An Indian firm in Taipei is embroiled in a court battle with the residents of an apartment building who accuse the company of operating a religious shrine in the building and demand that the shrine be removed, reports said yesterday.
The Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper), said the firm bought an apartment on the top floor of a 20-story building on Dunhua S Road to install a Jain temple.
The temple attracts Indian residents of Taipei, who pray at the shrine, disturbing the building’s residents, the paper said.
The building’s visitor registry indicated that on Sunday, 16 people visited the shrine, cable TV channel ETTV said.
“Once a year there is a big celebration, when some 100 Indians visit the shrine to pray,” the channel said.
In January, the management committee of the building asked the firm to move out, saying that religious activities are not allowed inside residential buildings.
When the company refused, the committee filed a lawsuit at Taipei District Court to evict the firm.
The firm said it was not maintaining a shrine in the building, and further argued that some families in the building have Buddhist or Taoist shrines in their homes.
It said it bought the apartment to house company employees on business trips to Taiwan.
“We have been trying to settle this peacefully with the residents, but have not succeeded yet,” said Wang Ho-ping (王和屏), the lawyer for the company.
The law protects religious freedom, but requires that religious organizations register with the Ministry of the Interior.
However, legislation governing the management of apartment buildings stipulates that residents should not disturb the peace or adversely affect safety and hygiene in an apartment building.
Approximately 2,000 Indian expatriates, mostly businesspeople and their families, live in Taiwan.
Jainism is an ancient religion that prescribes non-violence and the development of spirituality through reliance on one’s own wisdom and self-discipline.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
RSS