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When India gained independence in 1947, its Independence Day ceremonies became a prototype setting the standard for marking and ritualising imperial withdrawal and achievement of sovereignty in former colonies across the world. Since then, much has been written on the cultural, social and political significances of the annually recurrent celebration of the postcolonial world's many Independence Days. If India has featured prominently in theorising the significance of the ritualised celebration of Independence Day and related national holidays, then this has been from a particular vantage point: That of independence from British rule. Yet this historical perspective far from exhausts the relevant field of post/colonial relations and imaginaries on India and its independence. Through an ethnographic analysis of public holidays commemorating independence, this article argues that investigating the celebration of independence in the former French India, the Union Territory of Puducherry, provides a contrapuntal perspective which can serve to decentre and reframe perspectives on Indian postcolonial imaginaries and understandings of independence. While refracted through the lens of the powerful narratives and ritual practice which surround decolonisation from the British empire, such holidays also constitute symbolic sites where minor histories remain in dialogue and tension with the major narrative on Indian national history and identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article describes a little-known period in the life of one of the major figures of the French Revolution — Paul Barras (1755-1829). That was the time of his youth, attempts to make a career as a professional military man. At the same time, the formation of his socio-political ideas took place. The study of this figure is undoubtedly important, since Barras played a key role in such turning points of the revolution as: 9 Thermidor — the overthrow of the Jacobin dictatorship and 13 Vendemière (October 5, 1795) — the defeat of a dangerous royalist uprising that almost destroyed the Republic. He will go down in world history as the leader of the Directory regime. The economic troubles of this stage of the French Revolution, the machinations of corrupt officials, political instability — all this will be blamed primarily on him. He was presented as a certain deputy — a businessman closely connected with the so-called new bourgeoisie. A careful study of his youth does not seem to fit well with such ideas and versions. Neither by origin, nor by his way of life, Paul Barras had anything to do with the French bourgeoisie, neither with the old — Rentier, nor with the new — business. It was a typical representative of the noble nobility of the «sword». His attitude to material values was also appropriate. Such people could squander funds, «burn life», but they were not adapted to entrepreneurial activity. Barras was attracted by service in the navy, adventures in the French colonies. Under these conditions, Barras showed himself to be an independent and courageous military officer, able to show ingenuity at a critical moment. And in another way, his behavior resembled the lifestyle of many young nobles of his time. Just like them, he was a member of the Masonic lodge, visited salons, and was attentive to new social trends. Already under the Old Order, this nobleman and naval officer was inclined towards change. The outbreak of the revolution accelerated this process. This study focuses on the previously little-studied moments of Barras’s biography, such as his military career and social life in Paris before the revolution. The work is based on the memoirs of Barras, parliamentary materials, as well as on domestic and foreign scientific literature.

S􀄐hoenople􀄐tiella ere􀄐ta subsp. ra􀇇nalii (Cyperaceae) is recorded for the first time from India and Asia. This taxon was collected in Ossudu Bird Sanctuary, Villupuram district of Tamil Nadu, southern India. Detailed description including microscopic study of the glume and nutlets with digital images, morphological characters, habitat, and key characters between the two subspecies are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Synergies Inde is the property of GERFLINT (Groupe d'Etudes et de Recherches pour le Francais Langue Internationale) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article brings to the forefront an underexamined aspect of French Indian history. Scholars have researched on various aspects of French imperialism in India, but one aspect which remains outside the purview of many is the role played by European women who accompanied their husbands overseas. This article studies Madame Martin and Madame Dupleix and highlights their functions towards the fostering of the French colonial policy. Although indirect in many ways, they in a way contributed to the ongoing projects of the French Company. Consequently, this article seeks to present a holistic view of Madame Martin and Madame Dupleix. In doing so, mostly French sources have been used, accompanied by a Tamil source. Although there are differences between these two women, one aspect remains clear, which is their adoration for the French Company. The sacrifices they had to endure were immeasurable. The difference in time periods (seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, respectively) also had a very imperative role to play in the lives of Madame Martin and Madame Dupleix. