Mangaluru: With the The Rostrum English Debating Competition scheduled for March 24 receiving a spectacular response from the student community, the organisers have decided to accept applications till Friday evening.

The State-level debating competition, being organised in association with the Speakers’ Club of Alva’s College at Moodbidri, will be inaugurated by Chikkamagaluru Superintendent of Police K. Annamalai at 9 a.m. on Saturday. The competition is open to students pursuing graduate and postgraduate courses, including professional courses.

The competition will be conducted in three stages — group discussion, turncoat, and the grand finale. The topic for group discussion will be given on the spot, where groups of 10 members will discuss the topic. For the turncoat round, participants will have to pick a topic from a lot to speak for and against it in three minutes. The best-performing participants in the first two rounds will be selected for the grand finale.

In the final round, the participants will have to be prepared to speak for or against one of the following topics after choosing it through a lot: is privatisation of health services in India good or bad?; are villages becoming old-age homes;? are Indian women really empowered?; is commercialisation of sports affecting talents?; and are children’s reality shows on television a boon or a bane?

Entry is free. Applications have to be made by the students’ schools. Registration may be done via email — mlrcir@thehindu.co.in — or online on www.aiet.org.in/debate-thehindu.html.

Adani UPCL’s executive director Kishore Alva and Yenepoya (deemed-to-be university) Registrar G. Shreekumar Menon will distribute prizes at the valedictory function in the evening.

The event is presented by Adani in association with Rostrum, The Speakers Club, and Alvas Education Foundation, Moodbidri.