This Week in Explainers: The shocking murder of tennis player Radhika Yadav in Haryana

It was a sombre week for India. Two Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots lost their lives after a Jaguar fighter jet crashed in Rajasthan, making it the third such plane to come down this year.

A father allegedly killed his daughter, Radhika Yadav, a 25-year-old tennis player, at their home in Haryana’s Gurugram. The horrific murder has sent shockwaves across the country.

Did Pakistan really shoot down India’s French-made Rafale planes during aerial strikes after Operation Sindoor? Islamabad claims so, but it might have been fooled into believing that it brought down an Indian fighter jet.

Here’s all this and more in our weekly roundup of stories.

1. Two IAF pilots suffered fatal injuries after a Jaguar fighter jet that they were onboard crashed in an agricultural field in Bhanoda village in Rajasthan’s Churu district. The pilots were identified as Squadron Leader Lokendra Singh Sindhu (44) and Flight Lieutenant Rishi Raj Singh (23).

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According to the IAF, its “Jaguar Trainer aircraft met with an accident during a routine training mission”, coming down in Churu. This was the third Jaguar plane to crash this year , bringing the issues related to the ageing aircraft to the spotlight. Sources have previously said that the Jaguar fighter jet has suffered more than 50 incidents in its 45-year service with the IAF, some of which were fatal.

As the aircraft sees another fatal crash, who were the two IAF pilots who lost their lives? We take a look in this report .

2. Pakistan has claimed it shot down three of India’s Rafale fighter jets during clashes in May. New Delhi has rejected these claims, with Defence Secretary RK Singh calling them incorrect. Now, reports say that Islamabad was tricked into believing that it brought down India’s French-made plane.

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India used Rafale Advanced Defense System’s X-Guard – an AI-powered decoy system – to dupe Pakistan during Operation Sindoor. An expert has described the Indian Air Force’s deployment of the system as “the best spoofing and deception we’ve ever seen.” But what is this decoy and how was it used by India? Read our report to find out .

3. The killing of Radhika Yadav, a state-level tennis player, allegedly by her father, has garnered nationwide attention. Deepak Yadav is said to have fired multiple shots at his daughter in a ‘fit of rage’ at their house in Gurugram’s upscale Sushant Lok area, leading to her death.

There were tensions between the duo over shutting down the tennis academy that Radhika ran. The athlete’s mother, Manju Yadav, was also present at the residence when the shooting took place, described her husband as “obsessive” and “angry”. According to the police, the father has confessed to the crime. But what drove him to ‘kill’ his own daughter? Here’s our story .

4. Former Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud is embroiled in a controversy. He has overstayed at the official residence CJI residence, even nearly eight months after he retired.

Reports have emerged that the administration of the Supreme Court has raised the issue with the Central government. It wrote a letter to the housing ministry to get the official residence vacated and returned to the Supreme Court’s housing pool. After the letter was published by various news outlets, the former CJI revealed the heartbreaking reason behind his decision to continue staying at the official residence. Read our report to know more.

5. Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan and his family have suffered a legal setback. The Madhya Pradesh High Court has dismissed a decades-old trial court ruling that had made him, his two sisters and their mother the sole legal heirs to the properties of the erstwhile Nawab of Bhopal.

Their inheritance was challenged by other family members of Hamidullah Khan, the last ruling Nawab of Bhopal. The Hum Tum actor inherited the royal properties from his grandmother, Sajida Begum, who had married Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi, the Nawab of Pataudi.

Saif Ali Khan is also engaged in another legal battle over these royal assets, which were declared as “enemy property” in 2014. We explain both cases in this story .

6. Have you ever wondered what chemicals your makeup has? The Indian government is now considering this question and mulling a ban on mercury-based cosmetics.

This comes after a recommendation from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) to ban such formulations. Mercury can be found in a range of products, including anti-ageing creams, eye makeup, skin-whitening lotions and nail polishes. But why do these products have the metal? Is it toxic to human health? Read our report to find out.

This is all we have for you this week. If you like reading our explainers, you can bookmark this page .