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The former French India has held a distinctive place in metropolitan French discourses and sentiments of colonial nostalgia which have been subject to sustained analysis. French India is thus part of a larger body of research exploring colonial nostalgia both as a general phenomenon and in a specific regional context. However, the corresponding imaginaries in what after its decolonization became the Indian Union Territory of Puducherry have remained marginalized in research. Yet regardless of the frequently naturalized expectation that the colonial metropoles should be its natural habitat, colonial nostalgia is not something that only occurs among the former colonial powers, and colonial nostalgia is in fact expressed in many ways in present-day Puducherry. This ethnographic study shows that if we are to understand the production and roles of colonial nostalgia we need to analyse it not merely from the perspective of the former colonial powers, but also as it occurs in the former colonies. Indeed, we should question how separate such discourses, imaginaries and sentiments of colonial nostalgia are, and redirect our attention to interrogating how they interact and may be coproduced in a broader, often ambiguous post/colonial field where postcolonial interests in the former colony are equally at stake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay argues for creolization as a salient theoretical and historical category for Indian cultural history that can offer an epistemic alternative to its land-centric bias. Through literary analysis of Franco-Tamil author Ari Gautier's novel about Pondicherry, Le thinnai, it demonstrates how creolization theories need to be adjusted to capture and evaluate the cultural transformations which took place in enclaves such as Pondicherry, founded between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries on India's coasts by a range of European powers. Equally, it deploys literary critical methods to illuminate how, and why, fiction such as Gautier's reactivates memory of Creole Indias. This reading reveals his privileged trope of the "thinnai," a veranda-like architectural element of Tamil homes, as working together with the embodied culture of Pondicherry's "Bas Créole" community, to present the enclave as a contact zone for creolization of cultural materials that converge here through two, overlapping circularities: the transoceanic and the littoral. The specific epistemic structure generated through their intersections, that I call "the archipelago of fragments," moves us away from the double bind of territoriality and caste-based preference for purity while opening Indian cultural history to the porosity of the coastline and the unpredictability of creolization as cultural process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The late Campanian/Maastrichtian succession exposed at Pondicherry area affords one of the finest exposed marine sections in Cauvery Basin is examined for their foraminiferal contents. The biostratigraphic distribution of 71 species of planktonic foraminifera has been used to diagnose 11 planktonic zones and subzones and correlated to the worldwide bioevent. During the late Campanian, a great transgression event occurred associated with the global warming (CF8b zone) trend indicated by large double‐keeled foraminifera (Globotruncana aegyptiaca Nakkady) of oligotrophic conditions. The latest zone CF4 records a sharp decrease in Planktonic/Benthic (P/B), globotruncanids, rugoglobigerinids and heterohelicids implying a fall of sea level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Substance use disorders are a major contributor to the global burden of disease. Since there is a paucity of data on trends and patterns of substance use in Southern India and their locoregional variations across India, we have attempted this study to explore the same. Methods: A retrospective chart-based study was done, of all the outpatients and inpatients who had availed services at a tertiary care hospital in Southern India, for a 5-year period from November 2013 to October 2018. The age, gender, diagnosis, prevalence, and trends of different substance use in our study population were recorded and examined. Results: Both outpatients and inpatients had alcohol as the most common substance of dependence. Among outpatients, all substances studied showed an increasing trend of use in contrary to the specific increase in cannabis dependence among inpatients. Only 0.2% of the population studied was female. Conclusion: Since there are differences in trends and patterns of substance use in northern and southern parts of India, there is a need for studies focusing on the psychosocial, cultural, and legal reasons that could explain the same. Future studies are required to focus on community prevalence and use among females of various substances.

Architect Jateen Lad details the socially empowering design and project delivery strategies for the Sharanam Centre for Rural Development in southern India and their catalytic effect on local communities. The trust and dialogue between the architect, NGO client and workers was crucial in the development of technical skills and improved livelihoods that continue to help the communities thrive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction of articles published within the issue if presented on topics including the importance of social value for architects and architecture in terms of architectural design and changing the built environment, social value of communities in the U.S. and Denmark, and valuation practices across the globe.

In India, since the 1970s, centers called anganwadis have welcomed children under the age of six free of charge. This place promotes the preconditions for a better schooling. While the emergence of preschooling in India is a public initiative, private actors are now very important and families are looking for this kind of structures. By choosing to enrol their child privately before reaching the age of six (which marks the start of compulsory schooling), they express their desire to enter the formal education system. These changes are studied through the situation of a district of Muthialpet, in the territory of Pondicherry. The microgeographic frame of analysis highlights preschool actors’ role as well as the recent actions of the State engaged in a process of repositioning and ex-post control.

