NEW DELHI — India plans to expedite the purchase of nine new special-mission aircraft for communications jamming, signals intelligence and surveillance for its air force. The proposal, worth around $200 million, was approved over the weekend at a meeting of the Defense Acquisition Council, the top decision-making body of India’s defense ministry, an India defense ministry official says. The defense ministry will soon issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) to buy the aircraft, the official says.

NEW DELHI — India’s defense ministry has unveiled a new set of rules aimed at boosting the country’s indigenous defense industry by making procurement from foreign vendors only a last option. The Defense Acquisition Council (DAC), the top decision-making body of India’s defense ministry, has cleared amendments to the Defense Procurement Procedure (DPP) to give priority to domestic public and private sector firms for major military procurements, thus reducing the country’s dependence on imports.

NEW DELHI — A comet moving toward Mars will not derail India’s first orbiter mission to the red planet, the country’s top scientist says. Preparations are in full swing for the country’s first orbiter mission to Mars, “Maangalyaan,” which is scheduled to be launched Nov. 27. NASA earlier this year announced that a comet is due to pass by Mars in September 2014, roughly the same time India’s Mars orbiter reaches the planet about 400 km (249 mi.) away, raising fears the comet might disturb its mission plans.