  A sample of 42 new infrared star clusters, stellar groups and candidates was
found throughout the Galaxy in the 2MASS J, H and especially K$_S$ Atlases. In
the Cygnus X region 19 new clusters, stellar groups and candidates were found
as compared to 6 such objects in the previous literature. Colour-Magnitude
Diagrams using the 2MASS Point Source Catalogue provided preliminary distance
estimates in the range 1.0 $<$ d$_{\odot}$ $<$ 1.8 kpc for 7 Cygnus X clusters.
Towards the central parts of the Galaxy 7 new IR clusters and candidates were
found as compared to 61 previous objects. A search for prominent dark nebulae
in K$_S$ was also carried out in the central bulge area. We report 5 dark
nebulae, 2 of them are candidates for molecular clouds able to generate massive
star clusters near the Nucleus, such as the Arches and Quintuplet clusters.
