India recorded extremely high temperatures in various cities this year. But in the sweltering heat of India`s Thar desert, where summer highs soar above 50 degrees Celsius, an architecturally striking school made with a combination of age-old techniques and modern design is an oasis of cool. The Rajkumari Ratnavati Girls` School uses the same yellow sandstone as the 12th-century fort in nearby Jaisalmer, in India`s western state of Rajasthan. (Report and Pics: AFP)

A Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA) of the Indian Air Force crashed in Jaisalmer in Rajasthan on Tuesday during an operational training sortie, the first such incident involving the indigenously-built jet. Pics/PTI