Even though the algorithms of Google with names like Penguin and Panda had evolved to weed out fake content from the cyberspace, Google gives appropriate weight to recommendation to social media.

These are typically obtained through the share buttons provided by Facebook, Twitter and many others which need to be included in your content.

However, a growing number of experts feel that the share buttons have outlived their utility and appeal to draw visitors to click them. Moreover their unseemly presence all over the page, resulting from indiscreet use aimed at getting as many clicks as possible, is also putting off many people.

A growing number of web users do not use them at all for recommending a web page. Many experts believe that eventually everything will come back to old style text links and have even started to provide those instead of  the social media buttons.

All these go with the vein and philosophy of Google that only genuine, fresh and unique content needs to be taken in to account and presented in searches. Experts argue that such content will impress readers enough for them to recommend them to others without the buttons.

 No one is going to add up all those numbers in individual share button boxes to decide how many people have visited the page. A page count should be readily and easily available to the visitor to be effective in persuading him or her to read on and perhaps recommend to others.

That is where the post counts for such content becomes a useful and convincing piece of information to the reader. This is especially true for unique and compelling content which Google consider as the ones to be promoted.

The problem is that such page view counters are not readily provided by blogging platforms like Google’s BlogSpot or Wordpress even though Google has a mechanism to give this information in the admin section. However, it is not clear whether you need to install the Google Analytics, which slows page loading, to see this. Google also may have a commercial reason to withhold this information from the site visitors.

For Wordpress at least, thankfully there are some plug-ins, which can be easily installed. For BlogSpot however, there is hardly any help available from the wider community though a couple of scripts are available on the net which doesn’t seem to work.

One solution, provided by Mybloggertricks.com using a third party database called FIREBASE seems to be a good possibility though it is not working with many modern templates of BlogSpot.

However we have managed to get it working after some serious digging and a good dose of help from the folks at FIREBASE.

However the MBT script was generating data sets for each value for a given string identifier like “name” but the script will output a visitor number only when the value was a pure string like “more”. Please see here for a full description.

The problem with blogging platforms is that each blog post is dynamically generated and it is nearly impossible to have a unique identifier other than its title, which is also dynamically included in the html in a modern blogging platform. ( Google actually introduces a ID number also in the blogger blogs. )

However the MBT script didn’t work with the post itle either, one plausible explanation being it was not available to the script until after the page fully loaded by which time it was too late.

Fortunately, some expert advice to deal with this issue was available at Buggy Bread and following their advice seems to solve the problem.

For anyone who would like and feel competent enough to install the MBT script for Google’s BloSpot Blog,  here are the steps which worked for this blog to get the script working as you can see from the working counter on the top left.

(Please note the steps below are given without any guaranty, warranty or indemnity for consequential losses or damage and must be followed at your own risk and peril.)

- Install the MBT script as instructed by Mybloggertips. Com here.
- Check if it is working for your blog.
- If not, first back up your Blog template.
- Open your Blog template in the BlogSpot HTML editor.

-    Locate the Java Script given by MBT and placed just before the </body> tag.
-    Rename  “ name” to “pname” in three places in the script. 
-    Use Ctrl + f and find the code <b:includable id='post' var='post'>
-    Place the following code below it. 
-    <b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == &quot;item&quot;'>
-    <a expr:pname='data:post.title'/>
-          </b:if>

- Click the preview template button and make sure the page is loading without errors.
- Save your template by clicking the save template button
- Hopefully your counter must show up with a number next time you open that page which will increment every time a visitor visits the page.
- You can check the pages that have been visited by logging in to your FIREBASE database.
- Don't forget to back up your template again.

Page view counts will be a useful information not only for the visitors but for blog authors also to verify the response to the post. For example, to compare the number of vies to the number of comments on a page or to gain an insight to what type of topics are preferred by the visitors etc.

With really good content, page view counter will ultimately become a significant measuring tool for bloggers.

All of a sudden, the story of David and Goliath has once again been enacted in Delhi, which 1.3 billion Indians proudly call the seat of their democracy.
It is believed that the original purpose of the story was to show the identity of David, the champion of the God of Israel, as the true king of Israel, who could kill Goliath, the representative of paganism with the help of God.
Rahul Gandhi, often ridiculed by his political opposition and the Indian press as "Amul (a brand of milk in India) Baby" for his un assuming and low key leadership, seems to have done nothing less by his openness and courageous stand against a piece of legislation which would have continued to protect criminals who get elected as representatives.
Rahul Gandhi has surprised India and the world with a few spontaneous but thunderous words dispelling all notions of lack of leadership and trouncing a the painstakingly created image of Narendra Modi of the BJP as a political Goliath and the only person worthy to be the prime minister of India.

