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Fashion for Good celebrates success of first year in South Asia
Fashion for Good, a global platform to make all fashion good through innovation, collaboration and community celebrates the progress achieved over the past year since launching their South Asia Innovation Programme during their annual end of year event.
To round off an eventful year, Fashion for Good announced their newest regional partner, Birla Cellulose – part of the Aditya Birla Group, as well as the graduation of 9, first batch start-ups, many of whom have successfully engaged with leading manufactures to bring their solutions to market in a year filled with unprecedented challenges.
Scaling along the growth curve: Throughout the year, Fashion for Good, working closely with key supply chain players, has identified the critical challenges posed to the circular transformation in the region; the lack of knowledge around circular solutions, the lack of capacity to work with innovations, the lack of funds to invest in new technologies, and lastly, the limited engagement from major fashion brands.
In a newly released report “The State of Circular Innovation in the Indian Fashion and Textile Industries”, Fashion for Good highlights these challenges as well as the opportunities for innovation and investment. Fashion for Good addresses these challenges through their programmes to accelerate and scale these technologies as well as through collaborative initiatives with key players in the industry.
Driving innovation and collaboration: Scouting over 300 innovators from the region, the programme launched early this year with its first selection of 9 innovators, graduating today, and welcoming an additional 9 into their second batch in July. Aiming to scale these technologies through initiating opportunities with industry players, the programme orchestrated over 16 pilots and tests over the past 12 months.
Projects of note include; a collaboration between plastic recycling innovator Lucro and Welspun Limited to close the loop on their packaging waste stream; KB cols, a technology that extracts natural colours from waste that can be applied to textiles, is testing their solution with three partners; Descatuk and Birla Cellulose co-developed eco yarns that incorporate Descatuk’s unique New Natural Fibres (NNF); and most recently, Textile Genesis, a traceability platform using blockchain, together with leading brands BESTSELLER and Kering, join a Fashion for Good led consortium project, the Viscose Traceability Project, to trace the viscose fibres used in eight garment styles across their supply chains.
Regional presence and new partnerships: Concluding a successful year of establishing a footprint and successful partnerships in the region, the South Asia Innovation Programme welcomes Birla Cellulose (who earlier this year joined Fashion for Good’s consortium project, Full Circle Textiles Project) as a regional innovation partner alongside launch partners Welspun and Arvind Limited.
Birla Cellulose is a global leader in the manmade cellulosic fibre industry, pioneering sustainable practices such as sustainable forestry, climate change initiatives, water conservation, innovations in alternative raw materials, Higg FEM, traceability and several other areas. The addition of Birla Cellulose to Fashion for Good’s existing network of global brands and manufacturers further engages pivotal supply chain actors to accelerate industry transformation.
Also, Fashion for Good is engaged with several small scales, regional manufacturers to test and implement innovations, and is working closely with investors and expert communities, as well as universities to generate deeper impact within the regional fashion and textile industry.
(Press Release)
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Showers above 100 mm are likely at some places in the Eastern and Uva provinces and showers about 50-75 mm in other areas
WEATHER FORECAST FOR 08 JANUARY 2026
Issued at 05.30 a.m. on 08 January 2026 by the Department of Meteorology
The depression over the Bay of Bengal, located to the southeast of Sri Lanka, was centered near latitude 5.3°N and longitude 86.0°E, about 490 km southeast of Pottuvil, at 11:30 p.m. yesterday (07). It is expected to move west-northwestwards and towards the eastern coast of the island during next 24 hours. This system is likely to intensify further into a deep depression during the next 12 hours.
Cloudy skies can be expected over most parts of the island.
Showers or thundershowers will occur at times in the Northern, North-central, Eastern, Uva, Central and Southern provinces. Showers or thundershowers may occur at several places elsewhere in the Island after 1.00 p.m. Heavy showers above 100 mm are likely at some places in the Eastern and Uva provinces. Fairly Heavy showers about (50 – 75) mm are likely at some places in the other areas of the island.
Strong winds about (50-60) kmph can be expected at times over the Eastern slopes of the central hills, the Northern, North-central, North-western and Eastern provinces and in Hambantota, Gampaha, Colombo and Monaragala districts.
The general public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damages caused by temporary localized strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.
Minister of Public Security Ananda Wijepala told Parliament yesterday that information uncovered during ongoing investigations indicated that Pulasthini Mahendran, also known as Sara Jasmine, linked to the 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks, was not dead.
Responding to a question raised by Opposition MP Mujibur Rahuman, the Minister said there was no confirmation that Sara Jasmine was currently in India, despite speculation to that effect. He added that investigators suspected she may have fled the country and stressed that further inquiries were underway to establish her whereabouts.
“If necessary, the government will take steps to obtain a warrant,” Wijepala said, noting that legal action related to the Easter attacks had already been initiated, based on available evidence.
Minister Wijepala said the new government had launched an thorough probe to determine whether a political or other conspiracy had been behind the attacks that killed more than 270 people in 2019. However, he declined to disclose certain details in Parliament, citing the risk of hampering investigations.
Sara Jasmine, Mohammed Hashtun, who bombed St. Sebastian’s Church, in Katuwapitiya, in 2019, was long presumed to have died in a suicide blast in Sainthamaruthu, days after the attacks. Wijepala said attempts by previous administrations to establish her death had failed, with recent reports indicating that DNA tests conducted at the time were inconclusive.
During the debate, MP Rahuman recalled that senior figures, including then-Opposition MP Nalinda Jayatissa, had previously claimed Sara Jasmine was in India. He questioned why authorities had not sought an open warrant for her arrest whether the issue had been raised in talks with Indian officials.
Wijepala, responding on behalf of Deputy Minister of Defence Arun Jayasekara, said the government would not hesitate to pursue legal action, including warrants, if necessary.
By Saman Indrajith
The Chief of the Indian Army Staff (COAS), General Upendra Dwivedi arrived in Sri Lanka yesterday (07). On arrival, the COAS was accorded a Guard of Honour by the Sri Lanka Army.
The Indian HC said that: “He will engage with senior military and civil leadership, including the Commander of the Sri Lanka Army, Deputy Minister of Defence and the Defence Secretary; and hold detailed discussions on matters of mutual interest, including training cooperation, capacity building and regional security.
During the visit, the COAS will address officers at the Defence Services Command and Staff College (DSCSC) and interact with officers and trainees at the Army War College, Buttala, reflecting India’s strong commitment to defence education and professional military exchanges with Sri Lanka.
General Dwivedi will also pay homage at the IPKF War Memorial, honouring the supreme sacrifice of Indian soldiers.”
General Dwivedi arrived here from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where he attended several events during 05 to 06 January.
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