The transport minister of India’s northern state of Bihar has been fined for travelling on an express train without a ticket. Awadh Bihari Choudhry and his security guard were both fined 250 rupees ($5.50) after being caught on Monday. Mr Choudhry is a member of the political party led by the federal railways minister, Laloo Prasad Yadav. Director of public relations for the federal railways, MY Siddiqui, told the BBC: “Ticketless travelling and paying less are two areas our minister is very keen to focus on. And the results are already showing.” “The increase in fines from 50 rupees to 250 rupees this July is proving to be a deterrent,” he said. India’s railway network is among the world’s largest, carrying more than 13m passengers a day. [source: BBC]

For some reason, I found this hillarious. Hoist on his own master’s petard, eh? If I was drinking lassi, it would have come out of my nose! [Insert gratuitous train pun here]