“I am alive today, I may not be there tomorrow. I shall continue to serve till my last breath and when I die every drop of my blood will strengthen India and keep a united India alive.” Indira Gandhi.

With the recent Chinese belligerence over air and naval supremacy, the US secretary of state John Kerry has a lot of tofu on his platter. Then, it is really baffling why the US state department is letting a bizarre brawl between an Indian diplomat, her Indian maid and an Indian Attorney of a new York district turn in to a Benghazi like crisis.

The looming diplomatic crisis is not between any two countries. It is between, as many Americans claim, the oldest and the biggest democratic nations in the world. For any other country, the diplomatic mission to the USA is the most important, whether some countries admit or not. For the USA, the diplomatic mission from India, the biggest democracy, is bound to be vital for the whole idea of the democratic system.

Then why humiliate the acting head of the Indian mission to the USA, who happens to be a lady, for a six months old dispute with her Indian maid, by public arrest and, reportedly, with cavity search under police custody? Surely, there were better ways to deal with the issue, which has actually sent out a message of utter humiliation to a country of 1.3 billion people. Devyani Khobragade, a medical doctor turned diplomat and acting head of the Indian mission, had this to say about the incident although disputed by US authorities.

With the evolution of the web, if you have a presence and a website on the internet for any reason, you are going to be compared with someone else. Even a mere search for something on Google in fact shows up a comparative statement, based on some criteria for relevance set by Google!

Even if you don't own a web site, comparison sites have become an indispensable part of 21st century life whether you are aware or not. From booking an air ticket to finding your life partner on matrimonial sites, the web just don't offer unprecedented choice for everything you need in life but leave you little option to do without some form of comparison. That is unless you live by your emotions and go after your needs for a spouse to your pet merely by your impulse.

"I am not saying whether I know it will work or not, but I think it sort of shows the RBI's hand in the sense that they really want to focus more on the inflation side of things than on growth at this point."

However, the Governor's actions seem to be only the beginning of a well thought out strategy which goes beyond economic policy.

No, this isn't about the contradictions Rudyard Kipling found in pre colonial India which made his stories so vivid and won him a Nobel prize. Neither is this about the gargantuan gap between the Ambanis and the poor Dalit family Rahul Gandhi spent a night with.

It isn't even about the dismaying array of differences curious foreigners visiting India find difficult to comprehend and the nasty feeling of unease in their guts they go home with.

I am talking about the double standard a billion Indians practice day in and day out, which makes nothing an Indian says can be taken seriously by the rest of the world. Not even what its defence minister reads out in the parliament about the death of five Indian soldiers and then change to please millions of war mongers.

Were they terrorist in soldier's uniform or soldiers in terrorist garb who killed the Indians? Who cares?

In the rest of the world when people say yes, or yes I do, they mean exactly the same. In India you are never sure what they mean.

When the Government says they need foreign investment they don't really mean it, because for some reason, Mauritius becomes not a foreign country for India.

When the government says we won't tax foreign investment, it doesn't mean they can't go back several years and claim taxes on ambiguous corporate deals like the one Vodafoneengaged in.

When Government says Indian companies are free enterprise and they can trade their shares and capital in world market like other countries allow, they don't mean its CAG can deem such transactions as corruption like in the 2G saga.

No doubt, the Indian administration has acquired this art of contradiction and flip flop from its neighbour who can only lie whether it is about the presence of Osama Bin Laden or Davood Ibrahim or about anything else for that matter, a nation which the word has acknowledged with a motto 'We Will, We Will Only Lie'.

For India, a nation which declares 'Truth Will Prevail' on its currency, such a trait smacking of national dishonesty is indeed matter of shame.

In fact somehow there is always a disturbing disconnect between what any Indian says and what he or she means, which can be anything according to the circumstances.

This is not same as accusing all Indians of blatant lying but not owning up to a genetic makeup of a race which they should ward off with conviction and commitment to honour one's word. The least they can do is to think before they open their mouths before they put their feet in them.

Not a day, not a headline pass without a contradiction, retraction or denial. So much so that news is reported more like the first serve in tennis which is bound to be a 'let' than a 'fault' and the server gets a second chance to take a position depending on the reaction.

