The National Stock Exchange, on Friday, announced a tie-up with the National Institute of Financial Management (NIFM) to launch post-graduate courses in financial markets. NSE and NIFM, which was set up by the Finance Ministry in 1993, will start two post-graduate course in financial markets — a one year full-time course and a weekend executive course for working professionals, a release said. The Joint Managing Director of NSE, Ms Chitra Ramkrishna, said this was the first time that specialised market simulation software had been designed in the country to train students and professionals to trade on the same tools that are used by the market community. The courses, which will start from July, will be jointly certified by NSE and NIFM and will cover topics such as cash market and derivatives, mergers and acquisitions, mutual funds, etc. The participants would also get opportunities to visit to an international exchange as well as international financial centres.