A coalition of Bangladeshi-American organisations felicitated Muhammad Yunus, the country's first person to win the Nobel Prize for Peace.

The 66-year-old professor of economics -- who took a small step in 1983 to get impoverished village women out of the morass of perpetual debt by giving them petty loans from his pocket so that they could start a small business and lead a better life -- was hailed as the uncrowned hero of Bangladesh.

Debt to Dignity: Bangladeshi-American professionals and civic organisations honour Prof Muhammad Yunus at Colden Auditorium at Queen's College, Long Island, New York.