to allocate and manage risk ; to express views on, or hedge against, the future paths of interest rates and credit risk ; and to exploit new technologies. so more lightbulbs – fewer clenched fists! firms who grasp these opportunities early will have a real edge. in sterling markets, we have already seen how quickly specific instruments can switch away from libor when the necessary foundations have been laid and first - line business teams then put their shoulder to the wheel. in floating rate notes, sterling securitisations and large swathes of the cleared derivatives market, innovation and competition has driven a virtuous circle of rising liquidity and rising volumes. taken together, these changes put sterling markets at the leading edge of global transition. for a summary of the case for libor transition and an account of the early steps the bank took to support it for sterling markets, see https : / / www. bankofengland. co. uk / - / media / boe / files / speech / 2017 / the - bank - and - benchmark - reform - speech - by - chrissalmon. pdf? la = en & hash = 597e3c1b41fbffafb6a05dffe148f1e0b53beb3f all speeches are available online at www. bankofengland. co. uk / news / speeches by contrast, firms that miss these opportunities risk finding themselves behind the curve : stranded with libor - linked systems and obligations that are no longer fit for purpose. that risk is material – and will only grow as 2021 approaches. of course not every problem can be solved through innovation alone : - some require collective, or public sector, action – and that is being co - ordinated through the marketled working group on sterling risk - free reference rates here in the united kingdom, and similar bodies overseas. the report card for that collective process reads ‘ a lot achieved, a lot left to do ’, as we discussed at a conference at the bank on 5 june. 2 - and some do fall under the ‘ must do ’ heading for firms. to summarise the key conclusions of our first ‘ dear ceo ’ exercise : you need to have identified and quantified your libor - linked exposures ; you need a granular transition project plan, including an identified responsible executive covered by the senior managers regime ( where applicable ) ; you need to stress test that plan against the base case

the overall progress in economic and, indeed, social fronts in the recent years, despite the apparently tortuous processes, demonstrates that economic policy cycles do not necessarily go with political cycles in india. there are grounds for optimism on the continued optimal balancing between socio - economic change and political system stability. no doubt, terrorism is a serious problem but it is a localised problem and the essential fairness of an open multi - cultural society provides hope against any lasting adverse impact on stability. it is significant that there have been attacks on the iconic symbols of india - parliament, temple, mosque and the indian institute of science. and in all these cases, evidence is that it was driven by the nonresidents. it is useful to recognise the importance of empowerment of women. let me illustrate with some relevant facts in my home state, andhra pradesh. there is a reservation of one - third for women in medical colleges, but as of now, around half the students are women. of the 92, 000 students admitted in engineering colleges this year in andhra pradesh, over 30, 000 were women. similarly in the political arena, women are well represented. in the local bodies, there are about 250, 000 elected officials ranging from a member of gram panchayat to mayors of municipal corporation and chairpersons of zilla parishads and of these, over 85, 000 are women ; and the reservation for women has been operative since 1987. these developments, which are shared in different ways by other states, give a positive twist to the outlook for empowerment of women for the future. the exploration on the future of india will not be complete without reference to a book by my predecessor dr. bimal jalan with the title'future of india : politics, economics and governance '. in particular, he highlights issues relating to enhancing the quality of functioning of the parliament, the bureaucracy and the judiciary. these are complex issues, but the continuation of the good times in the economy is perhaps contingent upon the needed reforms in these areas - sooner rather than later. india is expected to benefit from the demographic dividend in a global context. it is necessary to recognise that the bulge in the workforce, which is a source of strength, will be concentrated in northern provinces of india. if education, skills, health and governance are improved to enable a globally competitive labour force, there will be a demographic dividend. there is a greater advantage for india, relative to almost all other countries, in that the demographic transition in india will be stretched over a