As the West realizes that globalisation has pauperised governments, left its society in disarray and its currency weak, there is a huge re-think there about the very idea of globalisation.

Davos is a small town in Switzerland. For nearly two decades or so it has been a Mecca for all those who believe in the idea of globalisation – popularly called globalists.

As a host to the annual World economic forum (WEF), it offers an opportunity to the global political leaders to rub shoulders with global business elite under the watchful eyes of global finance.

As my clients opened the registered post their worst nightmare came true. It was a show-cause notice issued by a government department.

It threatened to take coercive action, including closure of business and arrest of directors and senior officials of the company, if reply was not provided to the 'satisfaction' of the government within the date mentioned in the notice.

The matter was indeed serious.

For the next fortnight or so my client's office was in a tizzy. Naturally, nothing else matted. After all, it was a matter of life and death for them.

No one talked about anything, except planning, preparing and actually replying to the show-cause notice. Lawyers were consulted and opinion was sought from experts of all hues.

In Thailand and Brazil, within years global retail giants have destroyed domestic competition. Moreover, they are also accused of adopting bad labour practices, squeezing manufacturers and following predatory pricing policies.

Frankly, one is stunned by the Cabinet decision to allow foreign direct investment in India's retail sector.

The rupee is depreciating by the minute. In just the past few days it has slipped by over 4 per cent.

One significant factor that is increasing the demand for the dollar (which in turn has increased the value of the dollar and simultaneously depressed the value of the rupee) is the capital outflow caused by the exit of foreign institutional investor (FII) funds.

In this connection, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee observed that any intervention by the Reserve Bank of India would not effectively check the fall in the value of the rupee.