4.11 Names

•PARI will not use titles like Mr/Ms/Mrs/ Shri/Smt.

○No exceptions.

•All honorifics/ designations will always be lower case, unless the title immediately precedes the name, particularly in the first instance.

○Examples

>The president of India, Pranab Mukherjee.

>At the meeting on Sunday, President Pranab Mukherjee gave the keynote address.

>The sarpanch of the village, Rajesh Mahajan.

>At the meeting Sarpanch Rajesh Mahajan presented the budget.

○Exceptions

Abbreviations like Dr. and Prof. (which titles we will use) should be first letter upper case with a full stop after the abbreviated word.

When writing about a medical doctor, the first mention will say:

○Example

>Dr. Basant Biswas has confined his practice to a small group of villages.

For variation, in the second instance, it can be: “… the doctor”... (d lower).

Elsewhere it can say just Biswas.

>Likewise, for example, Prof. RomilaThapar...

Full names: use the person’s full name (including middle initial, if he/she uses it) in the first instance.

○Example

>Kishore Ganpatrao Kadam or Kishore G. Kadam

—in whatever way he/she identifies himself or herself.

In subsequent instances, the usage can vary.

>Kadam or maybe Kishorebhai (if he is locally known as that)

Or, for example:

>Meeramanbhai Chawda became the head of his family at the age of 12.

Subsequent mentions later in the article:

>Meeraman was born in Mekhadi, a village in Porbandar district of Gujarat.

Some of this depends on local usage – what is he/she referred to by neighbours and others, and what is his/her preference?

And at times, after several paragraphs, the full name can be repeated.

But ensure that the full name is available in the article and this detail has not been overlooked by the author/ editor.

Initials: when using the full name, use full stops after each initial – for example E.M.S. Namboodiripad. No spaces after the full stops, but a space between the last full stop and the name.

But it will be EMS (no full stops) if using only the initials in subsequent mentions. Or, for example: MGR, NTR, JFK.