This ethnographic study explores postcolonial Indian perspectives on the production and consumption of the former French colony Puducherry as a destination for colonial heritage tourism, asking: how does colonial heritage capture the imagination of domestic visitors, and what are the rationales amongst local residents and authorities that promote this destination for its colonial heritage? It demonstrates how the use of Puducherry's French legacy is a postcolonial phenomenon which has been a product of Indian interests. A central argument is that we need to investigate the postcolonial complexities of restaging colonial heritage in tourism without assuming a simple dichotomy between tourists from former colonial powers and formerly colonised countries, which has often formed the baseline of postcolonial tourism research. • Opposes implicit binaries operating in postcolonial heritage tourism research • Argues against neglecting domestic tourism perspectives on colonial heritage • Takes Puducherry, the capital of the former French India as a case study • Focuses on postcolonial agendas behind uses of colonial heritage in tourism [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the mapping activities of French Jesuits in China and New France have been extensively studied, those in India have received less attention. While benefiting from the French crown's interest in using the Jesuits as a tool for empire, they did not help develop an overarching imperial structure like that of Spain and Portugal or that of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. The work of Jean-Venant Bouchet (1655–1732), Louis-Noël de Bourzes (1673–1735), Claude Moriset (1667–1742), Claude-Stanislas Boudier (1686–1757), Gaston-Laurent Cœurdoux (1691–1779), and many others was instead important in building linkages between institutions and individuals in Europe and India. It further allowed commercial cartographers in Paris and London like Guillaume Delisle (1675–1726), Jean-Baptiste d'Anville (1697–1782), and James Rennell (1742–1830) to develop a more sophisticated picture of the interior of India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the last two decades of intensive botanical survey of the tropical dry evergreen forest, a total of 82 endemic taxa were found out of 1142 species enumerated from 85 sites in the three Coromandel Coastal districts of the state Tamil Nadu: Cuddalore, Kancheepurm and Villupuram, and in the Pondicherry district. Of 82 species, 17 are trees, 11 shrubs, 9 climbers and 45 herbs. Distribution of these endemic species was analyzed and categorised as endemic to the country, peninsular India, southern India, Eastern and Western Ghats, and at the state and district level. Interestingly, the study found that some endemic species were disjunctly distributed between districts, states, ghats, climatic regimes and bioregions. Anthropogenic disturbance and species threat status were also studied and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Road Traffic Accidents (RTA) are one of the leading causes of death and disability worldwide. In this study, the authors have attempted to study the correlation between non - fatal RTA and age of victims brought to Mahatma Gandhi Medical College & Research Institute, Pondicherry. Materials and Method: The prospective study was jointly conducted by the Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology and Department of Emergency Medicine, Mahatma Gandhi Medical College & Research Institute, Pondicherry. It was done from November 2012 to May 2014 and a total of 186 cases were studied. RTA cases admitted in the hospital were only included and cases other than RTA, RTA cases admitted elsewhere or brought - dead cases were excluded from the study. Data was obtained by interviewing the victims or relatives of the victims. Informed written consent was taken. Medicolegal records, case sheets and lab or radiological reports were used for collecting additional data. Results: Most victims (61 or 32.8%) belonged to the age group of 21-30 years. Next common age group was the 31 - 40 years group with 37 victims (19.9%). Least common group to be affected was the 1 - 10 years group with 7 victims (3.8%). Discussion: Incidences of RTA are increasing by leaps and bounds in India. India has to take concrete steps to bring down such cases. With this view, the government has formulated the National Road Safety Policy. It is left to us citizens to see that such policies are strictly adhered to and implemented successfully so that the coming years see a decline in the incidences of these cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a newly qualified female architect in early 1990s India, Anupama Kundoo's first instinct was to seek to live as independently and lightly as possible – and to help others to do likewise. A self‐build project intended to be temporary turned into a lifestyle, and led to a career focused on engaging local workers in eco‐minded building that marries new technology with familiar materials. Now based in Madrid, she describes her journey so far, including her own built work and her doctoral studies of a project involving mud dwellings fired to permanence when fully built. