Weird: Recruiting more ladies to reduce weight to save fuel costs

Fuel costs are high, and airlines claim that they are bleeding costs for a long time. So, over a period of time airlines have done a number of cost saving measures - these include reducing the amount of weight allotted to a person (many years back flights to and fro the US allowed 64 kg, which is now down to 20 kg), more and more flights are now charging for other services such as seats on the emergency exits (which have more leg space), and low cost airlines would even start charging for going to the rest room on the flight. So, there is a lot of focus on trying to find new places where money could be saved, but this airline has taken an interesting turn. Carrying more weight on board the flight means that it takes more in fuel charges, and fuel is expensive, so the airline is actually now preferring to hire females rather than male attendants because they tend to be 10-15 kg less in weight (link to article):

An Indian airline has hit on possibly the worthiest excuse yet for hiring slim women as cabin crew -- it saves fuel and therefore money. While some airlines admit to hiring women for their sex appeal, budget carrier GoAir has told The Times of India it will be hiring predominantly female flight attendants in future because they are 15-20 kilos lighter on average than men. The airline estimates each extra kilo on board costs Rs3 ($0.05) per flying hour, and the new policy will save it up to $500,000 annually. A spokesman for the airline denied to CNN that it had implemented a gender-biased recruitment policy. But he confirmed that the airline's male-female cabin crew ratio of 40:60 was among the most male-heavy in the industry in India.

Maybe this is also an opportunity for the most slim people to come forward and claim a preferential right when applying for jobs in airlines. :-)

College expels student after discovering she worked in a topless car wash

Malaysia is an Islamic country, and correspondingly, has a higher sense of public decency and morality, sometimes with painful results (there have been earlier stories of people being punished for drinking alcohol if they are Muslims). So, consider the case of this lady from another country (China) who was in Malaysia for college, and close to graduation. She was punished by being expelled from her college since she was one of the girls who took part in a prize ceremony event - the prize was the promise of getting their cars washed by topless cars, and she was one of the girls who went topless (link to article):

According to Sin Chew Daily, the girl was thrown out of college after her photos appeared over the internet. An anonymous letter was also mailed to her school in Singapore, reports the Star Online. The event, organised by a new motoring website in the republic, had given 20 lucky members a chance to witness a topless car wash.
The women donned only bikini bottoms and high heels and were paid nearly $1,400. The student, who has been identified as Angela, was taking an advanced certificate course at a private college and said she was only two months away from graduating.

Massive baby born in Indonesia

Typically new born babies are around 3 Kg in weight (and many of them are much smaller than that, but are healthy enough with a lower weight). Even with a weight of 3 Kg, it takes time and effort for the mother to produce the baby from her body. However, there have been cases in the past when babies with much larger weight have been born, such as happened in Indonesia recently where a baby was born that was atleast 3 times bigger than the normal weight of a new born baby (link to an article, and you can also see a photo):

Muhammad Akbar Risuddin, born Monday, is thought to be the heaviest baby born to date in Indonesia. "I was very surprised. I thought it was twins," said Binsar Sitanggang, the lead doctor in the cesarean-section delivery at Abdul Manan Hospital in North Sumatra.
"We can compare this giant baby with a 9- to 10-month-old baby," Sitanggang said. "Both his parents are tall and big, so there might be a genetic cause for this." Sitanggang said the baby has already developed a robust appetite, requiring instant milk as well as breast milk.

If you see the photo in the linked article, you can see how big the baby actually is.

Over-weight means you are grounded

This must be extremely humiliating. Having to be told that you are over-weight and hence can no longer be an air-hostess. It is always controversial, the conditions that are imposed for certain jobs. So if a person is working as a model, or as an actress, or as a hostess (whether that be in a hotel, or in a cafe, or in an airlines), there are certain conditions that are imposed in terms of looks and youthfulness. It gets further complicated when the organization is a Government run enterprise and rules against discrimination come into play:

Flight attendant Sheela Joshi is 5 feet, 4 inches and 148 pounds. Her employer, Air India, says she is too fat to fly. Joshi, 50, has been an air hostess -- as they are still called in India -- for the national airline for 26 years. But she's been grounded because the airline has done away with its wiggle room on weight.
"Weight is always on my mind," she added. "They can tell you, 'You look overweight. Please go.'" Joshi and 12 other grounded attendants sued the airline for weight discrimination. Air India fought back, saying the employees knew the job requirements when they signed up and didn't express concern. Furthermore, it said, appearance and physical fitness are vital parts of an attendant's job. The Delhi High Court recently sided with Air India in the case.

Always controversial because they play to the thought that you need to be slim to look attractive to passengers, something that US carriers have had to drop because of too many discrimination suits in the past.