Q&A
Star gazing is a good thing
CELESTIAL MONITOR: A 93-inch telescope at the Kavalur astronomical observatory
I have completed B.E. in Electronics and Communication and qualified for the GATE '05. My interests lie in the field of Astrophysics. In the EducationPlus issue dated April 25, 2005, you had written about the prospects of engineers in Astrophysics. Please list the institutes to approach and the prerequisites for both the fields.
D. Murali Kumar
The Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) is an autonomous institution set up by the University Grants Commission to promote growth of active groups in Astronomy and Astrophysics in Indian universities.
IUCAA aims at being a centre of excellence within the university sector for teaching, research and development in these fields. There are good prospects for engineers like you who want to dedicate yourself to research and contribute to society. IUCAA can be contacted at P.B. 4, Ganeshkhind, Pune University Campus, Pune-411 007.
You can contact the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) (www.iisc.ernet.in) in Bangalore and pursue the courses of your choice. The other institute of repute you can contact is the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, (www.iiap.res.in) , Koramangala, Bangalore.
It is a premier national centre devoted to research in astronomy, astrophysics and related physics. It traces its origin to an observatory set up in 1786 at Madras, which from the year 1792 began to formally function at its Nungambakkam premises as the Madras Observatory. With headquarters at Bangalore, the Institute's laboratories are currently active at Kodaikanal, Kavalur, Gauribidanur, Hanle and Hoskote.
You could contact any these organisations and build up on your contacts and get the best of information and education in the arena of astrophysics.
I passed out of the Pondicherry Engineering College in 2004 in the faculty of Mechanical Engineering. I came to know about the Graduateship Examinations conducted by the Institution of Engineers in the EducationPlus of March 8, 2005. Please provide me some more information such that more professionals like us can reach out to quality education.
Parameswari R.
The Institution of Engineers (India) - IEI (www.ieindia.org) is the first professional body of engineers founded in India to be incorporated by a Royal Charter to promote and advance the art, science and practice of the myriad fields of engineering and technology. From a humble beginning in 1920, it is today a multi-disciplinary nationwide organisation having an overall membership of over four lakhs; the largest body of its kind in the whole of Asia with international status and bilateral relations with many sister societies around the world.
IEI functions with and amongst engineers and academicians and provides a vast array of technical, professional and support services to the government, industry, academic and the engineering community.
IEI is the pioneer in the non-formal engineering education programme, successful completion of which is recognised as equivalent to a degree in engineering by the Union Government, the Union Public Service Commission, State Governments and public/private sector organisations.
You should enrol as a member of the IEI and then pursue the programmes that they have to offer, so that you could add to your qualifications and accrue the benefits of the same.
I am a Commerce Graduate now pursuing the course of Company Secretary. What are the postgraduate courses that I can pursue with my present qualification? Is there scope in SEBI, FEMA after completing the Company Secretary course?
Ravi Kanth
The Company Secretary's work is varied and depends on the size and nature of the company. The duties are mainly classified into three groups:
-General Administration.
-Representative of the Management and Registrar.
-Legal and Financial work.
The job involves ensuring compliance with the Company's Act 1956, SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) laws and other tax and economic laws and arranging meetings of the board of directors, AGMs of shareholders and debenture holders and overseeing the share registry of the company, preparation of bills and invoices, monthly statements, profit and loss forecasts, income and tax returns, assisting staff recruitment besides training.
You can pursue postgraduate courses on the basis of the Commerce degree and the Company Secretary programme that you have attained. An MBA/PGDBA with specialisation in Finance will keep you in good stead.
You could pursue the MBA by the distance mode either from a University or PGDBA from the renowned Symbiosis Center for Distance Learning (SCDL) (www.scdl.net) which is located in Pune.
I am pursuing second year BBM and want to pursue a career in the field of finance. I would like to know how Master's in Finance is different from MBA (Finance) and which will place me in a better position in this field. Please name a few good universities offering Master's in Finance.
Reji Chandy
When you compare a programme like MBA with a specialisation in Finance and Master's in Finance (also nomenclatured as MFA-Master in Financial Administration), you have to remember that an MBA will incorporate within itself general areas of Business Administration besides the specialisations.
In most cases, the MBA learners get to pursue two specialisations. In the MFA programme, the focus is on Finance only. However, the MFA programme being offered by the Department of Commerce, Bangalore University, is elegantly peppered with general management programmes that will help you to broaden your horizon on the subject of Financial Administration.
With companies seeking personnel with specialised areas of functioning, MFA should help you get to the top echelons of financial administration.
Hence, if you have totally focused on the Finance aspect of an organisation, you should pursue the MFA course that is being offered at Bangalore University, for a good number of the students who have passed out of the course have been placed in companies of repute in the national and international scenario.
SHAHEED KHAN
Shaheed_k@yahoo.com
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Education Plus
Karnataka
Chennai
Coimbatore
Hyderabad
Madurai
Tiruchirapalli
Vijayawada
Visakhapatnam