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The manuscript Goa 76b of Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu (Rome) gathers together most of Ippolito Desideri's extant Tamil papers. It is written in Tamil, Latin, Italian, Portuguese, and French. It relates to two major difficulties he faced during his stay in and around Pondicherry, where he spent one year (1726) in the Jesuit Carnatic Mission: learning Tamil and hearing the confessions of new converts. While he seems not to have had a significant number of Christians to catechize in Tibet, he was asked in the Carnatic Mission to serve throngs of them wanting to confess to Catholic gurus. Contrary to his metaphysical debates in the Tibetan language against the followers of Tibetan Buddhism, he does not seem to have had intellectual and theological exchanges with the Tamil Brahmin elite. He was probably asked to learn at first the vernacular language of his particular area of missionary work. But, had he remained in the Carnatic Mission some more years, he would perhaps have learnt Sanskrit to debate with Brahmins, as did several other French Fathers. The manuscript Goa 76b contains copies of various Christian texts (especially about confession), grammatical notes and parts of Desideri's grammar of Tamil in Latin. It shows that Desideri made fast progress in learning and mastering Tamil, at first under the guidance of Father Pierre Lalane, who finished his grammar of Tamil in French in 1728. It forms part of the rich multilingual corpus of the eighteenth-century Carnatic Mission. The specificity of this literary, theological, catechistic, and ritual corpus is overlooked. The French Jesuits no doubt embraced the legacy of De Nobilis's accommodatio method and used his Tamil works, but their corpus also included post-Denobilian Tamil works as well as the works composed or collected by them in Tamil, Telugu, Kannaḍa, and Sanskrit. The problem the Carnatic Mission Fathers faced was not only the translation of Christian terms into an Indian language but also their translation from one Indian language to another. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of exile remains overwhelmingly influenced by the writings of Edward Said, particularly in his development of the ‘contrapuntal’ as a key method in understanding how exile life is lived between the ‘homeland’ and the space of ‘exile’. However, by drawing on feminist work which has critiqued the notion of ‘home’ in Said’s work, together with work on subaltern geographies and the politics of friendship, this article argues for a conception of exile that works in between dichotomies of ‘exile’ and ‘home’. In order to make this case, the article draws empirically on the example of the ‘exile’ of a number of Indian anti-colonial revolutionaries in the French-Indian enclave of Pondicherry, India between c.1908 and c.1918, focussing particularly on Subramania Bharati, a Tamil poet and anti-colonial nationalist. Whilst in exile, in his own ‘homeland’ Bharati drew upon, translated and reshaped existing discourses from both ‘Western modernity’ and South Asian culture to create his own particular arguments for a future independent India. This subaltern geography opens up ground for alternative spaces of exile to emerge that challenge dichotomies of home/exile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Medical Mycology / Journal de Mycologie Médicale is the property of Elsevier B.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Introduction: The Indian textile industry is one of the largest in the world and accounts for 21% of the total employment generated in the Indian economy.1 The current burden of occupational health diseases is estimated to be around 18 million cases.2 Objectives: To study the pattern of diseases which are common among textile workers. Methods: A descriptive study was conducted among 179 women working in a textile industry in Puducherry. After obtaining informed consent, data was collected using a structured questionnaire. This was followed by systemic examination of Sensory systems (visual acuity testing using Snellen's chart, hearing tests using Tuning fork), Respiratory system (using Peak Expiratory Flow Meter) and Musculoskeletal system (Straight leg raising test and others). Data was analyzed using SPSS version 19:IBM. Results: 70% of the participants belonged to the age group 21-40 years and more than half of the women were employed for 5-9 yrs. One fourth of the subjects had complaints of musculoskeletal problems such as joint pain, myalgia and chronic low backache. Respiratory infections and other complaints were also reported. Nearly 40% of the study subjects had myopia, 3% had abnormality in hearing and Peak Expiratory Flow Rate was reduced in 53% of cases. Conclusion: The present study shows that myopia is common among the workers, along with abnormal lung function, which indicates a need for, preplacement and periodic medical examination to rule out ophthalmic and pulmonary morbidities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Outre-Mers: Revue d'Histoire is the property of Societe Francaise d'Histoire d'Outre Mer and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this paper author try to explain the development of commodities markets in all the fields like investment, operation, awareness, and growth through a study of Investors of Pondicherry union territory. For detailed analysis the researcher made a two main objectives i.e., to study the investment objectives, sources, proportion and awareness in Pondicherry Union Territory. To study the awareness, involvement, sources and nature of commodity market in Pondicherry Union Territory. The primary and secondary sources are used for collecting data; structured questionnaire is used for collecting primary data's. Data are presented in graphical methods for giving clear pictures and made proper interpretation for clarification. The study reveals that unawareness is the one of the important element in commodities markets. High risk, attitude of the investors and complex operation