DHAKA, Sept 27, 2021 (BSS) - The 75th birthday of Prime Minister and
Bangladesh Awami League President Sheikh Hasina will be celebrated across the
country tomorrow.

  Sheikh Hasina, the eldest among the five children of Father of the Nation
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib, was born at
Tungipara in Gopalganj on September 28 in 1947.

  Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is now in the USA as she went there to join
the 76th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). Following the footprint of
Bangabandhu, she also delivered speech in Bangla at the UNGA like the
previous years.

  This year the UN-sponsored Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN)
has conferred Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina with "SDG Progress Award" for
Bangladesh's steady course in responding to the universal call to take action
to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure peace and prosperity for all.

  The event's moderator introduced Sheikh Hasina as the "jewel in the crown
of the day" while appreciating her leadership in spearheading the SDG
campaign even during the global COVID-19 pandemic.

  Like the previous years, Awami League (AL) and its affiliated and
likeminded bodies will celebrate the day through various programmes
highlighting the life and achievements of Sheikh Hasina, who is driving the
nation towards prosperity following the footstep of her father Bangabandhu
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

  On the occasion, discussions, milad and doa mahfils and special prayers
will be organized in the capital and across the country, with maintaining
health guidelines in view of the coronavirus pandemic.

 Sheikh Hasina spent much of her childhood in the small hamlet where she
was born. She started her schooling there. When Bangabandhu was elected a
legislator, his family moved to Dhaka in 1954.

   She was admitted to what is now Sher-e-Bangla Girls' School and College
and later to Azimpur Girls' High School from where she completed her
secondary education in 1965. She was then admitted to Badrunnessa Government
Girls' College.

   During her bachelor course, she was elected as the vice-president of the
students' union of Eden Girls' College (Badrunnessa and Eden Girls' College
was a single entity during the period).

   Later, she enrolled in her Masters' programme at Bengali Department of
Dhaka University.

   As a student leader, Sheikh Hasina actively took part in the six-point
movement of 1966 and the student movement of 1969 which saw the abdication of
General Ayub Khan.

   In 1968, with the blessings of her imprisoned father, Sheikh Hasina who is
leading the country as the Prime Minister for the third consecutive term, got
married to nuclear scientist Dr Wazed Miah.

   During the Liberation War, Sheikh Hasina and her family were interned in a
house in Dhaka. On July 27 in 1971, her first child Sajeeb Wazed Joy was
born. Her second child Saima Wazed Hossain was born on December 9, 1972.

  After the assassination of her parents in 1975, Sheikh Hasina and her
family were offered political asylum in India, where she stayed till 1981
when she was elected as the president of the Awami League in her absence.

  Sheikh Hasina returned home on May 17, 1981 when she was greeted by a
mammoth crowd that extended from the Airport to Farm Gate and Manik Miah
Avenue and she addressed a public rally.

  In the 1986 parliamentary election, Sheikh Hasina was elected as parliament
member from three different constituencies. After the overthrow of autocracy
in 1990, she was elected as the Leader of the Opposition in the House.

  In 1996, 21 years after her father was assassinated, Sheikh Hasina led the
Awami League and helped the party assume power and became the Prime Minister
for the first time.

  On August 21, 2004, Sheikh Hasina, the then opposition leader, barely
escaped an attempt on her life as grenades were lobbed at an AL rally on
Bangabandhu Avenue in the capital.

   Although she survived the attack, at least 24 people were killed and over
200 others injured. Most of them were Awami League leaders and supporters.

  In 2008, she led the Grand Alliance to an overwhelming victory acquiring 90
percent of parliament seats in the general elections. She was elected the
Prime Minister on January 5, 2014 for the second time in a row.

  Sheikh Hasina assumed office of the Prime Minister for third consecutive
term with a thumping victory in general elections in December 2018.

  Under her leadership, Bangladesh has become a role model for development,
attaining steady economic growth, becoming self-sufficient in food and
attaining a marked progress in the fields of women empowerment, agriculture,
education, health, infrastructure, communication, energy and power, trade and
commerce, ICT and the SME sectors.

  Her most recent role in extending humanitarian support to over 1.1 million
forcibly displaced Rohingyas from Myanmar, who have taken shelter in Cox's
Bazar, drew accolade from global leaders, institutions and eminent
personalities.

  Asiatic Society of Kolkata honoured Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina with the
prestigious "Tagore Peace Award-2018" in recognition of her contribution to
maintaining regional peace and prosperity.

  President of Kolkata Asiatic Society Professor Isha Mohammed handed over
the award to Sheikh Hasina at a function at Taj Mahal Hotel in the Indian
capital on October 5, 2019.

  She also received the prestigious 'Vaccine Hero' award given in recognition
of Bangladesh's outstanding success in vaccination. Global Alliance for
Vaccination and Immunisations (GAVI) handed over the award to the Premier at
a ceremony at the Conference Room of the UN Headquarters in New York during
the 74th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in 2019.

  The Premier was conferred with the award 'Champion of Skill Development for
Youth' for Bangladesh's great success in youth skill development.

   The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) conferred the award on the
Premier at a ceremony at Labouisse Hall of UNICEF House in the UN Plaza on
September 26 in 2019.

   UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore handed over the award to the
Prime Minister amid thunderous clapping of the audience.

  Sheikh Hasina also received the Dr Kalam Smriti International Excellence
Awards-2019, introduced in memory of eminent scientist and former Indian
President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam.

  The award was conferred upon Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in recognition of
her commitment to a close and mutually satisfying India-Bangladesh relations,
welfare of her people, particularly women and children, and international
peace and cooperation.

  Chief Adviser of the Dr Kalam Smriti International Advisory Council
Ambassador TP Sreenivasan handed over the accolade through a ceremony at the
Prime Minister's Office here on September 16, 2019.

  Sheikh Hasina was also conferred with various honourary degrees, accolades
and awards in recognition of her leadership excellence and intellectual
flair.

   These include: honorary Doctor of Laws by the Waseda University of Japan,
honorary Doctorate of Philosophy in Liberal Arts by University of Abertay
Dundee, UK, honorary Degree of Desikottama by Visva-Bharati University of
West Bengal, India, honorary Doctor of Laws by the Australian National
University, honorary Doctor of Humane Letters by the Bridgeport University,
USA, honorary Doctor of Laws by the University of Dhaka, Paul Haris
Fellowship by the Rotary International, UNESCO's Houphouet-Boigny Peace Prize
in 1998, M K Gandhi Award in 1998, Mother Teresa Award in 1998 and 2006,
Pearl S. Buck Award by Randolph Macon Women's College of USA in 1999, CERES
Medal in 1999, UN Award for MDG achievement (child mortality) in 2010, Indira
Gandhi Peace Prize in 2009, South-South Award in 2011, UN Award for MDG
Achievement in 2013, Rotary Peace Prize in 2013, Tree of Peace in 2014, ICT
Sustainable Development Award in 2015, Champions of the Earth in 2015, Agent
of Change Award in 2016 and Planet 50-50 Champion in 2016.