NEW DELHI — India’s defense minister has ordered a departmental inquiry into French firm Dassault’s win of the 126-fighter Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) contract, after a lawmaker raised the possibility of “manipulation” in the selection process.

NEW DELHI — India’s soon-to-retire army chief, Gen. V.K. Singh, says he was recently offered a bribe of 140 million rupees ($2.7 million) by a defense lobbyist to clear the purchase of military vehicles. In an interview with an Indian newspaper, Singh says the lobbyist offered the bribe in return for approving the purchase of 600 “substandard” vehicles of a “particular make.” He claims that 7,000 such vehicles were already in use in the Indian army and many have been sold at “exorbitant prices with no questions asked.

NEW DELHI — India’s Mars Orbiter Mission is getting a boost, with the government allocating 1.25 billion rupees ($25 million) to the effort for the 2012-13 fiscal year. “The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) plans to launch a Mars orbiter as early as November 2013 with a scientific payload weighing nearly 25 kg [55 lb.],” according to the budget document, which was introduced in parliament March 16.