procedures are some another reasons lacking of commodities markets in India. Investors expecting high return are preferred to invest their amount in to commodity markets. The researcher recommended the suggestion for the development of commodities markets in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Many factors associated with unsuccessful TB treatment outcome. Objective: To find out the factors affecting treatment outcome among Pulmonary Tuberculosis patients under RNTCP in urban Pondicherry, Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 265 PTB patients from 6 randomly selected urban PHCs of Pondicherry from Jan 2013 to March 2014. A Pre-tested questionnaire was used. Data were entered in Epi-data v3.1 and was analysed by SPSS v20. Chi-square test and multiple logistic regressions were used. Results: Out of 265 patients registered 235 (88.7%) patients were included. The Majority were males (79.6%), and Mean (SD) age was 44±14 years. The Majority (83.4%) were formally educated, 74% were employed, and 77% received Cat I treatment. Prevalence of alcohol drinkers, current smokers and smokeless users was 31.5%, 23.5%, 9.4% respectively. A total of 14.5% had bad treatment Outcome Univariate analysis showed that Current smoker and Category II PTB treatment had significantly associated with bad outcome (p value-<0.05). In Multivariate analysis, Category II PTB treatment [AOR = 3.5 (1.6-7.8)] had significantly associated with bad outcome (p value-<0.05) after adjusted with age group, gender, Smoking and alcohol status Conclusion: Current Smoking and Category II PTB Treatment were the major factors affecting the TB treatment outcome [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Outre-Mers: Revue d'Histoire is the property of Societe Francaise d'Histoire d'Outre Mer and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Outre-Mers: Revue d'Histoire is the property of Societe Francaise d'Histoire d'Outre Mer and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Outre-Mers: Revue d'Histoire is the property of Societe Francaise d'Histoire d'Outre Mer and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Quaderni Storici is the property of Societa Editrice il Mulino Spa and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Introduction: It has been observed in our society that the theory of hot and cold is believed in and practiced by almost all section of the society. It is necessary to know the prevalence of such belief in the community from time to time. Objectives: To know the prevalence of perception of hot or cold food items and their impact on the health status of the community. Material and methods: It was a cross sectional study done between the time period of March and April 2015 among 317 families and their members at t their doorsteps. Pretested questionnaire was filled with the information given by the subjects after their verbal consent. Descriptive (questions regarding the family's perception of hot and cold foods were asked in the categories of cereals, pulses, oils, vegetables, dairy products, non-vegetarian, fruits, beverages, spices and water. Results: Sixty six percent of the families told Brinjal, 84% told chicken and 34.6% told curd are hot foods and produces Gastrointestinal tract (74%) and Genitourinary tract (73%) illnesses. Similarly 15.6% of the families told carrot 26.33% told grapes, 20% told fish and 58.6% told buttermilk are cold foods leading to development of respiratory tract illnesses. Only one percent of the families did not have any idea about hot or cold food items. Conclusion: The prevalence of misconception of hot or cold foods exist among families and misunderstanding about the nutritive value of food items which are likely to cause deficiency in vitamins, minerals in their family diet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The utilization of services at Primary Health Centre (PHC) by the community differs from place to place and changes over the time based on the availability of quality of services. It is also necessary to evaluate the utilization trend of primary health centre services by the community. Objective: to know the pattern of utilization by rural community on availability, utilization and perception of facilities at primary health centre. Material and methods: A cross sectional, descriptive, community based study was done during September to November 2014 in selected sample from PHC area by interviewing 300 families on various aspects at their doorstep. The date collected from each family on the aspects such as awareness, availability, utilization and perception of facilities at primary health centre. Results: More than 80% were aware about the PHC, its location and more than 75% on availability of free medicines and laboratory investigations. Many preferred to visit PHC for their ailments and waiting time for treatment was less than 30 minutes and 70% of families visited the PHC at least once since last 3 months for some kind of health problems. The common ailments were respiratory problems, fever episodes and accidental injuries. Nearly 50% were aware about the contents in the display of posters on various health education topics. Conclusion: Periodic assessment of pattern of utilization of PHC is important to improve the service utilization by the community through their involvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Suicide is a major public health problem and ranks second among the leading causes of death in both genders in 15-34 years. Suicidal attempts are 20 times higher than the completed suicides. Aims: The aim was to identify background risk factors and precipitating