NEW DELHI — India has approved a plan to spend 50 billion rupees ($792 million) for defense equipment, including night-vision devices and rockets for its armed forces. At a meeting earlier this month of the Defense Acquisition Council, the highest decision-making body for the country’s defense affairs, Defense Minister A.K. Antony approved the procurement of night-vision devices worth 38 billion rupees for infantry soldier carbines and 10,000 rockets worth 6.8 billion rupees, a defense official says.

GLSV LAUNCH: India will make a fresh attempt to launch its Geostationary Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-D5) in January, carrying the GSAT-14 communications satellite, a scientist at the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) says. The exact date and time has yet to be determined. The announcement comes more than three months after a previous launch attempt was called off due to a fuel leak in the rocket. On Aug. 19, a leak was spotted in the fuel system of the second stage during the prelaunch pressurization phase.

India’s first Mars orbiter has propelled out of Earth’s orbit and embarked on a 10-month voyage to the red planet. The critical maneuver to place the Mars Orbiter Spacecraft (MOS) in the Mars Transfer Trajectory was successfully carried out Dec. 1, says K. Radhakrishnan, chairman of the state-run Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).