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1. A C-17 transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force is on standby to fly to Kabul and bring home Indian nationals who are stuck in the war-torn country after the Taliban takeover, sources have said. The IAF aircraft will go to Kabul as soon as enough Indian nationals are able to move to the airport in the Afghan capital, the sources say. 2. President Joe Biden seeks Friday to reassure the United States on the dramatic evacuation from Afghanistan, promising no Americans would be abandoned in one of the "most difficult" airlifts in history. 3. An al Qaeda-linked group in Syria lauds the Taliban 'victory' in Afghanistan, and compared the terror group's control of the majority of the country with the early Muslim conquests. 4. India's drug regulator on Friday approves Zydus Cadila's three-dose COVID-19 DNA vaccine for emergency use in adults and children aged 12 years and above, bringing in the sixth vaccine authorised for use in the country. 5. Opposition parties must rise above their political compulsions and set aside personal interests to united against the BJP, various leaders says at a meeting called by Sonia Gandhi on Friday. The Congress president urged the opposition to "plan systematically" for the 2024 national election and work together, stressing that there was no other option. "We all have our compulsions, but clearly, a time has come when the interests of our nation demand that we rise above them," she said at the 19-party meet. 6. Like many other states, Jharkhand reopenes schools for senior classes, but junior and middle sections have remained shut for almost two years now because of the Covid pandemic. For a state with a large number of impoverished areas, many of them Naxal-affected, this has meant a significant amount of backlog in the education of children, especially those who go to primary and junior classes. Teachers and parents both feel that there is a generation of children that's lapsing into illiteracy. 7. After conquering social media, Facebook is now setting its sights on the remote work environment using virtual reality with Horizon workrooms that creates a more immersive workspace. Facebook has debutes the next component of its long term metaverse strategy that is focused on creating a series of virtual environments for shared workspaces, entertainment and more. 8. Hollywood star Hugh Jackman whose new film 'Reminiscence' will be releasing shortly speaks exclusively to NDTV about the film, memories of India and how would love to visit India again.