Abhijit Sen panel gets two months extension

The Union government has extended the term of the Abhijit Sen Committee, to look into the impact of futures trading on commodity prices, by two months. "We have extended the deadline of the Sen committee after it sought two more months for submission of the report," a consumer affairs ministry official said, adding it was made through an "office order" issued early this month.

The government set up the five-member expert committee, headed by Planning Commission member Abhijit Sen, "to study the extent of impact, if any, of futures trading on wholesale and retail prices of agricultural commodities" according to the announcement made by Finance Minister

P Chidambaram while presenting the Budget for 2007-08.

New FMC chairman

The Union government has appointed B C Khatua as the new Chairman of the Forward Markets Commission (FMC), regulator of futures trading in commodity exchanges. Khatua, currently working as sales tax commissioner in Maharashtra, was likely to take charge of his new assignment on May 28, sources said, adding the "office order" for his appointment was issued on April-end.