the UK’s premier debating competition in India, the 'GREAT Britain Debate', on Tuesday 17 January.

GREAT Britain Debate in Patiala

Thapar University will host the debate, organised by the British Deputy High Commission Chandigarh. The topic of the debate will be ‘India’s young population is its biggest advantage over its competitors’.

The event aims to celebrate and encourage debating prowess and offers an opportunity for informed discussion amongst the student fraternity.

British Deputy High Commissioner Chandigarh, David Lelliott, said:

For the last two years we have held the GREAT Britain Debate in Chandigarh, and it has been a big success, so I’m very pleased we are able to follow that up by bringing it to Patiala. It is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the UK and India’s shared tradition of lively, reasoned debate and our close educational ties. And of course to strengthen our links with universities across Northwest India, including our friends at Thapar University who have been excellent partners. We’ve seen a very high quality of debate in previous years and I’m looking forward to more of the same.

Organised by the British High Commission network in India, the GREAT Britain Debate competition is the biggest since its conception. In its 4th edition, the competition will be organised in 8 cities – Bhopal, Visakhapatnam, Hyderabad, Delhi, Kolkata, Dehradun, Jaipur and Patiala.

The debate is being organised in association with Chevening Scholarships. Chevening is the British government’s flagship global scholarship and fellowship programme, funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and partner organisations. The India programme is the largest Chevening country programme in the world, funding 130 scholarships for future Indian leaders.

Last year’s GREAT Britain Debate in Chandigarh was won by Thapar University.

Further information:

The debate will begin at 1.30 pm on Tuesday 17 January 2017 at TAN Auditorium, Thapar University, Patiala.

The judges will be:

  • Rosa Kucharskyk, Principal, the British Co-Ed High School Patiala
  • Rajan Kashyap, former Chief Secretary, Punjab
  • David Lelliott, British Deputy High Commissioner Chandigarh

Representatives of the media are cordially invited to cover the debate in Patiala.

For more information, please contact:

Alam Bains
Media Adviser
British Deputy High Commission, Chandigarh
Ph: 9501925556

Mail to: Alam Bains

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Published 16 January 2017