作者： bharat.cn

India has closed the iconic Taj Mahal and other monuments to visitors, citing the coronavirus epidemic. The cultural sites will remain closed until the end of the month, the Culture Ministry announced.
The ministry declared all 3,691 monuments and sites protected by the Archaeological Survey of India would remain shuttered until March 31 following a high-level Group of Ministers meeting devoted to Covid-19 on Monday.

Closing the historic sites is part of a larger plan agreed upon by the Group of Ministers to ramp up containment measures relating to the coronavirus. The plan includes tightening travel restrictions and shutting down some businesses.

“Important measures including the closing of schools, swimming pools, malls, allow employees to work from home, less use of public transport, one-metre distance between people should be maintained till March 31,” the Joint Secretary of the Union Health Ministry told reporters on Monday.

India has prohibited travel from EU and European Free Trade Association countries, as well as Turkey and the UK as of March 18, while a 14-day compulsory quarantine will take effect for visitors from Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, and United Arab Emirates.

Four new cases of the virus were announced on Monday, bringing the total for India to 114, with two deaths, three patients treated, and 10 discharged.

Some 5,200 people who have had contact with India’s known coronavirus patients are under surveillance, the secretary said.

India officially declared the coronavirus epidemic a “notified disaster” over the weekend, elevating it to the level of earthquakes, avalanches, and other natural disasters and giving local governments access to a special fund earmarked for disaster response.

The history of Jyotiraditya Scindia’s family-the man currently making waves in the political world-is in some ways strongly linked to important moments in Indian history. In 1761, at the Third Battle of Panipat-fought between the Marathas and the Afghan Ahmed Shah Abdalli-the Scindia contingent of the Maratha army saw grievous losses, including the deaths of commanders like Tukoji Scindia and Jankoji Scindia. This battle involved what is considered one of the greatest massacres in the history of war, with perhaps 50,000 Maratha soldiers and non-combatants killed, alongside 20,000 Afghan soldiers.

The Past

A man who providentially escaped the battle field was the grievously injured Mahadji Scindia, possibly Jyotiraditya’s most illustrious ancestor. He went on to be, in many ways, central to the resurgence of Maratha power after battle of 1761, becoming the arbitrator of Emperor Shah Alam’s affairs in Delhi, leaving a rich legacy of diplomatic vision and bravery. Some rank him as the third most important hero in Maratha history, after Chattarapati Shivaji and Peshwa Bajirao. The great historian Jadunath described Mahadji as a colossus, whose bravery and farsighted diplomacy delayed British dominance over India by almost 20 years. In fact, some say his death in 1794 began the disintegration of the Maratha Empire and the dominance of the British.

Mahadji Scindia, as ruler of Gwalior, left a rich legacy. His tolerance and policies to manage Hindu-Muslim unity established a model that in many ways informs Indian society today. He is noted for welcoming moderate Muslims, but is also known to have been severe with their radical cousins. One reason credited for his policies was an experience on the battle field of Panipat-his life was saved by a Muslim, Rana Khan. The model of composite culture that Mahadji left behind was visible in Gwalior till princely rule ended in 1947. It included attempts to foster unity, like Hindus being requested to wear green clothes during Id and Muslims being encouraged to actively participate in key Hindu festivals.

However, British rule in India also involved painful decisions for Indian rulers, some of which are still potent as accusations today. One such is the decision by another of Jyotiraditya’s ancestors, Jayajirao. During the Indian revolt of 1857, Jayajirao Scindia, as ruler of Gwalior, sided with the British during the Indian revolt, helping to suppress it. However, what is also true is that he was not alone in his decision-many other Indian rulers also sided with the British, doing the same.

The Scindia family retained its importance after India’s independence. Sardar Patel and the then ruler of Gwalior-Jyotiradita’s grandfather, Jiwajirao-shared a brief but warm relationship between 1947 and 1950, when Patel died. During the merger of Princely States with the Indian Union, Sardar Patel held in high esteem those rulers who were found to have ruled their people well. Jiwajirao was one of those princes, in Patel’s eyes. According to V.P. Menon, his manfriday during the enormous administrative exercise of the merger, Patel had found Gwalior’s finances to be in excellent condition and had developed quite some respect for Jiwajirao and his administration, even noting the fact that the court of Gwalior had maintained a special fund, Gangajali, to help its poorer citizens get healthcare and other social benefits. The friendship that developed was strong enough that after Patel died, Jiwajirao had a painting of him commissioned and hung in Parliament, where it still hangs today.

Saturday night in Bengaluru amid the coronavirus scare was like any other Saturday night. Pubs and bars were open on the 100-feet-road and the on by-lanes of Indiranagar, Koramangala, Lavelle road and other parts of the city. This, despite the fact Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa had ordered the closure of pubs for a week from Friday midnight onwards.

Residents of Indiranagar are up in arms as they say this is a ‘sitting time bomb’ for Covid-19 to spread. Indira Vishwanath, an Indiranagar resident, tells India Today TV that at 8 pm almost all the pubs and bars were open.

“We want them to shut down in order to maintain the social distance between people. Even if one customer has this deadly virus, he or she can spread it to everyone there, including the employees,” Indira Vishwanath said.

She added that if schools and colleges are closed and the government is encouraging people to work from home then, why the “non-essential establishments” in their neighborhood are not shutting down.

City Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao also told India Today TV that all pubs and bars should be shut.

“Countries around China have imposed self-discipline. We can give directions. We have to make sacrifices. We can treat 100s now, we can’t treat 1000s,’ Bhaskar Rao said.

The police commissioner also says that if pub and bar owners do not follow the rules, then the next step is to use strict action against them.

“Tomorrow we will take a review. Day before yesterday we did that. We can’t go overboard suddenly also. It is not something I am privy to. The whole world knows what’s going on all over. If you want to make a quick buck there, you can browbeat me but not the virus,” Rao added.

To control the spread of Covid-19 in the limits of Bengaluru City, the authorities ordered that places of mass gathering like cinema theatres, malls, marriage halls, night clubs, etc. will be closed. The order was promulgated under the regulation of the Government of Karnataka.

Pub owners have found a loophole in the orders passed by the Excise department. The Excise Department order does not mention that bars had to be shut. Apparently, bars, where people can sit and drink, are allowed to be open.

Night clubs are where there are dance floors. These are to be closed because they are categorised as crowded areas.

The Excise Department has issued separate licenses for different kinds of establishments. Night clubs have CL-4 licenses while the Excise Department categorises bars as refreshment rooms and issues the CL-9 license to such establishments. Hotels are given CL-7 license.

But, citizens are complaining that on one hand pubs are allowed to be open, the police are forcibly downing the shutters of big supermarkets.