Five condom vending machines were set up at different locations in New Delhi. The machines were installed at Laxmi Nagar, Preet Vihar, ITO, Sadanand Marg and Palika Bazar.

The Union ministry of environment and forests is working on a new set of regulatory norms to prohibit the establishment of industries and residential colonies near riverbanks. Suresh Prabhu, minister for environment and forests has already asked officials to work out parameters to be notified and enforced under the Environment (Protection) Act of 1986.

The forest department of Kerala is again under fire after reports of rampant felling. Under cover of the monsoon, which swept the higher altitudes of the state, hundreds of trees in reserve forests and private estates have been cut down.

An alarming decline in the vulture population in the country has sent shockwaves among raptor specialists and other ornithologists, as they fear major epidemic outbreaks. Experts expressed major concern at an emergency meeting held to discuss the sudden fall in the population of two of the vulture species.

Sterlite Copper, the Rs 1,200-crore copper smelting company of Sterlite Industries (India) Limited, has started studies for a rapid environment impact assessment for its expansion project at Tuticorin.

The ministry of environment and forests has finalised the rules to regulate the manufacture and use of plastics. Sources said, the final draft sent for gazette notification will come into force very soon.

Eighty polluting industrial units in Tamil Nadu have been barred from operating by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). The CPCB said that operations could only resume after they set up proper effluent treatment plants.

The Union government may lift the ban on export of primary bamboo for a temporary period, Union minister for environment and forests Suresh Prabhu said recently. He further added that the environment ministry has recommended the removal of primary bamboo from the negative list.