The counsellor

school of thought i would like to start a primary school in delhi. could you please tell me where i could get the necessary details? nimesh kathuria under section 4 of the delhi school education act, 1973, anyone who intends to open (or upgrade) a school in delhi, has to apply for grant of recognition from the directorate of education, old secretariat, delhi 110054.the application form and all the necessary documents accompanied with a demand draft for rs 500, payable to the deputy director of the concerned district must be sent to the designated office. there are 11 designated offices in the nct of delhi. the last date for submitting your application is 28 june. details of the application form, list of documents and offices are listed on www.delhigovt.nic.in a course in medicine i have passed class xii and wish to study bams. i would like to know if this degree is equivalent to an mbbs. also please tell me which institutions in delhi offer a course in bams. sonia bhattacharya the bachelor of ayurvedic medicine & surgery (bams) degree, the duration of which ranges from five-and-a-half-years to six-and-a-half years, is equivalent to an mbbs degree. in delhi, bams is offered at: • faculty of ayurvedic & unani medicine, university of delhi, delhi 110007. • ayurvedic & unani tibia college, karol bagh, new delhi-110005. incidentally, the m/o health & family welfare is also planning to set up a state-of-the-art national ayurvedic hospital at sarita vihar in delhi. engineering skills i have heard of something called a chartered engineer. could you please tell me what it is all about? somashwar mehra in ireland, uk, and australia the title ‘chartered engineer’ is assigned to those who have an accredited degree in engineering or technology. they must also possess subsequent work experience and clear an exam set by the appropriate professional body. this title is protected by law, which means that you cannot legally call yourself a chartered engineer unless you meet the above requirements. the initials used are c eng. in the us, canada, and 30 other countries, the title professional engineer is also protected by law. in the u s, the initials are p e, and in canada, p eng. a chartered engineer is equivalent to a professional engineer. in germany, the engineer prefixes the initials dip-ing or dr-ing before his name. in europe, chartered engineers can use the european prefix-title eur-ing. so it is eur-ing john smith. unfortunately, in a few countries, some service and repairmen still wrongly call themselves engineers. these repairmen are in fact technicians and not engineers. you also have installation technicians, medical technicians, engineering technicians, architectural technicians, and so on. technicians are to engineers as nurses are to doctors. never too late i started working 10 years ago (i am 30) after completing my b com. although i have picked up considerable know-how and managerial skills, i feel i need an mba to move up to the next level in my career. but if i start working towards an mba now, i will be 32 when i am through. won’t that be too late? rajveer chauhan you’ll be 32 in two years anyway. so the only question is would you rather be 32 with an mba or without one? if you can take time out for a good mba why not go for it? with your varied experience, even a good part-time one or a one-year ‘executive mba’, like the one offered by the indian school of business would be a good bet. not only will it propel you to reach the next professional rung, but it will also give you a valuable edge over the 26-year olds who are already eyeing your current position. besides, what’s age got to do with learning? it may also comfort you to know that internationally, the average age of top b-school graduates is 28 plus and that of those enrolled in executive mba programmes is 38 plus. business management is essentially a practical hands-on science, not merely an academic discipline. your extensive work experience will be a positive asset to help you make the most of the mba programme. you will be able to better relate to what is being taught and discussed than the fresh graduates who opt for the course straight after college. i am not saying that an mba degree is the only route to success in the corporate world. but if you can manage to pack in one without wasting too many years, it will certainly be a great value addition. right investment after working with a broker for the last three years, i would now like to become a mutual fund agent. are there any courses, which would help, or books i could read on the subject? arif khan mutual funds are emerging as an important financial intermediary for the investing public in india. investors need to understand the working of a mutual fund and the increasingly diverse and complex investment options brought to them by a large number of mutual funds. the agent or distributor assumes the role of the financial advisor and is the key channel for bringing mutual funds to a large number of investors all over the country. the association of mutual funds in india (amfi), which sets the industry standards for all funds operating in india has designed the amfi mf testing programme. it enables fund distributors and agents as well as those employed in banks that distribute mfs become more informed investment advisors. the test can also be taken by anyone (regardless of age or qualifications), who wishes to test his knowledge of the complexities of how these funds function internally and externally. the test has been made mandatory by sebi for all agent distributors. it is an automated multiple-choice online test that requires no prior knowledge of computers. papers are set for each candidate separately and corrected automatically on the spot. the amfi mf test is also offered as a separate module of the national stock exchange’s (nse) certification in financial markets (ncfm) along with other subjects such as derivative trading and capital markets. amfi has prepared the study material to help you prepare for the test. the workbook (rs 300) can be obtained from the amfi office at 1218, ‘b’ wing, dalamal towers, nariman point, mumbai-400 021. contact your nearest nse centre (there are seven of them) to register for the online test for a fee of rs 500. there is no restriction on the number of attempts. for details, check out: www.amfiindia.com/testingprogram.html. two good books i can recommend on the subject are the new commonsense guide to mutual funds by paul farrel, and the winning portfolio (how to choose the best portfolio) by mary rowland - published by vision books, delhi. send your queries to caring@theoffice.net