Pakistan yesterday said it will release a captured Indian pilot as a "peace gesture", taking a step towards rapprochement as clashes between the nuclear-armed rivals ignited fears of a disastrous conflict.

It seems nothing has changed in West Shaheednagar area of Old Dhaka.

It was around 10:45am, nearly three hours into the beginning of yesterday's Dhaka North City Corporation by-polls.

Poor presence of voters in yesterday's Dhaka North City Corporation mayoral by-polls has demonstrated that people have lost confidence in the country's electoral system, experts said.

Empty! Emptiness, everywhere across Dhaka North yesterday. Empty voting centre, empty polling booth, empty ballot box and empty look in the faces of polling officials. As if the word empty personified the city elections of yesterday, the day when over 30 lakh voters were supposed to elect the mayor of their region.

“Do they need our votes? Like they did in the December 30 election, someone will cast my vote.”

The government is going to introduce a digital system to improve the capital's traffic management, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina told parliament yesterday.

The first match of Bangladesh's three-match Test series against hosts New Zealand will begin today at the Seddon Park in Hamilton -- on a green-top that could see pacers dominate terms although the pitch is said to have something for both batsmen and bowlers.

The Boeing 737-800 Biman aircraft, which Polash Ahmed reportedly tried to hijack on Sunday, will resume operations within eight to ten days, Civil Aviation Secretary Mohibul Haque said yesterday.

Kazi Masihur Rahman, ex-MD and CEO of the Mercantile Bank Ltd, uploaded this post on his Facebook page to share what he saw, experienced and perceived in Sunday's attempted 'plane hijack' drama among his friends and families.

The industries ministry will start relocating nearly 4,000 chemical warehouses and factories from Old Dhaka within the next 15 days as it selected two temporary sites in the capital and Tongi for this purpose.

The Dhaka North City Corporation mayoral by-election takes place today but it lacks enthusiasm and festivity.

Pakistan and India said yesterday they had shot down each other's warplanes, in a dramatically escalating confrontation that has

India and Pakistan both said they shot down each other's fighter jets yesterday, with Pakistan capturing an Indian pilot a day after Indian warplanes struck inside Pakistan for the first time since 1971, prompting world powers to urge restraint.

To prevent any further fire-related human catastrophe like what occurred in Chawkbazar, officials and experts have suggested immediate temporary relocation of highly combustible chemicals from densely-populated Old Dhaka, as a permanent relocation across the Buriganga would take years.

Confusion remains over the movement of private vehicles in the Dhaka North City Corporation area tomorrow, the voting day in the DNCC mayoral by-polls.

It was a toy gun, not a real one, the suspect was carrying during a plane hijack bid on Sunday, and there were no explosives inside the flight either, a top government official involved in probing the incident told The Daily Star yesterday.

Expressing dissatisfaction at the authorities' failure to implement the government probe committee's 17 recommendations over the 2010 Nimtoli fire, the High Court yesterday questioned their inaction.

India said its warplanes struck a militant training camp inside Pakistan yesterday, killing "a very large number" of fighters, raising risk of conflict between the nuclear armed neighbours, though Pakistan officials denied there had been any casualties.

The Chawkbazar fire might not have taken place, had the recommendations of a probe committee after the 2010 Nimtoli fire been implemented, the High Court said yesterday.