The BSE director, training and research, Manoj Vaish, explained that this forms part of BSE's plans to beef up research and development work at the exchange as well as in the Indian capital market.

The research institute is being planned on the lines of the "New York Institute of Finance" which was originally created by the New York Stock Exchange and subsequently branched off into an independent organisation.Vaish, who joined office in the last quarter of 1998, strongly believes that the exchange needs to work continuously in training exchange officials and tapping the vast human resource within the organisation.

"The future is in the mind andnot in physical assets," said Vaish highlighting the significance of training the employees and in bringing them at par with international norms and standards.

BSE's existing in-house training and research institute has in the meanwhile set an ambitious target of organising programmes related to derivative products and a comprehensive programme on capital markets. "We want to reach out to the stock market as a whole," said Vaish, explaining that previously the training institute focussed on programmes exclusively for brokers, however, now the target audience would be market intermediaries and bankers as well.

"We have decided to organise about 50 programmes on derivative trading and about five programmes on the role of intermediaries during the year," said Vaish.

The training institute has also kicked off a series of programmes on derivatives trading. "We have invited people from Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to speak on derivatives," said Vaish further explaining that the exchange plansto impart training for both, those who want to appear for the Sebi approved certification programme and for the market intermediaries who need to get the know-how of derivatives trading.

The training institute has already started off with the training and certification programme for derivatives trading during the first week of January. The exchange has decided to charge a nominal fees of Rs 1000 for the brokers, however a fees of Rs 2,000 would be charged for outsiders.