Oldest Olympian, US sharpshooter, dies at 106

1.    Oldest Olympian, US sharpshooter, dies at 106

i. Walter R Walsh, an FBI sharpshooter who was the world’s oldest living Olympian, has died. He was 106.

ii. Walsh died yesterday, six days before his 107th birthday at his home in Arlington, USA Shooting announced.

iii. Walsh, who first honed his shooting skills by picking off clothespins on a clothesline with a BB gun as a child, finished 12th in the men’s 50-metre free pistol at the 1948 London Olympics. He was 41 by then, and had already demonstrated his marksmanship with the FBI and the Marine Corps.

iv. In October 1937, he posed as a sales clerk at a sporting goods shop in Bangor, Maine, awaiting the arrival of three members of the Brady Gang, which had been on a long crime spree. He quickly disarmed one of them as the man entered the store, and helped gun down the others despite being hit twice.

v. Born in Hoboken, New Jersey, on May 4, 1907, Walsh was married for 43 years until his wife died in 1980.

2.    Air India set to join Star Alliance in July

i. Air India is all set to join the world's largest airline grouping, Star Alliance, this July, making it the first airline from India to be part of a global chain of carriers.

ii. The move, according to AI CMD Rohit Nandan, will bring immense benefits to Indian fliers from Day One as they will be able to earn-and-burn miles, get access to lounges across the globe and enjoy seamless connectivity across the world on Star members. 

iii. Almost all the requirements for joining Star are complete. Some work, mostly related to IT, will be completed by mid-May. Then we are set," said Nandan. 

iv. Star Alliance CEO Mark F Schwab said CEOs of Star's member airlines will meet in London on June 22 or 23 to have an endorsement vote on AI's entry into the fold. "Once all airlines endorse the move, AI should be in Star by July.

3.    IIT Guwahati leads India into top 100 global varsity rankings 

i. The prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati has taken India into the world's top 100 university rankings for the first time with an entry at No. 87.

ii. IIT Guwahati is the only Indian educational institute in the 2014 league table of '100 Under 50' institutions released by the 'Times Higher Education' (THE) magazine in London on Wednesday.

iii. The annual evaluation of the world's top 100 universities under 50 years of age had a distinct Eastern stance with South Korea's Pohang University of Science and Technology topping the list for the third consecutive year.