Will Agra be renamed? University panel to examine if city had 'ancient name'
Agra (UP), Nov 18: An Uttar Pradesh department has set in motion an exercise to examine if this city was known by any other name in ancient times, triggering speculation that the Yogi Adityanath government is planning to rename Agra.
Agra's Bhim Rao Ambedkar University has now constituted a committee to go into the issue, following a letter from the local administration, Vice Chancellor Arvind Dixit told PTI on Monday.
According to him, some Agra residents posted a demand to rename Agra on the state government's Stamp and Registration Department website. This was then referred to Agra administration, which in turn approached the university.
In state capital Lucknow, there was no official confirmation on any move to rename the City of Taj. However, in the recent past, Allahabad has been renamed Prayagraj and Faizabad district is now called Ayodhya.
Ambedkar university's History department head Sugam Anand said a panel will examine the issue.
A committee has been formed comprising local research scholars, research students and myself. The committee's work will be to delve into the archival and documented records in history to see if Agra ever had an ancient name, he told PTI.
He said informal discussions are being held with experts to start gathering information. He also invited participation from the public if they had any evidence on any ancient name for Agra.
Anand said there have been a lot of stories about ancient Agra going by some other name, but no documented evidence is available yet .
On Agra's ancient history, he said a hoard of coins with the name ‘Guhil Sri' or `Shri Guhil' inscribed on them was found in 1863.
Agra Fort is said to stand on a site traditionally known as Badalgarh.
A former Bharatiya Janata Party MLA, late Jagan Prasad Garg, had demanded that Agra should be renamed Agravan.
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NEET student hangs self in Rajasthan's Sikar
Jaipur (PTI): A student preparing for the NEET examination allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in a rented room in Rajasthan's Sikar on Friday, police said.
According to the police, the student allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan using his sister's scarf while one sister was attending coaching classes and the other was in the bathroom.
He had appeared in the NEET UG exam 2026, which was cancelled due to paper leak, they said.
Udyog Nagar SHO Rajesh Kumar said that the deceased, identified as Pradeep Meghwal, was a resident of Kanika ki Dhani village in Jhunjhunu's Gudha Gaudji area.
He had been living in a rented room in Sikar's Jaldhari Nagar area with his two sisters while preparing for NEET over the last three years.
His elder sister later found him hanging and informed the landlord and police after bringing him down, officials said.
The SHO said the body was kept at SK Hospital mortuary, and a postmortem had not been conducted.
The student's father, Rajesh Kumar Meghwal, told police that Pradeep's NEET examination had gone well and the family was expecting him to score around 650 marks.
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot expressed grief over the incident and linked it to anxiety among students after reports of irregularities and paper leaks in NEET 2026.
Pilot said repeated paper leak incidents and cancellation of examinations were affecting students' mental health and demanded a time-bound investigation and strict action against those responsible.