factors for suicide attempts in Pondicherry district and to find out the reporting status of suicide attempts. Settings and Design: Hospital-based descriptive study. Subjects and Methods: 200 subjects who have attempted suicide from JIPMER and Indira Gandhi Government Hospital and Post Graduate Institute Pondicherry were interviewed. Monthly data on attempted suicide were collected from Crime Record Bureau of Pondicherry and Villupuram district and Medical Records Department of these two hospitals was collected. Statistical Analysis Used: SPSS version 16.0 was used. Chi-square test was used to test the significance of the difference between two proportions. Results: Most common precipitating factor found among those who attempted suicide was verbal abuse, most often by parents (31.9%). The most common mode of suicide attempt was consumption of chemical poison in 56% of subjects followed by plant poison 41.5%. The suicide intention was high in 81.5% of subjects. No signifi cant difference in risk factors could be found between subjects from Pondicherry and villupuram district. It was found that there was gross under-reporting of attempted suicides to Crime Records Bureau. Conclusions: Measurement of suicide intention enables us to predict the future suicidal behavior in adults; individuals with a high suicide intent index pose a major public health problem. Hence, there is a need for opportunistic screening of those with suicidal ideations as well as counseling and follow-up of those with suicide attempts to prevent further attempts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concentrations of five rare earth elements (REE) were measured in clay samples of a deep bore hole comprising major aquifers of Pondicherry region, south India in order to investigate the geochemical variations among various litho-units. Clay samples from Cretaceous formation show distinct gray to black color whereas Tertiary deposits have clays with color varying from pale yellow to brown to gray. All measured REEs exhibit lower concentrations than Upper Continental Crust (UCC) average values. Large variations in REEs contents were observed in different sedimentary formations (Tertiary and Cretaceous). Chondrite normalized ratio of La/Lu and Eu/Eu* indicate that the clays are derived from weathering of felsic rock and possibly under humid climate. All the samples showed positive Eu anomaly in North American Shale Composite (NASC) normalized plot which shows plagioclase feldspar as the major contributor to these clays. Positive Eu anomaly is also an indication of reduced condition of the formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Different multivariate statistical analysis such as, cluster analysis, principal component analysis, and multidimensional scale plot were employed to evaluate the trophic status of water quality for four monitoring stations. The present study was carried out to determine the physicochemical parameters of water and sediment characteristics of Pondicherry mangroves-southeast coast of India, during September 2008-December 2010. Seasonal variations of different parameters investigated were as follows: salinity (10.26-35.20 psu), dissolved oxygen (3.71-5.33 mg/L), pH (7.05-8.36), electrical conductivity (26.41-41.33 ms), sulfide (1.98-40.43 mg/L), sediment texture sand (39.54-87.31%), silt (9.89-32.97%), clay (3.06-31.20%), and organic matter (0.94-4.64%). pH, temperature, salinity, sand, silt, clay, and organic matter indicated a correlation at P < 0.01. CA grouped the four seasons in to four groups (pre-monsoon, monsoon, post-monsoon, summer) and the sampling sites in to three groups. PCA identified the spatial and temporal characteristics of trophic stations and showed that the water quality was worse in stations 3 and 4 in the Pondicherry mangroves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1908, twenty years after the French press in Pondicherry had celebrated the enthusiasm displayed by Indians at its first Bastille Day celebration, 'countless coolies' were seen 'unloading a consignment of Liverpool salt' from a foreign vessel whose cargo contained 'the bleeding head of a cow and the gory feet of an ox'. The coolies in question were clay models in what was branded a 'seditious'exhibition in the French territory of Chandernagore. Twenty-six years later, when activists in Pondicherry were agitating for the reform of its obsolete and inherently racist electoral list, M. K. Gandhi toured Pondicherry and publicly exhorted Indians to embrace France's fine legacy of liberty, equality and fraternity. Taking these counter-narratives as a point of departure, this essay examines the tensions between French imaginings of Pondicherry as revealed in the colonial archive and the perceptions of those Indian inhabitants who, in the words of one petitioner, were tired of Pondicherry being treated as a 'bibelot' or museum piece, and wanted change. Drawing on archival materials spanning 1885 to 1935, I contrast the public mirage of Pondicherry as a place of sanctuary from British rule with the French government's dual policy of, on the one hand, building strategic alliances with exiles such as the Burmese Prince Myingun and the Indian nationalist Sri Aurobindo Ghose, and, on the other, collaborating with the British government where security interests coincided. Far from a simple place of refuge, this essay concludes, Pondicherry was a complex site of power and imaginings that were sustained in strategic symbiosis with British rule. