Tech Budget 2010: Highlights

Highlights of 2010-11 budget presented by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in parliament:

* Mobile accessories market to get tax breaks

* Market responds positively, Sensex up 300 pts

* R&D Corp Tax break up to 200%

* 30% income tax on Rs 8 lakh and above

* 20% income tax on Rs 5 - Rs 8 lakh

* 10% income tax on Rs 1.6 - Rs 5 lakh

* No income tax upto Rs 1.6 lakh

* Saral 2 form to be rolled out for simplification of tax filing in 2010-11

* Infotech usage in tax management to be increased

* First set of UID numbers this year

* Tech advisor group under Nandan Nilekani

* UID authority given Rs 1900 cr

* Allocation for urban development up 75% from Rs 3062 cr to Rs 5400 cr

* Hike in allocation for school education

* Rs 1.73 lakh crore for infrastructure

* To establish clean energy fund

* Rs 16,500 cr capital support for PSU banks

* Gradual phasing out of stimulus

* Govt will implement direct tax code by April 1, 2011

* Economic growth slows down to 6% in Q3

* Economy stabilised in Q1 of 2009

* First challenge is to get to the high GDP growth path

* Sensex quotes 0.4% up before the Budget

* Disinvestment target:Rs 25,000 cr this year

India bans import of Chinese phones

Import of Chinese mobile phones without unique identity code numbers has been banned, India's commerce ministry announced.

"Import of mobile handsets without International Mobile Equipment Identify (IMEI) number or with all-zero IMEI is prohibited with immediate effect," the Director General of Foreign Trade said in a notification.
IMEI - a unique 15-digit number - helps authorities trace the handset that has been used to make a call.
The Department of Telecom (DoT) had earlier directed telephone operators to disconnect services to subscribers who own handsets that do not have the IMEI code as such phones posed a security threat.
However, since then, the Cellular Operators Association of India has developed a software for embedding genuine identity code - issued by the global association of telecom operators - on handsets without the requisite IMEI numbers.