New Delhi: Days after the Tamil Nadu government issued an order to regulate beauty, cosmetology and hair transplant clinics, mandating their registration under the Tamil Nadu Clinical Establishments Act and bringing them under formal rules, doctors have called for implementation of similar rules across the country amid a rise in social media-driven procedures.The Indian Association of Dermatologists, Venereologists and Leprologists (IADVL) has urged the government to curb quackery and implement comprehensive national guidelines to protect patients and strictly enforce existing rules, warning that the fast-growing sector is going beyond oversight.Experts say complications from cosmetic procedures such as hair transplants, Botox and laser treatments are emerging more frequently, as young Indians seek quick fixes and aesthetic improvements are promoted online.The Tamil Nadu order states that hair transplants should be performed only by registered medical practitioners – preferably dermatologists or plastic surgeons – and clinics are required to have proper infrastructure, including monitoring systems, emergency equipment and anesthesia support.Concerns have grown after reports of poor procedures, including the death of two engineers in Kanpur, prompting a police investigation. The issue has also drawn judicial attention. In 2022, the Delhi High Court gave the green light to salons offering hair transplants without medical supervision, warning that such procedures performed by unqualified individuals could be dangerous and even fatal.Experts emphasize that hair transplant surgery requires knowledge of skin biology, hair disorders, infection control and management of complications, and should be performed only by specialized registered doctors.“Aesthetic procedures require specialized training beyond an MBBS degree,” said Dr Vinay Singh, Chairman, IADVL. He said dermatologists have to undergo three years of postgraduate training in procedural skills as well as skin and hair disorders.“Many cases of hair loss can be treated medically and do not require surgery,” said Dr Kabir Sardana, Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, emphasizing the need for proper diagnosis before opting for transplantation. He said the growing demand is being fueled by the influence of social media and rising disposable income.Highlighting the scale of the problem, the IADVL said its anti-quackery committee has identified more than 100 alleged unqualified practitioners offering such procedures this year and shared a list with the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) for action.The debate over who is eligible to perform hair transplants has intensified ever since the Dental Council of India allowed oral and maxillofacial surgeons to train in aesthetic procedures including hair restoration, creating a regulatory gray area.The IADVL also urges patients to verify the doctor’s qualifications and registration with the state medical council before any skin, hair or cosmetic treatment and ensure that the registration number is clearly mentioned on the prescription. The public has been advised to remain vigilant and avoid falling prey to misleading advertisements or treatments offered by unlicensed practitioners.

Nepal has always been more than a neighbor of India. It has been a shoulder on our northern end – where no danger was feared, whose people mixed with us freely, in whose temples we prayed with enthusiasm, whose Gurkhas themselves defined valor. A long-standing story of roti-beti – sharing bread and blood – explains how India understood and managed its relations with Nepal. Open borders, nurtured on the basis of cultural similarity and civilizational kinship, were seen less as a policy option and more as a state of nature. For decades, this faith-based narrative persisted.Since then it has suffered several rapid mutations. And India has been slow to adjust and recalibrate. The same open border that was a symbol of trust became a corridor for threats that India could not ignore. ISI-backed networks systematically exploited the border – Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed modules used Nepal as a staging and transit area. Radicalism, quietly funded through foreign channels, created the institutional base. Counterfeit currency, narcotics and human trafficking created organized syndicates that operated with impunity. Bad money was also used for election funding.India’s response evolved over time – civilian police, then Central Armed Police, and finally smart border management. This step was necessary. But this brought bitterness in the relationship. The warm story of shared identity gave rise to a cold question: How close should one be?While India was tightening its border position, China was making strategic investments in Nepal’s human and physical territory. Chinese study centers sowed the seeds of cultural influence. Infrastructure investment specifically targeted development-dry regions, where India promised much and delivered little – projects were announced with fanfare, then delayed due to poorly defined timelines and long-term delivery deficits.China built roads and connectivity. India sent goodwill and adjournments, films and fanfare.The result was predictable. The political scenario of Nepal was badly broken. The monarchy faced complete disintegration. Maoists came to power. Political instability became a permanent condition of governance in Kathmandu. Meanwhile, India continued to work through the backroom management of Nepali power groups – a habit that reflects a deep strategic miscalculation. China cannot be balanced at the level of a small country situated between two larger countries. China should be balanced on China’s level.India ignored this basic truth for too long. Until 2015, that changed everything. About 80% of Nepal’s population lives on 20% of its land – the southern Terai belt along the Indian border. This demographic and geographical reality has always made the relationship structurally sensitive. After the devastating earthquake of 2015, Nepal was at its most vulnerable. That’s when the Madhesi community – Nepali citizens of the southern Terai belt, who share deep ethnic and cultural ties with Indian cross-border communities – launched a trade blockade against Kathmandu, protesting what they saw as their marginalization in Nepal’s newly drafted constitution. The blockade blocked the flow of essential supplies into the already crisis-hit country. India found itself indifferent to Nepal’s suffering by putting insufficient pressure on Madhesi groups to take it up. Whether that assumption was justified or not is difficult to conclude either way. What is clear is that India was branded non-humanitarian at the very moment when the humanitarian stance mattered most. It was an image that India has struggled to recover.This episode exposed a deeper problem: India had invested in a narrative of belonging based on civilizational solidarity, while ignoring the material conditions that give the narratives their credibility. We fostered corruption in our own soil, engaged in only patchwork aid, and allowed distribution deficits to grow – while China smartly invested in infrastructure, mobility, and connectivity. We remained stuck in faith-based narratives for a long time, even after the landfall.An explosion of Gen-Z aspirations was witnessed, first in Bangladesh and then in Nepal. The demand was consistent: corruption-free, transparent, accountable governance. The pressures driving it were equally consistent – ​​stress in the agricultural sector, lack of jobs, lack of growth opportunities, unplanned and disrupted urbanization, and the challenges of climate change. Overall, it stifled a generation that is both globally well-connected and locally disillusioned.India missed this change. The religious-civilization narrative, which once served as a soft anchor in Nepal, has been rejected outright by this group. We also missed the time-tested wisdom: When the son grows up to stand equal to the father, the right response is to give him respect, space, and freedom to choose his own path. Imposing old stories on a changed generation creates resentment, not intimacy.Amidst China’s debt-trap diplomacy and this new generational call, India continues to argue from premises that no longer match the reality on the ground.The geopolitical environment is highly dynamic, filled with multiple conflicts and increasingly non-normal patterns of statecraft. New narratives have emerged globally – cognitive control, balance of power through balance of payments, mixed pressure zones. China has become a deep-state actor in Nepal, bringing Pakistan and Bangladesh closer to its orbit through multi-mode mobility, digital cordon and high-tech surveillance. The siege of India’s neighborhood is real.Against this backdrop, a fundamental principle reasserts itself: all wars ultimately end in peace. Wise nations have always chosen diplomacy and negotiation rather than protracted turmoil. Cooperation and mutually respectful arrangements are the only lasting basis for long-term relationships. Even claimants to the Buddha’s tradition have deviated from this middle path – but the principle remains sound.India should now act promptly. The 1950 treaty between India and Nepal needs revision – reached through close, trusted negotiations across the table, not through public release of antiquated base maps that harden the situation and invite conflict rather than resolve it.The new Prime Minister of Nepal has the mandate of corruption-free, transparent and accountable governance. This is a real start, and India must meet it with honesty and commitment – ​​not manipulation, not patchwork assistance, not backroom management of power groups.At the grassroots level, this means vibrant border village programs, avenues for mutual development, diverse institutional linkages, startup connections and fostering industrial clusters that create the right environment for practical relationships to take root. When Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam is put into action – beyond fear psychosis and religious rigidity – and when unquestioning democratic governance backs up the words, strong, tacit communication flows naturally.If we draw bigger lines before other stakeholders in the system, they will also adjust their stance. The task is not to match what China is doing. It is to be transcended – in honesty, in delivery, and in respect for the neighbor whose sovereignty and dignity cannot be compromised.The wind is changing. The question is whether India will read it in time?(The author is a former DG, CRPF)

New Delhi: To enhance the strength of the Indian Air Force, India is set to sign several major contracts in the financial year 2026-27, including the deal to procure 114 aircraft. rafale fighter planeThe Defense Ministry has told a parliamentary panel that 60 medium transport aircraft (MTAs) and additional airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) systems are involved.“The capital budget of the IAF has increased by 37.03% compared to the Budget Estimates for 2025-26. The allocated funds are planned to be used for some major new schemes such as multi-role combat aircraft (a reference to the proposed Rafale deal), combat enablers (AEW&C, Tejas MK1A), medium transport aircraft (MTA) and medium-altitude long-endurance RPA (remotely piloted aircraft). Ongoing Committed liabilities,” the ministry told the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence, which presented its latest report in the Lok Sabha last week.In February this year, the Defense Acquisition Council (DAC) approved the purchase of 114 Rafale jets under the Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft (MRFA) programme; The proposed deal for jets along with military hardware is expected to cost around Rs 3.25 lakh crore. Under the MRFA model, the new Rafales will be built in India by French company Dassault Aviation in collaboration with an Indian partner. “Keeping in mind the modernization of the armed forces, especially in the current geopolitical scenario, the Committee urges the Air Force to beneficially utilize the funds allocated for modernization and technological upgradation in armament and procurement of other critical platforms,” the report said.The Defense Acquisition Board has recently approved a plan to procure 60 Medium Transport Aircraft (MTAs) for the Indian Air Force, at an estimated cost of Rs 1 lakh crore. The program aims to replace the aging An-32 fleet, requiring 12 aircraft to be in flying condition and 48 to be manufactured locally. Top contenders include the Embraer C-390 Millennium, Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules and European Airbus Defense and Space with its A-400M.The ministry informed the committee, “Critical combat enablers such as AEWACs, flight refuelers and specialized electronic intelligence and surveillance platforms are critical… These systems not only enhance our intelligence gathering and battlefield transmission but also provide commanders with information on the electronic sequence of modern warfare. All these combat intelligence systems are highly effective platforms to enhance the combat capability of the three services.”The Committee was also informed that the Indian Air Force is committed to self-reliance and is providing full support to the national objectives. “To promote innovation and indigenization, the IAF has created a new directorate, namely Aerospace Design Directorate (DAD). This directorate actively interacts with industries, R&D institutes and academia to explore specific technologies in the aerospace domain and convert them into tactical and strategic war fighting solutions using indigenous resources,” the report said.