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the early eighteenth century India was still a land of porous frontiers and tremendous opportunities, as it was when the Europeans first discovered it in the sixteenth century. Notwithstanding France's defeat in India after the fall of Pondicherry in 1793, which left the British East India Company free to consolidate and extend its influence in India, there still remained 'border zones' in India which offered the French and other Europeans chances to cross cultural frontiers, amass wealth and spend it. However, by the middle of the nineteenth century when the British had established control in India and the Indian Ocean, and the local rulers had been firmly subjugated to British colonial power, such spaces with permeable borders became rare and opportunities for individuals to engage in cultural crossings and financially successful enterprises with locals were greatly reduced. Through a reading of the representations of Pondicherry, Mauritius and Lucknow, this study reviews the presence of such border zones between the imagined spaces of France, Britain and India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The French presence in India between 1667 and 1954 was first marked by coexistence with the British and then, post-1763, by a vain struggle against their dominance, pursued across the Deccan Peninsula, first through military means (up to the recall to France of Suffren in 1783) and then with representational ones that aimed to revise and reverse for the French the results of military conflict. The 1814 treaty left France with five isolated and demilitarized trading posts and established its role as minor colonizer. Henceforth, French representations of India became increasingly articulated via nostalgia, utopia, fantasy and other 'discourses of the non-real.' When studied from a postcolonial perspective, the continued French presence in India from 1814 to 1954 (and French influence beyond that date) helps to create a more complete picture of the region. French-language representations of India offer an invaluable third perspective on colonial crises (such at 1857-9), decolonization and the economic development of post-colonial India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sediments of Manaveli Formation (Palaeocene) are studied from the Thondaimanattam quarry section and Manaveli section of the Pondicherry area, which comprises of bioturbated arenaceous limestone-shale and shaly-sandstone sequences respectively. These sediments consist of high density and low diversity trace fossil genera which includes Lanicodichnus, Ophiomorpha, Planolites, Palaeophycus, Skolithos, Thalassinoides, and Polychaetes tubes. The abundance of horizontal structures of the Thondaimanattam quarry section indicate low to moderate wave and current energy in fully marine subtidal environments while the presences of vertical structures of the Manaveli section indicate moderate to high wave and current energy in the marginal marine environment of deposition for the Palaeocene sediments of the Pondicherry area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Pondicherry mangroves is located (Long: 11o 46′03″ to 11o 53′ 40″ N; Lat: 79o 49′45″ to 79o 48′ 00″ E) on the Bay of Bengal (Coramendal Coast) seaboard. A survey has been made during January 2009 to know the pattern of molluscan fauna in the mangroves located along the Ariankuppam estuary. During the present survey 14 species of molluscs were recorded. Nine species of gastropods namely Cerithidea obtusa, C. cingulata, Cassidula nucleus, Melampus ceylonicus, Pythia plicata, Littoraria scabra, Telescopium telescopium, Assiminea nitida, Nerita crepidularia and five species of bivalves - Crassostrea madrasensis, Saccostrea cucculata, Perna viridis, Modiolus metcalfei, Meretrix meretrix - were found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, sediments collected from a 150-m deep litho-section of a coastal region and encompassing Quaternary, Tertiary and Cretaceous sedimentary formations were studied for arsenic distribution and other trace and redox sensitive elements. Arsenic concentration in the sediments is found to vary from <0.5 to 30 mg·kg−1 and showed an increasing trend with the depth. The highest As content is observed at a depth of 129–131 m bgl belonging to Cretaceous formation. Though XRD studies do not indicate any arsenic mineral in sediments, positive correlations between As–Fe and S, as well as ESEM-EDS and TXRF studies confirm the presence of As sorbed to FeS mineral. The organic matter and As correlations suggest microbial mediated reduction process, which may pose future risk to water quality of this prolific coastal fresh water aquifer system. The elemental profiles infer that Cretaceous and Tertiary formations demonstrate inner shelf and marginal marine condition respectively. [Display omitted] • As content ranges from 0.5 to 30 ppm with high content observed in deeper sediments. • Elemental correlations and mineralogical evidences suggest presence of As bound iron minerals. • Reducing conditions govern the As sorption mechanism on sediments. • Quaternary and Tertiary aquifers seem to be resilient to As contamination. • Cretaceous aquifers seem to be more vulnerable to arsenic contamination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which investigates the macro faunal and floristic diversity of mangroves in Pondicherry, south India. The study demarcated the whole tidal inundated area while the vegetation under the research area was sampled at flowering or fruit setting time. It shows that there were nine gastropod and four bivalve species living in the mangroves while there has been 16 mangrove associate floral species with clerondendrum inerme in the study site.

