If green is your thing, a career in forest management could see you go places, says Prithvijit Mitra

If you find the wild irresistible and long to be in the lap of nature rather than just sit in an office and work, forest management could be the answer to your prayers. As the need for managing India?s dwindling forest cover rises by the day, forest management courses are catching on. To join the gang, you need a spirit of adventure and a manager?s brain.

Forest management is all about conservation and maintenance of the forest wealth. The work implies application of technical forestry principles, practices and business techniques and hence, forest management can be defined as the practical application of scientific, economic and social principles to forests. Being the source of many direct and indirect benefits, they must be managed in such a way that the resource is not depleted.

A contentious question related to the management of forests is whom these benefits should go to. Should forests be managed to maximise the production of good quality timber to feed the construction and furniture industries or should they be managed to maximise production of firewood and fodder to serve the need of the rural poor? The other view is that the sole aim of forest management should be to conserve them as the natural habitat of wildlife.

Every state has its own forest management cell. The forest policy provides conceptual guidelines for forestry work. To translate the policy into action, detailed planning of field-level tasks is required.

So what does forest management teach you? In a word, everything that you need to know to manage and administer forests. That includes analytical and managerial skills, application of concepts to managerial problems, synthesis and perspective building, behavioural skills, technical skills, field work, basic accounting, management accounting, financial management and marketing and project management. At least, this is what the course at the Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM), Bhopal, will include.

Says D.K. Bandopadhyay, director, IIFM, ?Forest management means the accomplishment of multiple goals such as sustainable forest management, livelihood issues in rural India, community forestry, gender issues in forestry, legal and policy analysis in forestry, protected area and biodiversity conservation, management of ecosystem and watersheds, soil and water conservation, maintaining biodiversity and hydrological cycles and carbon sequestration etc. This means that the study of the subject involves a judicious combination of management, social and forestry sciences.?

Forest managers in India do face a challenging task. Problems like human interference, poaching, illicit felling and encroachment of forest land have plagued Indian forests for decades. Effective forest management would also involve evolving strategies to counter these problems.

In recent years, the discipline has also given rise to new concepts like eco-tourism and social forestry. ?Adventure and eco-tourism have caught up in a major way in the south and parts of north India. We are promoting it as well and this is the future of tourism,? says Kalyan Bhattacharya, chief accounts officer, West Bengal Forest Development Corporation Ltd (WBFDC).

NEW DELHI, January 15: The revision of the curriculum on a full-time MBA courses in the Faculty of Management Studies (SGF), for admission to the University of Delhi, the Academic Council at its meeting on 17 January. If approved, the new curriculum in force in the next session of 1998/99.

The revision of the curriculum complies with the requirements of the industry and is based on the feedback of them. “We regularly update our course every three to five years. The course was taught for the past four years, and although the basic structure remains the same, the revised curriculum includes some new aspects, “says AS Narag, Dean of the Faculty of Management Studies.

This course is one of the most requested at Delhi University. The main attraction of training lies in its high market value. With 100% placement, almost everybody gives aspiring MBA SGF exams. There were about 14,000 students, India seems to all qualifying examinations will be held on January 11 for the MBA 90 seats.

The new study plan was adopted by the Committee on teaching and learning, on Aug. 19, 1997, after consulting for a year. Then, at a meeting of the Faculty of Management Studies, September 2, the new study plan has been reviewed and approved.

After the meeting, Dean A.S. Narag sent the revised package for admission to the Academic Council.

While the basic structure of the revision of curricula is the same, a number of new documents were presented. Information technology and management of the world economy are the two new titles. In addition, the structure of four semesters have been slightly modified. Given the basic financial growth, finance and management accounting has been presented in two separate documents. Similarly, students are now required to submit a draft report at the end of their probationary period in the second half. This report is regarded as a comprehensive document and highlighted.

Another significant change is the introduction of a choice of theme in the fourth quarter. “In previous studies programs, there were seven branches option in the third quarter, which has already reduced to six in the new. We proposed, including the choice of disciplines in the fourth quarter. You know how that is, with students, it tends to be a little slack here at the end, “says Narag.

Topics at the University believes that the revision of the directive is to be welcomed. “It was late, in the context of rapidly changing developments in industry and commerce,” says JP Sharma, president of the Progressive Teachers organization.

NEW DELHI, July 26. The Institute of Integrated Management Training (IILM) a one year full-time post-graduate diploma in insurance and risk management. This is allegedly the only one who, of course, the evolution of Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRDA).

Talking to Business Line, Dr Ahindra Chakrabarti, director, IILM, said: “With the opening of the insurance sector and increasingly global players recruitment shop, did it come to an increased demand for professionals l insurance gives lessons. ”

The course, starting from September this year, issues such as the foundations of risk and insurance, management accounting, strategic management, laws and regulations related to insurance, reinsurance, the sale and distribution of insurance products and managing the underwriting.

Talking about the career prospects in this sector, Dr Chakrabarti, said: “Insurance is the growth rate of 15 to 20 per cent per annum. In the next two years, about 25000 people are probably employed in this sector , and will it be a demand for marketing professionals, Statisticians, systems professionals, financial experts and health professionals. insurance application specific functions such as agents, Advisories, underwriters and actuaries are more high.

Lucknow, January 2: The General Management Program (GMP) offered by Indian Institute of Management Lucknow (IIML) was inaugurated today. Six months, the programme is specially designed for retired personnel and defence policy focuses on the basics of management.

The program was inaugurated by Maj. Gen. KS Sandhu, invited the gurus of management, to become actively involved in the development of the nation.

This is the second time IIML is the implementation of this programme. The program was established in 2004 by IIML. Most of the personnel of the defence of the first part of this program are already included in companies renowned houses.

This period of approximately 60 employees of defense would learn the basics of management, accounting, finance, decision science, organizational behavior, information technology, marketing and business development strategy for the environment. The peculiarity of this year on the management of the programme is that 10 women defence personnel would also be pursuing this course. In the batch of 60, 40 officials from the army, navy and 9 of 10 from the air are in force. In the last part, the defence staff had 49 for the management of the programme.