NEW DELHI – A MiG-21 Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter jet crashed Tuesday in the western state of Rajasthan, killing the pilot, a senior IAF official says. The crash happened at mid-afternoon at Nal air base, about 15 km from the city of Bikaner, the official says. “The aircraft was returning from a routine training mission and crashed during the landing phase, tragically killing the pilot,” an IAF press release says. Defense spokesman S.D. Goswami says the pilot ejected, but later died from his injuries.

Mahindra Aerospace, the aviation division of India's Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., held discussions on Monday with aircraft part manufacturers in Europe and the U.S. for a stake purchase.

NEW DELHI — India has finally signed a contract with two French firms to upgrade its 51 Mirage combat jets that were acquired in the 1980s. “Thales and Dassault Aviation on Friday [July 29] signed a contract for the upgrade of the Indian Air Force’s Mirage 2000 fleet,” the two companies said in a statement. The federal cabinet committee on security had approved the $2.4 billion deal two weeks ago. India’s government has been negotiating the cost factor with the French companies for almost five years.