• Some relief in store for all of you who got a raw deal in placements! Tax credit of Rs 2,000 to every person who has a total income upto Rs 5 lakh.

• P Chidambaram realises that har ghar hai ek sapna and for that he has brought in an additional deduction of interest of upto Rs 100,000 for a person taking a loan for his first home from a bank or a housing finance corporation upto Rs 25,00,000 during the period April 1, 2013 to March 31, 2014.

• Expect more money to pour into your college incubation centres now as the Ministry of Corporate Affairs will notify that funds provided to technology incubators located within academic institutions and approved by the Ministry of Science and Technology or Ministry of MSME will qualify as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) expenditure. Since the new Companies Bill obliges companies to spend 2 percent of average net profits under CSR, they would be only happy to spend some money in this direction.

• In Chidambarams own words, “What does a Finance Minister turn to when he requires resources? The answer is cigarettes. I propose to increase the specific excise duty on cigarettes by about 18 percent. Similar increases are proposed on cigars, cheroots and cigarillos.” Did I just hear the words ‘more beer’ somewhere!

• Owners of budget cars and bikes will derive sadistic pleasure out of this! Customs duty on luxury motor vehicles increased from 75 per cent to 100 per cent and on motorcycles with engine capacity of 800cc or more increased from 60 per cent to 75 per cent. Excise duty on SUVs also increased from 27 percent to 30 percent.

• At present, service tax does not apply to air conditioned restaurants that do not serve liquor. But now on, service tax will apply to all air conditioned restaurants. Guess the next date will have to be at a chaiwala’s tapri!

• Har ek friend zaroori hota hai par kya ek expensive mobile bhi zaroori hota hai? Duty on mobile phones costing above Rs 2000 raised to 6 per cent. Bring back the Nokia 1110 and 3310s I say!

• So, what do you do if you can’t eat, smoke, drive or talk on mobile phones cheaply anymore? You splurge on footwear instead! Customs duty on leather and leather goods, including footwear, reduced from 7.5 per cent to 5 per cent. Just breaking in: Girls now have a secret crush on Chidambaram!

• Vocational courses are now exempted from service tax. Forget MBA, vocational courses rule!!

And here are some of the fun takes on the Union Budget 2013 by the Twitterati:

@GabbarSingh: Smartphones to be more expensive but free WiFi in trains, Government is the biggest troll!

@LoKarloFollow: Soon a day will come when Gold Flake will literally cost as much as a flake of gold.

@BwoyBlunder: #Budget2013 best for a Girl, who doesn’t understand smartphones, earns 2-5 lacs, and eats at non-AC restaurants. Broadly an **** graduate.

@yesdeekay: Smoking is injurious to health and wealth!

@rameshsrivats: #Budget2013 10 per cent surcharge on persons earning Rs 1cr+pa. It’s called surcharge because when you earn over 1 cr, people usually call you Sir.

And lastly, here’s one of my own:

@shanky3286: Restaurants will now need to go from AC to DC!

Theres one more never before revealed observation that has come out from PG HQ. Did you know that our government is a fan of the legendary band Beatles? Wondering why? Take a look at the following lyrics from their song Taxman:

If you drive a car, Ill tax the street,

If you try to sit, Ill tax your seat.

If you get too cold Ill tax the heat,

If you take a walk, Ill tax your feet

Need we say more!