Sunday Mail crossword.

[Hornby]

Former collective name of Pondicherry etc

[Kos]

Try posting in Quizzes and Puzzles!!

[Octavius]

Pondicherry, currently undergoing a name change to Puduchery, is the name of a union territory and its capital in the south of India. The name "puduchery" means "new village" in Tamil. The French spelt it "Poudich�ry", which is the closest French approximation to the Tamil pronunciation. 

Pondicherry consists of four small unconnected districts: Pondicherry, Karaikal, and Yanam on the Bay of Bengal and Mah� on the Arabian Sea. The first two are by far the larger ones, and are both enclaves of Tamil Nadu.  In 2nd century AD, the town was called Poduke