1. Economic Feasibility of Tilapia Cage Culturein Pizhala,Cochin ............................................... 3

Helda Sajeevan and Dhanya Pulikkottil Rajan

2. Effects of chilling on seed germination and early seedling growth of Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek ................................................................................................................................................. 11Nusreen Banu N. K., Roopa Reghunathan K. R. and Jisha K.C.

3. The Hybrid Space and Fragmented Self in Chitra Divakaruni’s The Mistress of Spices .....18Reshmi S.

This work was targeted to determine break-even point of tilapia cage farms. Study shows that all the selected farms are in profit. Once the cage culture practice is further expanded to many areas and farms, the cost will decline due to the economies of scale of operation. It is a viable alternative and economically and financially feasible mariculture operation for the farmers to make use of. Cage culture development must be sustained in future by research and development in genetics, nutrition, health management, production economy, product handling etc. In Pizhala, it is found that many people are willing to start and carry out cage farming of different species. Success story of the initial fish farmers are one of the major reason for this mindset. So, it is found that in Pizhala, cage culture is economically feasible and further development in this field is also possible, if available potential resources and technologies are logically distributed.

The present investigation was carried out to find out the effect of chilling stress on the seed germination and seedling growth of Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek. The experiments were conducted in Petri plates by using absorbent cotton. The seeds of V. radiata were kept for different time intervals (6h, 12h, 18h and 24h) in the freezer of a refrigerator at 40C and then the seeds were allowed to germinate in Petri plates lined with absorbent cotton. Control was also prepared by using non-stressed seeds. The different parameters like germination percentage and the seedling growth parameters like shoot length, fresh weight and dry weight of the seedlings were determined. From the present research work, it was found that the chilling treatments for 6h, 12h, 18h and 24h had no significant effects on the seed germination and early seedling growth of green gram. Even though the seedlings raised from 6h treated seeds showed some enhancement in the shoot length and fresh weight of seedlings it was not carried into the dry weight and dry weight percentage of seedlings.

Our globalized world is marked with intense cultural encounters of all kinds leading to the dismissal of the ideas of class, caste, religion and culture as artificial constructs. The emergence of multicultural literature celebrates cultural hybridity. Cultural intermingling results in redefining the borders of nation and foregrounding the marginalized voices. Immigrant women characters populate the American mainstream literature. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni has proved her mettle as one of the most prolific and vociferous voices of Asian American immigrant women. In The Mistress of SpicesDivakaruni explores the diasporic condition against a multicultural backdrop. The protagonist Tilo comes across many characters representing vivid identities of diasporic life like scattered identity, marginalized, rebellious, docile, traditional and modern. The novel propounds deep rooted multiculturalism in its portrayal of cultural diversity, culture conflict, racial tensions, alienation and integration of the migrant subject into the multi-ethnic American society. In Black Skin White Masks, Frantz Fanon explores the impact of altered space upon one's consciousness in the colonial context. In place of a double consciousness, the women of her texts develop multiple consciousnesses resulting in a self that is neither unified nor hybrid, but rather fragmented.