Kota, May 14: A 19-year-old NEET aspirant who went missing from his PG room here has been traced in Uttar Pradesh, Kota police said on Tuesday.

Bihar native Aman Kumar Singh left his paying guest room in Swarn Vihar colony on the intervening night of May 11 and 12, police said.

The Kota police swung into action and through technical investigation and inquiry, they traced Singh’s location in Uttar Pradesh’s Kushinagar. The local police were contacted and the whereabouts of the missing teen were shared with them and they rescued him on Monday night, Kota city SP Amrita Duhan said on Tuesday.

A team of Kota police was also dispatched to Khushinagar, she added.

Kunhari circle inspector Arvind Bhrdwaj said the boy was traced on Monday night and is being brought to Kota by the city police.

It is clear that the student reached there by his wish. Further details will be ascertained after his statement is recorded here, Bhrdwaj said

Singh had been preparing for the entrance exam in the coaching hub for the last two years. He left his phone and a note behind in which he said that he couldn't do well in the NEET exam and won't be able to crack it, police had said.

On the basis of CCTV footage, it was found that Singh got onto a bike with another boy and reached Kota Railway Station from where he boarded a train, DSP Rajesh Soni said.

Singh, in his note, asked the readers to look for him near the Kota Barrage, located over the Chambal river, but the police couldn’t find him there. It is suspected that the student left the note in his room to misguide the police and his parents, he said.

On May 6, Rajasthan native Rajendra Prasad Meena (19) went missing from his PG room here. He sent a text message to his parents saying that he did not want to study any further and was leaving home for five years.

Meena wrote that he had Rs 8,000 with him and would contact his family or other relatives if need be.

Meena is yet to be traced.

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New Delhi (PTI): The government has promulgated an ordinance to increase the strength of the Supreme Court from the present 34 judges to 38, including the Chief Justice of India.

The law ministry notified the ordinance on Saturday, which amended the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956, to increase the sanctioned strength of the top court.

So far, the sanctioned strength of the top court was 34, including the Chief Justice of India (CJI). Now, the number of judges has been increased by four, taking the sanctioned strength to 38.

The top court will now have 37 judges, other than the CJI.

With the apex court having two vacancies at present, and the ordinance coming into force immediately, the Supreme Court Collegium will now have to recommend six names for appointment as judges in the top court.

A bill will be brought in the Monsoon Session of Parliament to convert the ordinance – an executive order – into a law passed by Parliament.

The Union Cabinet had cleared a draft bill on May 5 to increase the number of apex court judges.

The strength of the Supreme Court was last increased from 30 to 33 (excluding the CJI) in 2019.

The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, as originally enacted in 1956, put the maximum number of judges (excluding the CJI) at 10.

This number was increased to 13 by the Supreme Court (Number of Judges), Amendment Act, 1960, and to 17 by another amendment to the law.

The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Act, 1986, augmented the strength of judges from 17 to 25, excluding the CJI.

A fresh amendment in 2009 further increased the strength from 25 to 30.

Article 124(3) of the Constitution lists the qualifications required to become a Supreme Court judge.

An Indian citizen who has either served as a high court judge for at least five years, or as an advocate for 10 years, or is a distinguished jurist, can be appointed to the top court.

The strength of the Supreme Court is increased based on the recommendations of the CJI, who writes to the Union law minister. After consulting the finance ministry, the Department of Justice under the law ministry moves the Cabinet with a draft bill.