Mahasweta Chakraborty, a 24-year-old pilot from Kolkata, helped rescue more than 800 Indian students from the borders of Ukraine, Poland and Hungary during the Russia-Ukraine war. She flew six evacuation flights—four from Poland and two from Hungary. She was chosen to rescue stranded Indians under the government’s Operation Ganga mission. Chakraborty was also part of the Vande Bharat Mission, which was carried out during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic to bring home stranded Indian citizens.