Ancient Indian science has achieved more than modern Indian research - Over the years, we have heard a lot of people make this particular statement. But is this really true? We do not know that, but we let a few of the best young debtors in the country ponder over it. You can hear them speak at The New Indian Express' virtual inter-school debate competition, Let's Debate that streamed live on April 21.

The largest inter-school virtual debate competition was held in association with Hindustan Institute of Technology and Science, MEIL and Linc Pens. The judges for the debate were Dr A B Ota, the Director-cum-Special Secretary of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Research and Training Institute (SCSTRTI) and Indraneel Das, Sports Editor of The New Indian Express. The awardees were S Anish, a IX grader of Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan, K K Nagar, Chennai, Kashyap Tiwari, a IX grader of Gitanjali Senior School, Hyderabad and Pratyusha Udupa, a IX grader of Poorna Prajna Education Centre, Bengaluru.

Supporting the motion, Pratyusha said, "If Aryabhatta hadn't given the concept of zero to the world, there would be no millionaires or billionaires. He also said that the earth rotates in its own axis and revolves around the sun." Opposing the motion,  Anish said, "Most developments of ancient science did not benefit all people. Modern scientific research is aimed at the development of the community."