An elusive figure, Hidma is a top leader of the outlawed Naxal outfit CPI (Maoist) and has been on the radar of security agencies for many years.
A CRPF officer was on Saturday killed in an encounter with suspected Naxalites in Gariaband district of Chhattisgarh.
The competition for the worst or most perilous 10 years has always been between the 1960s and the 1980s, points out Shekhar Gupta.
The landmark move comes days after the government approved women fighter pilots for the Indian Air Force.
'Offensive operations to capture objectives across the LoC to eliminate terrorist launch pads and deny the use of the most dangerous routes of infiltration, are likely to be limited to brigade-level attacks.' 'These limited operations are unlikely to escalate to war across the international boundary,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
The BSF recovered 12000 rounds of ammunition, five kg high-quality explosive, one hand grenade, one under barrel grenade launcher, two detonators and two binoculars.
Hundreds of serving and veteran officers on Friday celebrated bicentenary of the first battalion of Gorkha Rifles (1/1 GR) with vigour and zest at Pathankot.
Major Adhikari was a man par excellence and had won our hearts. His supreme sacrifice for the nation shook us till the roots. A fascinating excerpt from Param Vir Chakra Captain (Honorary) Yogendra Singh Yadav's book, The Hero of Tiger Hill.
Major Kuldip Singh Chandpuri was awarded the Mahavir Chakra, the second highest medal for gallantry for leading a small company of men against a massive Pakistani attack.
Officials said while two commandos, identified as constables Linju N and Fateh Singh had succumbed to their bullet injuries on Thursday, their collegaue Lakshman Singh died on Friday.
Visiting the Rezang La Memorial, one has a feeling of super-humans defending the Indian territory against the Chinese onslaught, says Claude Arpi on the 60th anniversary of the heroic battle of the 1962 War.
For both India and China, the most likely option -- and the most challenging -- appears to be a freezing of the status quo.
'Syed Salahuddin and Muhamed Sayeed would not have survived so long if they were in the cross-hairs of Mossad,' says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
Avenging the Sukma attack, security forces claim to have gunned down 12-15 Maoists in Chhattisgarh's Basaguda-Chintalnar area on Sunday.
"Four terrorists were killed in the retaliatory firing and the suicide attack was foiled," an official said.
Six security personnel were killed and eight injured in back-to-back attacks by Naxals in insurgency-hit districts of Chhattisgarh, which has seen a string of strikes by the red ultras in the past three days.
The women, after their 45-day induction training and combat-stress inoculation, will be deployed in the valley to tackle stone-pelters and protestors, including women.
The award was received by Corporal Nirala's wife Sushmanand and his mother Malti Devi at the majestic Rajpath.
The encounter broke out early on Saturday between a BSF patrol and armed Naxal cadres near the Chhotebethiya-Pakhanjore jungle axis of the Maoist violence-hit district, officials said.
It is often alleged that half the Indian Army is based in J&K. It is bewildering why there has been no rebuttal or clarification of this issue from the central or state governments, or from the army itself, wonders Ajai Shukla.
As India's international role expands, so must our capabilities, says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
From the dust and dirt of a warzone to the gleaming uniforms of an army parade -- these are the images that show the reality of life for British servicemen and women. The revealing series of photographs are some of the winning entries in this year's Army Photographic Competition.
The deadly Maoist ambush, claiming the lives of 14 Central Reserve Police Force personnel in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district, was planned and supervised by local Naxal leaders who were reportedly camping in south Bastar for past few days, a senior police official said on Tuesday.
This is one of the biggest casualties suffered by the elite COBRA unit that undertakes special jungle warfare ops.
Cautioning against forces which fan communal tension in order to polarise the situation in their favour, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday voiced concern over the Muzaffarnagar riots and said such violence cannot be allowed to spread.
She said she no longer believes that her fast will lead to the repeal of the 'draconian' AFSPA but she will continue the fight.
Kirti Chakra was posthumously conferred on CRPF Commandant Pramod Kumar and Army Havildar Giris Gurung.
This was the third BAT action in Poonch this year.
Seven CRPF men were killed on Wednesday and their weapons looted after Naxals carried out a deadly landmine blast on their vehicle in the jungles of the worst Naxal-affected Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh.
United States President-elect Donald Trump has formally nominated James Mattis, a retired 4-star Marine Corps general who has long voiced concerns about the threat posed by Iran, as the Defence Secretary to replace Ashton Carter.
'Had they struck on the night of the 1st, there would have been hell to pay and had they been able to sneak further in, we would have had a greater problem,' says Lieutenant General H S Panag (retd), the former Northern Army Commander.
The Pakistani military may shortly give Imran Khan the boot, substituting him with another puppet, predicts Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
NIA was on Monday allowed by a special court to conduct a lie-detector test on senior Punjab Police officer Salwinder Singh in connection with the Pathankot terror attack probe.
Two Naxals were also gunned down in these face-offs.
'The situation in Doklam has plateaued; militarily, the Chinese know they can do nothing here,' an Indian general tells Ajai Shukla.
Twenty years ago, over 50 days in the summer of 1999, the Indian Army fought some of the toughest battles in the annals of military history to evict the Pakistan army from Kargil. The battle to recapture Tiger Hill was a major turning point in the Operation Vijay campaign, points out Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
Claude Arpi salutes Lieutenant General Zorawar Chand Bakshi, India's most decorated general, who passed into the ages recently.
In an unusual case of 'mass bunking' being confronted by the Central Reserve Police Force, 59 trainee commandos of its elite jungle warfare and counter-Naxal squad Commando Battalion for Resolute Action have gone missing from a train just before they were to report for duty in the Left Wing Extremism-hit theatre of Bihar as part of their first deployment.
Army personnel and a group of heavily armed terrorists backed by suspected Pakistan Army Special Forces troopers exchanged sporadic fire along the Line of Control in Keran sector of Jammu and Kashmir for the tenth day in Thursday but there was no fresh report any casualty.
An exclusive specially trained paramilitary unit armed with the latest gadgets and weaponry has now been deployed for security of Parliament house complex.
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