ChinmayC Blog

India Post has announced today that postal services to the United States of America will be temporarily suspended with effect from 25 August, 2025 with a few exceptions. The press release issued says that it has taken note of the Executive Order No. 14324 issued by the US Administration on 30th July, 2025, under which the duty-free de minimis exemption for goods valued up to $800 will be withdrawn with effect from 29th August, 2025. Consequently, all international postal items destined for the USA, regardless of their value, shall be subject to customs duties per the country-specific International Emergency Economic Power Act (IEEPA) tariff framework. However, gift items up to the value of $100 shall continue to remain exempt from duties. Per the Executive Order, transport carriers delivering shipments through the international postal network, or other “qualified parties” approved by the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), are required to collect and remit duties on postal sh...

In a very significant development on Thursday, April 7, 2022, the 193-member United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has suspended the membership of Russia from the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), a UN body formed in 2006 to replace the erstwhile United Nations Human Rights Commission, with 47 elected members and a mission to promote and protect human rights around the world. In an urgently called session of the UNGA 93 nations voted for the suspension of Russia, 24 including China voted against the move and 58 nations including India abstained whose votes did not count in the final tally, and therefore, the UNGA got its two-thirds majority to pass the move. Although the move is not legally binding Russia would be effectively prevented from raising its voice in the UNHRC.  Thus, Russia becomes the first permanent member-nation of the UN Security Council to be ousted from a UN body. The other Security Council members are the US, the UK, France and China.   The UNG...

According to Sigmund Freud’s theory of ‘Id, Ego and Superego’ the Id trait of a personality was present in the first primitive humans, but not as a part of the brain; in fact, the Freudian tripartite components had nothing to do with the grey cells. The Id trait includes the basic survival, sexual and aggressive instincts/impulses, and it acts unconsciously. Over the centuries the primitive humans started living in communities and societies, and at that time the Ego trait became important as a conscious part of a personality able to distinguish between ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ acts in terms of good or harm such acts could cause to the others. With more maturity the Superego trait had emerged as the ethical ‘conscience’ of human beings, always sending correcting messages to Ego whenever the Id trait overpowered it. Freud indicated that any imbalances in these three traits are bound to lead to personality disorders, like if the Id impulses totally dominate the personality that human being tur...

As the title suggests this piece on the raging Ukraine crisis can only be at a perceptive level, because the issue is too complicated with debatable cum controversial angles, and this writer is not much used to write on international politics and cannot authenticate fully the information available on the public domain. Why I have still chosen to write on this is that as a writer with a journalistic bent of mind I cannot escape from this crisis that knocks the doors of my country too. And those ‘perceptions’ I’ve developed are based on the media reports, an international media that is not united objectively, but visibly divided and biased over the crisis. There are primarily two points of view (POV): one is obviously the pro-US mainstream Western Media that has been blaming Russia squarely as the imperialist invader and spreading the idea of an imminent war across the globe; the second is the neutral or the alternative media that is trying to present the real scenario (as per their view...

Till that unbelievable 9/11 attack terror did not seem to be a global phenomenon. But since then terror became an industry with the formation of many groups having their bases in countries like India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Internal factors of these countries made themselves prime targets of the attacks. India has been bearing the brunt of it in a major way since 1993 with many of its cities continuing to be soft targets. The US interests—financial, military or strategic—in these countries and the growing conflicts thereof finally brought terror to the US in a most inhuman way in terms of the 9/11 attack in 2001. Al-Qaeda emerged as the global force of terrorism. However, even then it could be said that terror did not assume a global role thanks to efforts on counter-terrorism by USA and to some extent India. After more than a decade terror returned to America in April, 2013 in terms of the Boston Attack and last Monday’s (September 16) attack on the US Naval Base where shooter (s)...

  The small screens of our homes come alive with horrific visuals time and again thanks to the strikes or attacks by the US and the allied forces. When celebrations follow such acts of raw violence a question appears in some corner of our mind—is something wrong? Be it Saddam Hussein or Osama Bin Laden or Muammar Gaddafi--their violent ends disturb that part of our mind. But at the same moment we tend to identify with the oppressed and terrorized people and celebrate with them. Such terrorists or dictators are confirmed offenders of mankind. They fully deserve the horrendous ends they finally get. Throughout their destructive careers they leave a trail of unprecedented violence, brutalities and sufferings.  Okay, they are demons. But we are still humans, no? Read the Full Article...