Age no bar: 13-year-old boy from Bihar clears IIT-JEE

Patna, May 8: 13-year-old from

has cracked the preliminary examination of the highly competitive Indian Institute of Technology-Joint Entrance Examination (

-JEE). He is the youngest to pass the exam.

Satyam Kumar of Bakhorapur village in Bhojpur district qualified for the IIT last year at the age of 12-and-half years, after he got special permission from the CBSE, Mumbai zone. He then secured an all-India rank of 8,137.

Not satisfied with his low rank, Kumar appeared in the IIT-JEE preliminary examination this year again and qualified, making him the youngest person to do it.

He appeared for both the exams in Kota, Rajasthan, where he has been studying. He was one of the 150,000 candidates who appeared for the examination this year.

"He is working hard to perform better in the IIT-JEE (Mains) to be held June 2. He is hoping for a better rank," Kumar's father Sidhnath Singh, a farmer, told IANS Wednesday.

Earlier, Kumar had said he wants to develop a software company on the lines of social networking website Facebook.

Kumar passed his Class 12 final exam last year.

IANS