Nobel laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus receives Rahul Gandhi at Zia International Airport yesterday afternoon. Gandhi came to Bangladesh on a five-day visit.Photo: STAR

Rahul Gandhi, an Indian parliament member also one of the general secretaries of National Congress, arrived here yesterday on a five-day visit to gather firsthand knowledge of rural development models in Bangladesh.
Nobel Peace Laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus who is also the founder of Grameen Bank received Rahul at Zia International Airport (ZIA) on arrival by a Jet Airways flight around 3:30pm.
Brac's Chief of Protocol N Hossain, and senior officials of the government and Indian High Commission were also present.
Rahul is visiting Bangladesh on invitation from Brac and Grameen Bank.
Rahul, son of Congress President Sonia Gandhi and former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi who had been assassinated in 1991, left the airport in a motorcade amid tight security.
Rapid Action Battalion, armed police, and intelligence agencies deployed a security blanket in the whole area to ensure security for the prominent member of Nehru-Gandhi family, the most prominent political family in India.
Talking to reporters at ZIA, Prof Yunus quoted Rahul as terming the visit a 'learning trip'.
"I was introduced to Rahul by his mother Congress President Sonia Gandhi at a function last year… He then expressed his interest in visiting Bangladesh," said Muhammad Yunus.
The 38-year-old member of Indian parliament representing Amethi constituency of Uttar Pradesh will learn first hand about different programmes of Brac including micro-finance, women's empowerment, community health, education, and legal and human rights protection in Gazipur today.
A notice of Bangladesh Press Information Department said Rahul Gandhi will visit Grameen Bank programmes in Shingair of Manikganj on Sunday.
The Congress general secretary will also visit Grameen Bank's head office in Mirpur of the capital on Monday and hold a meeting with bank officials.
Rahul Gandhi will leave Dhaka on Tuesday morning.
In March 2004, Rahul announced his entry into politics and won a landslide victory in Lok Sabha elections the same year, contesting from his father's former constituency of Amethi.
The Nehru-Gandhi family has been involved in various microcredit projects in Amethi and Rae Bareilly parliamentary constituencies of Rahul and his mother Sonia respectively. His sister Priyanka Gandhi too has been promoting women's self-help groups in Amethi.