Follow the money trail

• Q: I have just joined a five-year law programme. What do law graduates generally prefer to opt for — corporate law or criminal law?

Tanya Sheikh

• A: Most law graduates from prestigious law schools prefer to become corporate lawyers. The main incentives are a nine-to-five job, a higher and stable income and few of the headaches of the criminal legal system. The starting salaries in the legal cells of companies are often in the range of Rs 7 to Rs 9 lakh per annum.

The high tuition fees in today’s law schools result in students borrowing lakhs of rupees. Most law students are from middle-class families. They can’t afford the several years needed in criminal law to build up a good enough practice that can enable them to repay their loans.

Even regular prosecutors get barely Rs 20,000 a month after many years of practice. Going for high-wage corporate law seems to be an easier option.

Further, there is a growing perception, not without foundation, that if you take up litigation, you have to put up with corrupt officials. Even securing the next court date becomes a cumbersome process unless it is accompanied by some payment.

Even though law graduates love the thrill of legal debate, they often find that it is not their legal acumen that matters in a court of law but influence and money power. This happens more often than they are comfortable with.

Joining a legal process outsourcing (LPO) unit is another option that you can consider if you do not wish to enter a court of law after graduation. For instance, if you work with a firm such as Bitscape’s LPO, you would be required to do legal research, draft contracts and provide prosecution and litigation support to law firms in the US and Europe. For more information, visit www.bitscapesolutions.com/ legal-process-outsourcing.htm.

Moving beyond the border

• Q: I am in the first year of my BCom course at a college in Calcutta. I want to migrate to Delhi University next year. What are the requirements for migration?

Deepali Mazumdar

• A: Theoretically, if your parent or guardian is a resident of or has migrated to Delhi, you can migrate to Delhi University but in practice, only those whose guardians have transferable jobs are considered for migration. Of course, you also have to fulfil various academic conditions, some of which are rather tough.

Migration isn’t permitted to certain academic programmes (including honours courses).

After you have migrated to BCom (pass) or BA (pass), you must pass the first-year papers along with the second-year ones at the end of the academic year.

The administrative process often takes many months. For more information, visit www.du.ac.in.

From animal farms to pharma firms

• Q: If I decide to take up BVSc, what kinds of jobs can I take up? Will I be paid well?

Bikram Roy

• A: With a BVSc degree under your belt, you could look at the following options: teaching and research (postgraduate and PhD), working in veterinary hospitals, dairy and poultry farms, piggeries, camel / stud farms, sheep and goat farms, abattoirs, zoos, research units, army veterinary corps, banks, insurance, pharmaceutical industry and non-governmental organisations. You could also start private practice. You can also take the Civil Services exams.

It would help to go for a specialisation at the postgraduate level because in the coming years, there will be little scope for general practitioners.

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) holds an all-India common entrance examination in the month of May for admission to 15 per cent of the total number of seats in each veterinary college in India. To be eligible for admission to a five-year bachelors degree course (including a compulsory rotating internship of six months) in veterinary science and animal husbandry, you should have completed 17 years of age and not be over 20 years on December 31 of the year of admission. You should have passed Plus Two or have another equivalent qualification from a recognised Indian university with physics, chemistry, botany and zoology as compulsory subjects.

The information bulletin containing the application form and other details can be obtained in the month of February or March against cash payment from specified branches of Syndicate Bank listed in the admission notification published in newspapers.

For information on the examination, you may also write to the director, National Academy of Agricultural Research Management, Rajendra Nagar, Hyderabad-500030, or to the Senior Scientist, Examination Cell, Room no. 405, Krishi Anusandhan Bhavan (ICAR), Pusa Gate, New Delhi-110012, or to the Campus Dean, Central Agricultural University (CAU), Imphal, Manipur-795001.

You may contact West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sciences, 68 Kshudiram Bose Sarani, Calcutta-700037 for information on their BVSc course.