Key Facts

Venkataramana Akkaraju took charge as the 8th Vice-Chancellor of the Indian Maritime University, Chennai, on 3 November. India and Saudi Arabia signed a bilateral agreement for 1,75,025 Indian pilgrims for Hajj 2027; the Hajj pilgrimage is handled by India's Ministry of Minority Affairs. The Tamil Nadu government paid tribute at the Marina statue of Veeramamunivar (Constanzo Giuseppe Beschi) on his birth anniversary, 8 November; the Italian Jesuit priest wrote the Tamil epic Thembavani and compiled the Tamil dictionary Chathuragarathi. Poland's Magda Linette won the WTA 250 Chennai Open, her fourth Tour-level title, beating reigning champion Janice Tjen in a final moved to the reserve day due to rain and smog. Lando Norris won the Formula One Sao Paulo Grand Prix, and Mercedes secured its ninth Formula 1 constructors' championship.

GK Context

The Indian Maritime University, a central university established in 2008, trains personnel for India's shipping and maritime sector across multiple campuses. India's Hajj arrangements are coordinated bilaterally with Saudi Arabia each year through the Ministry of Minority Affairs' Haj Committee of India, which manages pilgrim quotas and logistics. Constanzo Giuseppe Beschi (1680-1747), known in Tamil as Veeramamunivar, was an Italian Jesuit missionary whose contributions to Tamil literature and lexicography remain significant in Tamil literary history, despite his European origin. The WTA (Women's Tennis Association) and Formula 1 are internationally significant sporting bodies whose annual results are frequently tested in general awareness sections of competitive exams.