Ramzan and Development

In resonse to my Ramazan greeting, Sain Maqbool Aliani asked "what has ramzan got to do with development of sindh?"

I did google search on religion and economic development and came up with over 2 million results. You may check it out:http://search.msn.com/results.aspx?q=religion+and+economic+development&FORM=MSNH&srch_type=0

After the boxes, the first one is a study "RELIGION, CULTURE, AND ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE" byMarcus Noland, Senior Fellow, Institute for International Economics. The abstract is as follows:
Abstract

The hypothesis that the coefficients on variables of religious affiliation are jointly equal to zerocan frequently be rejected at conventional levels of statistical significance (i.e., religion matters),but no robust relationship between adherence to major world religions and national economicperformance is uncovered, using both cross-national and subnational data. The results withrespect to Islam do not support the notion that it is inimical to growth. On the contrary, virtuallyevery statistically significant coefficient on Muslim population shares reported in this paper—inboth cross-country and within-country statistical analyses—is positive. If anything, Islampromotes growth." JEL codes: O40, Z12

My short response will be that Ramazan and development are very related. Fasting means deprivation from all food and liquids from sunrise to sunset. For about 12 hours each day for a whole month, it gives us a taste of suffering of economically less developed or poor. It should motivate us to work harder for economic development of Sindh and removal of poverty.

Your input and help towards development of Sindh is always welcome.
Ali Nawaz Memon
Sindh Development Institute