Snippets

• Bolivian President Evo Morales recently launched his promised programme of land reforms. He handed over 24,800 sq km of state-owned land to poor Indians.

• Australia suffered a setback in its campaign against whaling, with the tiny island nation of Kiribati saying it will back Japan's scientific whaling programme.

• As part of plans to improve waste management in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, the government will phase out plastic bags less than 30 microns thick. Drop-off points for bags are being set up in the city.

• The Delhi High Court has directed the state government to implement the Delhi Plastic Bag and Non-Biodegradable Garbage Act 2000 in totality. All big eateries and shopping malls will have to use biodegradable bags. But the government has called the rule economically unviable.

• A Bangkok meeting of the 10-nation Association of South East Asian Nations Wildlife Enforcement Network decided to form a special wildlife crime-busting unit.