Puducherry, also known as Pondicherry, is a union territory of India, consisting of four small geographically unconnected districts. It was formed out of four territories of former French India, namely Pondichéry, Karikal (Karaikal), Mahé and Yanaon, excluding Chandannagar (Chandernagore), and it is named after the largest district, Puducherry, which was also the capital of French India. Historically known as Pondicherry, the territory changed its official name to Puducherry on 1 October 2006.
French India, formally the Établissements français dans l'Inde, was a French colony comprising five geographically separated enclaves on the Indian subcontinent that had initially been factories of the French East India Company. They were de facto incorporated into the Republic of India in 1950 and 1954. The enclaves were Pondichéry, Karikal, Yanam on the Coromandel Coast, Mahé on the Malabar Coast and Chandernagor in Bengal. The French also possessed several loges inside other towns, but after 1816, the British denied all French claims to these, which were not reoccupied.
Yanam is a town located in the Yanam district in Puducherry. It has a population of 35,000 and is entirely surrounded by Andhra Pradesh. It was formerly a French colony for nearly 200 years, and, though united with India in 1954, is still sometimes known as "French Yanam". It possesses a blend of French culture and the Telugu culture, nicknamed Frelugu. During French rule, the Tuesday market at Yanam was popular among the Telugu people in the Madras Presidency, who visited Yanam to buy foreign and smuggled goods during Yanam People's Festival held in January. After the enactment of the Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929 in British India, Telugu people often traveled to Yanam to conduct child marriages, which remained legal under the French administration.
Kiran Bedi is a former tennis player who became the first woman in India to join the officer ranks of the Indian Police Service (IPS) in 1972 and was the 24th Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry from 28 May 2016 to 16 February 2021. She remained in service for 35 years before taking voluntary retirement in 2007 as Director General, Bureau of Police Research and Development.
Pondicherry is the capital and most populous city of the Union Territory of Puducherry in India. The city is in the Puducherry district on the southeast coast of India and is surrounded by the Bay of Bengal to the east and the state of Tamil Nadu, with which it shares most of its culture, heritage, and language.
Mahé municipality is the seat of local administration of the Mahé Region which belongs to the Union Territory of Puducherry. Mahé Municipality has been in existence for more than 200 years since its establishment under the French Regime. Mahé Municipal area comprises 9 km2 with a single Assembly Constituency. The last Mayor and the first Chairman of this municipality was Late. V. N. Purushothaman. Municipal Council was not in existence with effect from 1978. Thereafter the Regional Administrator, Mahé / Regional Executive Officer, Mahé used to exercise the power of the chairman and Vice-chairman in the capacity of special officer of Mahé Municipal Council. After 1978, an elected Municipal Council was only in power during 2006–11.
M. O. Hasan Farook Maricar was an Indian politician and three-time Chief Minister of the Union Territory of Pondicherry. He was the youngest chief minister of any Union Territory of India. He served from 9 April 1967 to 6 March 1968 and 17 March 1969 to 3 January 1974 and from 1985 to 1990 He was thrice elected to the Lok Sabha from Pondicherry in 1991, 1996 and 1999 and served as a Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation and Tourism during June 1991 – December 1992.
Kewal Singh Choudhary (1915–1991) was an Indian diplomat, Foreign Secretary and India's ambassador to the USSR, Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan and USA. He was a 1955 recipient of the Indian civilian honour of Padma Shri.
C. P. Radhakrishnan is an Indian politician who is serving as the 24th and current Governor of Maharashtra since 31 July 2024. He also served as the Governor of Jharkhand from February 2023 to July 2024, and as the as Governor of Telangana and Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry between March 2024 to July 2024. He was a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and was elected to the Lok Sabha from Coimbatore twice. He was also the former state president of the BJP for Tamil Nadu.
Tamilisai Soundararajan is an Indian politician belongs to Bharatiya Janata Party. She served as the second Governor of Telangana, and also served as Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry from 18 February 2021 to 18 March 2024. She was the National Secretary and Tamil Nadu State Unit President of the BJP prior to this appointment.
After the de facto merger on 1 November 1954 and before the legal integration with the Indian Union on 16 August 1962, second general elections were held in August 1959 to constitute Second Pondicherry Representative Assembly.
After the merger of French settlements into an Indian union, a new assembly, named the Pondicherry Representative Assembly, was created by the government of India. After the "de facto transfer day" of 1 October 1954, before 16 August 1962 also referred to as "de-jure transfer day". During this transition period, general elections to the representative assembly were held in 1955 and 1959. After the de-jure transfer day, legal integration of French settlements into the Indian Union was complete. However, this assembly, like its predecessor, was advisory in its role, which led to frequent contention between the popular government and the chief commissioner.
The Second Representative Assembly of PondicherryDeuxième Assemblée Représentative de Pondichéry succeeded the First Representative Assembly of Pondicherry and was constituted after the victory of Indian National Congress (INC) and its ally in the 1959 assembly election held between 11 and 14 August 1959.
Velrampet Lake is a lake in the union territory of Puducherry, India. The lake is the a major waterbody near Mudaliarpet.
Moti K. Kripalani, ICS, was an Indian civil servant who went to serve as Chief Commissioner of Ajmer and Pondicherry.
Lal Ram Saran Singh was an Indian diplomat. He was the India's Ambassador to Italy India's High Commissioner to Malta during the 1960s. He also served as Chief commissioner of the State of Pondicherry before its de jure transfer.
The Third Assembly of PondicherryTroisième Assemblée de Pondichéry succeeded the Second Assembly of Pondicherry and was constituted after the victory of Indian National Congress (INC) and allies in the 1969 Pondicherry Legislative Assembly election. These were the second Legislative Assembly elections after the formation of the new Union Territory. After the elections M. O. H. Farook of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam got elected as chief minister.
