South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is one of the prominent regional organizations in the world in many aspects such as the largest population and the biggest workforce. Since its inception in 1985, SAARC follows the principles of making decisions by consensus; and non-discussion on contentious bilateral issues. According to the SAARC Charter member states are 'desirous of peace, stability, amity and progress in the region through strict adherence to the principles of the United Nations Charter and Non-Alignment (Ahmed and Bhatnagar , 2008). Somehow, one of the greatest barriers for the SAARC has been recurring interstate conflicts between member states, which have posed significant challenges (ibid).They are the dilemmas such as overlapping goals and conflicts among its members that make regional cooperation a challenge. The SAARC countries at present experience various security challenges. Peace and Security for the region is one goal that all members would want to achieve amidst insecurity, terrorism and environmental challenges in this century. However, what the 18th SAARC Summit evidently shows is the desire of SAARC to achieve deep cooperation through functional areas.

Implementation of lean practices creates multiple benefits as depicted in literature.However, the experiences of implementing lean practices in manufacturing Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), in Sri Lanka, remain unexplored. Thus, the purpose of this study is to examine the extent to which manufacturing SMEs use lean practices and their accrued benefits. The study adopts survey method and uses a structured questionnaire looking into three areas; lean practices implemented, driving forces of lean implementation and the benefits experienced. Data is collected from 342 manufacturing SMEs located in the Western Province of Sri Lanka, selected adopting random sampling representing seven major sub-sects including clothing and textiles, food and beverages, electronics and computers, metals, petroleum, wood, leather, paper and construction. The study finds that Just-In-Time, 3P and Kanban/Kaizen/Pull systems are the commonly used lean practices. The implementation of lean practices in manufacturing SMEs are mainly driven by improved quality, customer demand for shorter lead time and competitive advantage in price and service experienced through the implementation. The main benefits experienced by the SMEs are customer satisfaction, improved corporate image, reduced waste and higher efficiency and productivity. In addition to these, reduced inventory levels, higher flexibility, reduced transportation lead time, reduced capacity surplus are revealed to be achieved more with lean practices. The findings of this study are beneficial for planning further investigations into the lean adaptation in the SME sector. This also has implications for SME owners as they

101 years have passed since the birth of the academic discipline of International Relations (IR) at the University College Wales, Aberystwyth in 1919. After approximately 60 years, the discipline was introduced to the academic realms of Sri Lanka, by appointing Dr. Shelton U. Kodikara as the first professor in IR at the University of Colombo. However, Sri Lanka's praxis of international relations dates back to the pre-colonial times. Arguably, as much historical evidence attests, the praxis of international relations during the early-independence period was materialized in a void of academic expertise. Given this backdrop, the present study reviews the prevailing literature (including primary and secondary historical evidence) on the inception and growth of International Relations as a specific academic discipline of its own identity in Sri Lanka. Below, the authors briefly examine the historical praxis of IR in Sri Lanka, establishment of the discipline in the public university system, including the establishment of the Department of International Relations at the University of Colombo. The status of teaching IR at local universities and the future directions of the discipline receive special attention for the above discussion. The growth of national think tanks focusing on different aspects of the discipline is understood as a positive sign. In addition, the authors also focus on the constructive role played by Ministry of Foreign Relations underpinning the discipline. The study concludes with several suggestions to bridge the gap between the academia and the practitioners of international relations of Sri Lanka.