To assess the status of iodine deficiency in Pondicherry by finding out the urinary excretion of iodine and the prevalence of goiter among school children. 315 children between the age group of 9–13 yr from 30 schools in Pondicherry were examined for the presence of goiter and their urine samples were subjected to biochemical analysis to find out the urinary iodine levels (UIE). The percentage of children who had inadequate iodine intake and showed urinary iodine level of less than 100 mcg/L was 44.4%. Amongst them, 14.3% had a greater degree of iodine deficiency with less than 50 mcg/L of iodine in urine. The prevalence of goiter was 15.24%. The prevalence of goiter is high. The iodine intake is quite low as exhibited by the UIE levels of <100mcg/L in the children in Pondicherry, which might have had an unseen impact on the intelligence and school performance of these children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the results of an experimental study designed to improve the thermal efficiency of existing two-holed chimneyless fuelwood cookstoves sold by potters around Pondicherry. User and potter acceptability were treated as decisive and the price increase was limited to 20% for the minimal modification made. Net efficiency increased from 10·1% to 12·5% for the most commonly used clay pot (with lids on) in the laboratory water-boiling tests. Field users' survey revealed a score of 77% satisfaction on all counts and long term fuel savings of 28-38%, depending upon the mix of agricultural wastes and fuelwood used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Multiple sources of sediment and its transport towards littoral zone through fluvial processes is inferred. • Trace elemental ratios indicated felsic rocks as source rocks with contribution from Tonalites. • The observed positive Eu anomaly in the sediments points to the contribution of plagioclase feldspar. • Low Cr, Th and high REE contents are indicative of no/negligible impact of Deccan volcanic ash to the sediments. • Marine nature of sediment deposition is confirmed by positive δ13C incursions. Major, trace, rare earth elements and 13C isotope results of sediments collected up to the depth of 150 m below ground level (m bgl) have been interpreted in relation to the provenance, weathering and deposition conditions of a multi layered sedimentary formation of Pondicherry region located in East Coast of India. The samples fall in the coarse to medium grain size range (mean Mz: 0.29–1.32) and the sorting values (mean SD: 0.29–1.04) mostly infer very well sorted nature of sediments. Skewness (mean Ski: 0.09-0.99) shows the domination of very fine skew while the kurtosis (mean K G : 0.76–7.73) shows sediments from extremely lepto kurtic to platy kurtic nature. Micro-structural studies infer that sediments are derived from multiple sources and transported towards the littoral zone through the fluvial processes. Relatively depleted elemental concentrations with respect to upper continental crust (UCC) (elemental ratios < 1) are noticed in most of the sediments suggesting contribution of the weathered source rocks. Chondrite normalized distributions of the selected rare earth elements show uniform trends characterized by light rare earth element enrichment and heavy rare earth element depletion, which is a typical pattern of UCC exposed to weathering and erosion. Elemental ratios such as La/Sc (2.06–6.64), Th/Sc (0.66–4.13), Th/Cr (0.06-0.26) and Th/Co (0.46–1.54) and ternary plots (La-Th-Sc, Th-Hf-Co) indicate the contribution of felsic rocks that are inherently heterogeneous in nature. Observed positive Eu anomaly in Post Archean Australian Shale (PAAS) normalized patterns indicates contribution of plagioclase minerals. Th/U ratio (2.12–9.57) of the sediments reflects deposition under oxic condition (shallow marine) whereas deeper sediments reveal anoxic condition (deep marine), which is further confirmed by δ13C TIC variations (−11.4 to +5.12‰ vs. VPDB) and Eu analmoly. Cr/Th ratio and total REE content indicate that there is no/negligible input of volcanic ash to these sediments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence of Candida in the buccal cavity of diabetic and non-diabetic individuals in and around Pondicherry, India and to analyse the antifungal susceptibility profile of the selected isolates., Materials and Methods: A total of 400 buccal samples, 200 each from diabetic and non-diabetic healthy individuals were included in the study. Sabouraud's dextrose agar was used for isolation of Candida species. Identification was performed through microscopy, germ tube test, sugar fermentation test, sugar assimilation test and by using Hichrome agar. Distinct and phenotypically representative colonies were selected and subjected to ITS analysis. In vitro antifungal susceptibility testing for the isolated Candida species was performed using E-test., Results: Results revealed that the prevalence of Candida species in diabetic individuals was higher when compared with non-diabetic healthy individuals. The most predominantly isolated species in diabetic and non-diabetic individuals from buccal cavity was Candida albicans. C. tropicalis was predominant among the non-albicans Candida isolated from both diabetic and non-diabetic individuals. Among denture wearers C. glabrata was predominant. In vitro antifungal susceptibility testing shows that ketoconazole, fluconazole and itraconazole were effective against the isolated Candida species., Conclusions: The rate of candidal carriage in diabetic individuals is higher. Different species of Candida are present in the oral cavity of diabetic individuals. There may be a positive correlation between glycemic control and candidal colonization. In vitro antifungal susceptibility testing of Candia species are required for proper management and treatment of candidal infections., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)