NEW DELHI — India has approved a $1.23 billion deal to procure 490 French advanced air-to-air missiles for its air force’s Mirage 2000 aircraft fleet. The country’s Cabinet Committee on Security, headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, gave its approval late yesterday to sign the purchase contract with European missile maker MBDA for the fire-and-forget MICA, or interception and aerial combat, missiles as part of the second phase of plans for upgrading the Indian air force (IAF) Mirage fleet, a senior government official says.

NEW DELHI — India’s defense forces have failed to purchase even a single artillery gun to replace its obsolete inventory for more than 25 years, Indian government auditing agencies say. In a report on defense acquisitions introduced in Parliament Dec. 20, India’s Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) slammed the country’s armed forces and defense ministry for causing “inordinate delays” in procuring artillery guns for more than a decade, leaving troops to use obsolete varieties of 1970s vintage.

India appointed Ajit Singh its new civil aviation minister as the country’s troubled aviation sector prepares to enter 2012 under the weight of mounting debt and losses. The 72-year-old from the northern state of Uttar Pradesh will be the third person to hold the portfolio in less than a year. He succeeds Vayalar Ravi, who had taken over the Civil Aviation Ministry from Praful Patel, who had held the post for six years.