AirAsia India, the country’s new no-frills carrier, received its first Airbus A320, inching closer to launching its operation in the domestic sector to help connect smaller Indian cities. A joint venture between Malaysia’s low-cost carrier AirAsia Group Bhd and local investors the Tata Group and Arun Bhatia’s Telestra Tradeplace, the airline got permission from the Indian government late last year to import 10 aircraft.

NEW DELHI — The Indian air force (IAF) has decided to “urgently” buy 106 PC-7 Mk. 2 Basic Trainer Aircraft (BTA) from Pilatus, pulling the plug yet again on state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), which is also making an aircraft for training junior pilots. The BTAs will be acquired from the Swiss company under the “Buy & Make (Indian)” category, in accordance with India’s defense procurement policy. India is already taking delivery of PC-7 Mk. 2 aircraft from Pilatus under a contract for 75 such aircraft signed in 2012.

India is making headway toward launching Astrosat, the country’s first satellite devoted to astronomy, which will look at the universe in X-ray, ultraviolet and visible light bands, a senior space scientist says. Astrosat, a multi-wave-length observatory in space, will be launched with six instruments aboard India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Chairman K. Radhakrishnan says. “It is getting ready now,” Radhakrishnan says. “It will be integrated by 2015.”