The president and his wife Prof Anwara Begum welcomed the guests and exchanged Eid pleasantries and new year's greetings at the receptions for the distinguished guests joined by Speaker Barrister Jamir Uddin Sircar, Chief Justice Syed JR Mudassir Hossain, advisers of the interim caretaker government, Supreme Court Judges and politicians.

Others, who attended the reception are senior serving and retired civil and military officials including the chiefs of the Army, Navy and Air Force, Vice-Chancellors of different public and private universities, educationists, national award recipients, editors and senior journalists of national newspapers and new agencies, writers, poets and litterateurs.

Another reception was hosted earlier in honour of the foreign dignitaries when ambassadors and High Commissioners of different countries and chiefs of various international agencies based in Dhaka exchanged Eid and new year's greetings with the President and Prof Anwara Begum.

The president/chief adviser offered his Eid prayers earlier this morning at the National Eidgah Maidan here in a congregation also joined by the speaker, the chief justice, advisers, Mayor of Dhaka Sadeque Hossain Khoka, Supreme Court judges and a large number cross section of people.

Khatib of Baitul Mukarram National Mosque Maulana Obaidul Huq led the prayers and subsequent munajat seeking peace, progress and prosperity of the Muslim Ummah.