Chennai, June 26: Amid rising concerns over the quality and safety of homemade cosmetic products marketed extensively through social media, the Tamil Nadu Drug Control Department has launched a statewide crackdown on unlicensed manufacturers.

Acting on public complaints, the department has identified 66 units suspected of violating the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940.

A senior official from the department confirmed that most of these units promote their products on social media platforms without obtaining the required manufacturing licences.

“We have begun block-level inspections based on instructions from the Director of Drugs Control, P.U. Karthigeyan. If violations are found, we will initiate legal action under Section 18(c) of the Act,” the official said.

The crackdown comes in response to increasing reports of substandard products flooding the market. A total of 38 types of personal care and cosmetic items fall under regulatory purview, including skin and tooth powders, toothpaste, creams, shampoos, hair oils, nail polish, kajal, henna, sindoor, cold wax, face packs, and toilet soaps.

Currently, Tamil Nadu has 340 licensed cosmetic manufacturers, with 37 operating in the Coimbatore region. The department has intensified inspections of these units, especially those actively promoting products on social media.

Two units in Coimbatore were already found violating promotional norms. Officials noted that while some units flout the law knowingly, others lack awareness of the licensing process.

“We advise such small-scale manufacturers to apply for a licence instead of facing legal action,” an official added.

To manufacture cosmetic products legally for commercial purposes, entrepreneurs must apply for a COS-8 licence through an offline process to the Director of Drug Control in Chennai.

The application fee is Rs 10,000 for up to 10 products, and the licence is valid for a lifetime, subject to a renewal fee of Rs 10,000 every five years. Approval is based on a self-declaration of compliance with Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), followed by a field inspection by drug control officials.

Cosmetic products must also meet standards prescribed by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and comply with the 7th Schedule of the Cosmetics Rules, 2020, which outlines guidelines for manufacturing premises, equipment, and hygiene protocols.

Following the recent inspections, major e-commerce platforms have begun demanding licences from sellers. In response, many small-scale manufacturers have removed contact details to evade scrutiny. However, officials stress that genuine businesses can operate legally by following the proper procedures and obtaining the necessary clearances.

Bengaluru, June 25: An incident has been reported from Bengaluru on Wednesday where a nursing student was allegedly raped by the owner of a paying guest (PG) accommodation after she confessed to a theft, officials said.

The police have arrested the accused.

The arrested person has been identified as 35-year-old Ravi Teja Reddy, the owner of the PG facility.

According to the police, Reddy raped the 21-year-old woman after she admitted to stealing three gold rings from another girl residing in the same PG.

Following the victim’s complaint, Reddy has been booked for rape and taken into police custody.

The victim, a nursing graduate from Andhra Pradesh, had joined the PG only a week prior to the incident and was searching for a job, the police said.

Investigations revealed that the victim had allegedly stolen three gold rings from another PG inmate.

She had also disconnected the CCTV camera wire during the theft.

However, she asked another inmate whether the CCTV footage would still be recorded despite the wire of the CCTV camera being cut.

This conversation was shared with Reddy, which raised his suspicion on the nurse.

Reddy then summoned the victim for questioning and threatened to hand her over to the police.

The girl reportedly confessed to the theft, after which Reddy instructed his aides to retrieve the hidden valuables, police added.

When the victim pleaded with Reddy to forgive her and not to inform the police, he allegedly slapped her and sexually assaulted her.

Initially hesitant to file a complaint, the victim later confided in a male friend.

The friend then contacted a city-based advocate, who helped lodge a formal complaint with the police.

Based on the complaint, the police sent the victim for a medical examination and arrested the accused.

Reddy has been booked under Sections 64(1), 74, and 75(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Act.

In her complaint, the victim said that Reddy initially touched her private parts under the pretext of checking her.

When she resisted, he allegedly forced her to perform oral sex.

The FIR further mentions that the victim, unable to control her urge to vomit after the assault, ran to the restroom.

Reddy followed her and allegedly forced her to have unnatural sex again.

The victim also said that Reddy later threatened her not to reveal the incident to anyone.

It was only after the victim’s friends came to her support that she gathered the courage to file a complaint.

Kochi, June 25: In a startling revelation made by the National Investigating Agency (NIA), it has surfaced that the banned Popular Front of India (PFI) had prepared a hit list of 950 people in Kerala.

The list, which surfaced in the media on Wednesday, included a now-retired district judge.

Incidentally, this list was submitted early this month by the NIA at a special court here when the bail applications of four accused in the murder of RSS leader Sreenivasan came up for hearing. The NIA opposed the bail strongly. The four accused, identified as Muhammad Bilal, Riyasudheen, Ansar K.P. and Saheer K.V., were arrested for murdering Sreenivasan at Palakkad, Kerala, in 2022.

The list of 950 was compiled after getting confirmed inputs from different places by the NIA probe team. It includes eight documents seized from the 51st accused, Sirajudheen, which contain a list of 240 people from other communities.

Then, while conducting a search held at Periyar Valley Campus at Aluva, NIA was able to get the details of five targeted persons from the purse of the 15th accused, Abdul Wahad, who is presently on the run.

It was in this list that the name of a former district judge was found.

Another document seized from an accused, who turned approver later, contained a hit list with the names of 232 people.

Similarly, a search held at the home of the 69th accused, Ayoob, a hit list containing the names of about 500 people was found.

When the NIA was probing the Sreenivasan case, the PFI link emerged. It was later found that PFI had sinister plans to create unrest in the country.

During the investigation, the anti-terror agency got details of the PFI carrying out physical and arms training for its cadres.

The NIA has now claimed that it has voice clips and witness statements that reveal the ‘India 2047 plan’ of setting up Islamic rule in India.

The special court, after hearing both sides and going through the documents produced before it, observed that there were reasonable grounds for believing that the accusation against the petitioners was prima facie true, and rejected the bail petition.