is India's mars orbiter experiencing a problem?

it's now about 8.5 hours since isro fired a rocket on the mars orbiter to expand its orbit considerably. there is yet no news from isro of success or failure of the latest manoeuvre, on the missions's facebook page. here, however, is news from emily lakdawalla, space exploration enthusiast and isro admirer, about a possible glitch:

http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2013/11102001-a-hiccup-for-mars-orbiter-mission.html

lakdawalla has been tracking the mission from the beginning. i'm hoping that the underperformance of the rocket can be corrected.

here's isro's facebook page for MOM (mars orbiter mission):

https://www.facebook.com/pages/ISROs-Mars-Orbiter-Mission/1384015488503058

isro posted a brief update a few minutes after i posted here, that the orbiter's health is "normal," and that a supplementary burn would be performed soon.

is it worthwhile for India to spend money on a Mars mission when it has not yet solved basic problems of poverty, malnutrition, illiteracy, etc?