In an advisory to West Bengal, Jharkhand, Orissa, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Maharahstra, the home ministry asked them to deploy additional security personnel in sensitive and public places.

The police said a 16-year-old student died on the spot when lightning hit a madhyamik institute during school hours at Joargari village this noon.

In the election to the chairman's post in Suri municipality in Birbhum district, independent councillor Ujjwal Mukherjee defeated Trinamool Congress candidate Pritikana Bhattacharya yesterday by four votes.

The throat swab of the man confirmed that he was suffering from H1N1 infection, West Bengal health department sources said.

BSP will contest the assembly polls in Bihar and West Bengal later this year but is yet to finalise the number of seats it will fight, the party has said.