NEW DELHI – Mrs Lataben Solanki, a homemaker, sells women’s undergarments from a pushcart at a busy market in Ahmedabad whenever she can. She makes about 3,000 rupees (S$40.50) a month when business is good, giving her family’s earnings a much-needed boost.

During summers, however, when temperatures in the western Indian state of Gujarat often exceed 40 deg C, her earnings are halved because it is too hot to be out in the open.

“I can put out my cart only after 6pm,” the 44-year-old said. “Even customers don’t step out because of the heat.”

Her experience mirrors that of many daily wage workers in India whose earnings decline during periods of extreme heat, which is becoming more frequent and raising concerns about climate-induced economic losses affecting their already vulnerable livelihoods.

But for the past three years, Mrs Solanki has had a safety net to fall back on: a heat insurance programme that partially compensates informal women workers for income lost on days too hot for them to go out and work.

Since 2024, Mahila Housing Trust (MHT), an Ahmedabad-based grassroots development organisation, together with its partners, including insurance providers and funding agencies, has offered a parametric heat insurance policy to protect informal women workers from income loss during extreme heatwaves.

The women pay a subsidised premium of 90 rupees for four months of coverage that would otherwise cost under 400 rupees.

The insurance covers the hottest months of April to July each year. Each time a predetermined temperature threshold is breached during this period, the women receive a payout. The total payout, however, is capped at 2,000 rupees.

The insurance programme has grown to cover around 30,800 women in various districts of Gujarat in 2026 and is being expanded to other parts of the country, launching in Delhi and the adjoining cities that make up the National Capital Region (NCR) on May 4. It will also be rolled out in parts of Maharashtra later in 2026.

https://www.redhot.sg/too-hot-to-work-too-poor-to-stop-how-insurance-protects-india-s-informal-workers-during-heatwaves-670369.html Sun, 10 May 2026 03:05:20 +0600 https://www.redhot.sg/in-good-company-new-nee-soon-mps-not-afraid-to-ask-questions-view-shanmugam-as-fatherly-figure-670368.html

SINGAPORE – Several weeks after GE2025, the four first-term MPs in Nee Soon GRC received an e-mail from their anchor minister K. Shanmugam telling them to slow down.

Mr Shanmugam – who is Coordinating Minister for National Security and a nine-term MP – had noticed two of his rookies replying to e-mails deep into the night and warned them that this was not sustainable.

“Being an MP is a marathon,” he told Mr Jackson Lam, Ms Lee Hui Ying, Dr Syed Harun Alhabsyi and Ms Goh Hanyan, who were all elected under the PAP banner at the May 2025 polls.

It was not the first time Mr Shanmugam had seen his new MPs replying to e-mails late at night.

He told The Straits Times in a group interview with the entire Nee Soon team on May 7 that an MP must get to know people and work on issues in the constituency, but if they are dealing with things and responding every day at 1am or 2am, they will burn out – “Rome wasn’t built in a day”.

When burnout happens, they are not of any use to themselves, their families or their constituents, he said.

“My own assessment is therefore (it is) better to have a good pace, but a steady pace, and always keep in mind the different things that you’re doing, and there is a difference between what’s urgent and what’s important.”

And sometimes the urgent has to be done, sometimes the most important thing, he said.

Nee Soon was the only GRC to field an entirely new slate alongside an anchor ...]]> Nee Soon was the only GRC to field an entirely new slate alongside an anchor minister at the last election. https://www.redhot.sg/in-good-company-new-nee-soon-mps-not-afraid-to-ask-questions-view-shanmugam-as-fatherly-figure-670368.html Sun, 10 May 2026 03:05:19 +0600 https://www.redhot.sg/new-mps-turn-to-social-media-raise-issues-in-parliament-to-connect-with-singaporeans-670367.html

SINGAPORE – Chances are that in the past year, you would have scrolled through an Instagram video by your MP about the issues they raised in Parliament or a Facebook post about their community initiatives.

The newest batch of 25 backbenchers – 20 from the PAP, five from the Workers’ Party – have put up thousands of posts on the two social media platforms to reflect their active work on the ground and in the House. Some are also on TikTok to appeal to a younger audience.

While it is common for politicians to use social media, the new MPs have taken the effort to be “more deliberate and intentional” in what they share, said PAP first-term MP Hazlina Abdul Halim, who represents East Coast GRC.

For many of them, social media has become an essential part of their role. It helps with communicating policy, engaging residents and amplifying their reach, said Jalan Besar GRC MP Shawn Loh, who was elected at the May 2025 polls.

West Coast-Jurong West GRC MP Hamid Razak said amplifying the work that MPs do in Parliament fosters civic participation.

He distils complex issues that are debated in the House into short posts or videos for those who do not have time to tune in to the sittings.

His exchange on recent insurance premium changes with Health Minister Ong Ye Kung ...]]> The newest batch of 25 backbenchers have put up thousands of posts on the two social media platforms. https://www.redhot.sg/new-mps-turn-to-social-media-raise-issues-in-parliament-to-connect-with-singaporeans-670367.html Sun, 10 May 2026 03:05:19 +0600 https://www.redhot.sg/every-day-i-see-injured-children-from-road-traffic-accidents-kkh-emergency-doctor-670366.html

SINGAPORE – When a boy just hit by a bus arrived at the hospital in 2024 with head injuries, medical staff quickly reduced the pressure in his brain before operating on him.

The 12-year-old had been cycling and was not wearing a helmet. He suffered a skull fracture and a brain haemorrhage.

He arrived at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital’s (KKH) emergency department, where staff stopped the bleeding.

Worryingly, a KKH emergency doctor who treated the boy says she sees injured children from road traffic accidents every day.

Traffic deaths hit a 10-year high in 2025, with 149 people killed, compared with 141 in 2016. There were 142 deaths in 2024. The number of people injured has also risen – from 9,342 in 2024 to 9,955 in 2025.

Given the dire situation on Singapore’s roads, The Straits Times has been running a series of stories calling on all road users to be more careful.

Data from the National Trauma Registry shows that only 9.9 per cent of child cyclists and 28.1 per cent of adult cyclists were wearing helmets when road traffic accidents occurred.

The mortality rate for cyclists with helmets is 1.9 per cent, compared with 5.3 per cent for those without helmets. Some of these injured children require significant intervention such as surgery, said the doctor. https://www.redhot.sg/every-day-i-see-injured-children-from-road-traffic-accidents-kkh-emergency-doctor-670366.html Sun, 10 May 2026 03:05:19 +0600