Bhubaneswar: The year 2020 has been a year of quandary for all following the outbreak of COVID-19. Though many people in Odisha faced the brunt of the pandemic, some eminent personalities gave reasons to the people of the state to cherish in the testing times. As we are a few hours away from welcoming a new year after a long year of crisis, let’s look back at 2020 and raise a toast to few personalities, who made Odisha proud amidst the pandemic. Former Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Girish Chandra Murmu, who has roots from Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district, was appointed as the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India in August by President Ram Nath Kovind. He replaced Rajiv Mehrishi and became the first Odia to hold the post of CAG of India. A 1985-batch IAS officer, Murmu has completed Graduation and Post-Graduation in Political Science. He also holds an MBA degree from Birmingham University, Britain. It was certainly a moment of pride for Odisha, when 1996-batch IAS officer Usha Padhee became the first woman and third IAS officer to be appointed as the DG of Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS). The woman bureaucrat had shared the news on Twitter with a photograph of the BCAS wall with her name on it and captioned it,” At last, a Smt. in the incumbency list of Director General, Bureau of Civil Aviation Security!” The position fell vacant after the incumbent DG Rakesh Asthana was posted as BSF DG. Padhee’s central deputation tenure is scheduled to end on July 16, 2022. Earlier in July, 2015, Padhee was deputed to central services as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Civil Aviation. Prior to this, she had also served as the Secretary of Odisha School and Mass Education Department.