Samadhan extended till January 31: The centre has decided to extend till January 31, 1999, the Kar Vivadh Samadhan Scheme to mop up tax arrears locked up in litigations, minister of state for revenue KMR Janarthanan said on Wednesday.

Ashok Leyland reverts to five-day week: Ashok Leyland has reverted to a five-day week from December 26. This brings to an end the two-day layoff in vogue since September 4, which the company had implemented to bringdown its inventory level in tune with the market conditions. In December first week, Ashok Leyland had cut the layoff period by a day.

Mysore Acetate plans VRS for entire work force: Mysore Acetate & Chemicals Co Ltd on Wednesday decided to announce its voluntary retirement scheme in January, targeting all the company's 532 employees. The company will utilise Rs 5 crore released by the state government last week for the purpose. The details of the scheme are being worked out.

Praxair India commissions plant: Praxair India, the wholly-owned subsidiary of the $4.7-billion industrial gases giant, which is faced with a major recession in its user industries soon after setting foot in the country, has commissioned its first helium transfill plant in India. The facility will import bulk liquid helium containers from the US to supply liquid helium in 100-500 litres dewars and gaseous helium in tube trailers and cylinders.

Steel price crashes by Rs 700 a tonne in Calcutta: The prices ofmost steel items fell substantially this week in the Calcutta market, with those of 0.63mm cold-rolled coils and 100x100x8mm angles crashing by Rs 700 a tonne. The price of CR coils fell to Rs 19,000 a tonne, from the previous week's Rs 19,700. The previous lowest price for the year was recorded at Rs 19,600 a tonne on December 15.

Euro preparedness: Major commercial banks have told the Reserve Bank that they are prepared to deal in the euro from January 1. The central bank had called a meeting of leading commercial banks on Tuesday to discuss their preparedness for switching to the euro. An RBI release said: "All the participating banks confirmed that the various issues relating to the transition such as setting up correspondent arrangements, opening of euro deposit accounts, training of staff, settlement instructions and changes in swift messaging standards had been addressed and action taken."

`Delhi power system may collapse by June': The power system in Delhi will collapse within sixmonths if the state government fails to undertake emergency measures to improve transmission and distribution, power minister R Kumaramangalam has warned. "Delhi's peak demand by June is estimated at 2700mw, and the Delhi Viduyt Board is capable of taking a load of only 2,000mw. Unless a capital infusion of Rs.1,000 crore is made immediately to improve the system, it will collapse, and there could be power riots."

Auto majors to use jute for door panels: Global auto majors like Mercedes Benz and Opel Astra have started using jute for door panels, replacing conventional materials like steel or aluminium. This is a major breakthrough the National Jute Development Programme has achieved since it was launched six years ago with an assistance of $20 million each from the UN Development Programme and the centre.

Textile imports seen up by 17%: Textile imports have risen by almost 17 per cent since 1996-97 owing to removal of quantitative restrictions on imports, according to the Madhya PradeshTextile Mills Association chairman Vikas Kasliwal. He observes that the composite mills are reeling under cost inflation owing to large wage bills and heavy octroi.

Rolta India to apply to VSNL: The Rs 100-crore Rolta India will make an application to Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited for E1 line connectivity with a bandwidth of 2 mega byte per second (Mbps) to launch its services as an Internet service provider from March 1999. Rolta, which has received the ISP licence from DoT last week, will invest Rs 20 crore in the first phase. The company will focus on providing value-added services to a nearly 25,000 subscriber base, comprising corporate and home segments.