Max New York Life, one of the earliest entrants into the private insurance market, grew 54% on new business premium in the first nine months of the current fiscal. It has also gone for major expansion last year. Rajesh Sud, the CEO and managing director of Max New York Life, who took charge four months ago, spoke to DNA Money's Nandini Goswami on a host of industry and company specific issues. Excerpts from the interview:

How has the current slowdown affected MaxNYL's business and how do you see the situation unfolding in the coming months?

Zurich - Adecco, the largest staffing company globally, said Wednesday it suffered a 22 million euro loss in the final quarter of last year and that its profits for 2008 fell 33 per cent to 495 million euros.

Moreover, the Swiss company's revenues for the entire year fell by 5 per cent to 20 billion euros.

"Looking into the near future, management currently sees no signs of improvement," the company said in a statement.

The world renowned Swiss watchmaker, Rado expects that Gujarat will contribute significantly in its overall sales across India. It targets more than 40% sales growth in Gujarat, which is more than national target of 30%.

The company also plans to expand number of its boutiques in India from 12 to 20 by end of current calendar year. While launching company's first exclusive boutique in Ahemdabad, Roland Streule, president of Rado said, "Though India has not been contributing substantially in our revenues like other countries, it will become the fastest growing market for the company in coming years. Gujarat is also a promising market for us and we expect higher growth in the state. Ahmedabad also finds a place in the top ten markets in India."

Halts review of drug applications from Paonta Sahib, invokes compliance clause

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Wednesday announced that a facility owned by Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd falsified data and test results in approved and pending drug applications.

The facility, Paonta Sahib, has been under an FDA import alert since September 2008.

The FDA is continuing to investigate this matter to ensure the safety and efficacy of marketed drugs associated with Ranbaxy’s Paonta Sahib site.

To date, the FDA has no evidence that these drugs do not meet their quality specifications and has not identified any health risks associated with currently marketed Ranbaxy products, the regulator said in a press release.

New York  - HJ Heinz Co, the world's biggest ketchup maker, posted higher-than-expected third-quarter profits Tuesday and said net income climbed 11 per cent to
242.3 million dollars from the previous year.

The Pittsburgh-based company said the growth was a result of higher pricing and increased sales of ketchup and its Classico pasta sauces, which also showed that consumers in recession-hit countries were eating at home more frequently.

Power and automation technologies firm, ABB India has declared its financial results, posting 11 per cent increase in its profit at Rs 547 crore for the fiscal ended December 31, 2008. The firm earned total revenue of Rs 6,967.50 crore for the fiscal as compared to Rs 6,001.40 crore during last year.

Meanwhile, the Board of ABB appointed Gary Steel as its director and chairman, who is currently serving as Head of Human Resources and Member of the Group Executive Committee of ABB group of companies.