Day in and day out so called, leaders, celebrities, spokespersons and anyone the media will insanely pursue and compete to get a word out of for filling the above fold of their publications and news channels will blurt out something or other which is an affront to common man's intelligence.

So you can ignore headline news and wait for the denial like the media who are now a days even providing empty space or time slots to accommodate such lat minute pearls of wisdom from those who control the destiny of the nation.

If for any reason, the statement is not exciting enough, there is always the 'misquotes' which are also so conveniently denied by a later statement.

Another word which should be banished from the Indian English dictionary is the much bandied 'slam' which lets everyone blow up and complicate non issues and stuff one should ignore in to massive waste of time and resources.

The truth is that, lack of intelligence, ability to grasp the subject and do a contextual analysis and necessary historical checks, all fundamental requirement of journalistic profession, on the part of the reporters and editorial staff are conveniently ignored, even condoned for the sake of circulation and eye balls.

The result is creation of dangerous mass hysteria like the recent one which forced a change in well thought out government stance, taken in national interest, making India look ridiculous before the world.
Spoken words can't be taken back. When blurting out irresponsibly and irresponsible relaying and amplification of statements without context, like in the recent speeches of Narendra Modi or Rahul Gandhi can play with the emotions of a billion innocent Indians, the media is indeed toying with dangerous stuff more powerful than, at least a part of India's arsenal.

The question is who in India will own up to this shameful trend and do something to change it? Is it going to be the so called educated young or the media which tend to lay claim to parity with world media in quality and standards?

India was 'one' nation for two hundred years when it remained under the British Raj.

Today the cry for the bifurcation of yet another state of India, Andhra Pradesh, the capital of which was once the richest Kingdom in the world, is threatening its very integrity. Many more bigger and smaller states are waiting to pounce on the opportunity to demand creation of their own little kingdoms.

Futile squabbling and vacillation have ended up in wasting of so much of national resources and administrative time, hampering development and creating unsolvable political dilemmas, dividing people. Parochial interests and selfishness is driving India back to the middle ages making it easy for its vile neighbours to exercise their ambitions of hegemony in the near future without efforts.

Isn't it time educated and responsible Indians who profess love for India and its integrity investigate why and how the British Raj kept India united and prospering?

Unfortunately the very mention of the Raj will make many Indians virtually explode in indignation and bloated national pride even in the 21st century, despite passage of a couple of generations since independence along the time line.

Even the fact that India is projected to become the number one economy in a couple of decades also can't alleviate the pain of the Raj for its so called techie generation. Such is the strength of the inferiority complex on the Indian psyche imposed by the strangle hold of the Raj. In many ways, Indians need to feel liberated, despite nearly a century of independence.

However In myriad of ways, it was indeed the Raj which made the fight for Independence and its successful culmination a reality.

On the one hand, Whigs and Liberals expounded sentiments most iconically expressed by TB Macaulay in 1833: 'that... by good government we may educate our subjects into a capacity for better government, that, having become instructed in European knowledge, they may, in some future age, demand European institutions. Whether such a day will ever come I know not. ... Whenever it comes, it will be the proudest day in English history.' 

From Empire to Independence: The British Raj in India 1858-1947 Dr Chandrika Kaul

In reality India under the Raj was not a fully united nation. Two-fifths of the sub-continent continued to be independently governed by over 560 large and small principalities, with whom the Raj entered into treaties of mutual cooperation. Read Maya, Mulayam, Mamta, Jaya, Nmo et al in the 21st century.

The real success of the Raj was the administrative wisdom of dividing the rest of India in to governable blocks without any regard to language and cultural identities of Indians like for example, the Presidency of Madras which encompassed parts of four southern states.

In such administrative divisions, very similar to the modern Union Territories of India, no one complained or agitated about water, land, forest, language or education. Like the Union territories, these provinces have only prospered and progressed in time, though the benefits were mostly repatriated by the ruling British.

No doubt this experiment of governance of a large landmass like India with a diverse population and culture, though co-operation with local chieftains and non linguistic and impassionate administration of rest of the land did work smoothly, bringing all around prosperity, which remain quite relevant even in the context of modern India.

Among the benefits bequeathed by the British connection were the large scale capital investments in infrastructure, in railways, canals and irrigation works, shipping and mining; the commercialisation of agriculture with the development of a cash nexus; the establishment of an education system in English and of law and order creating suitable conditions for the growth of industry and enterprise; and the integration of India into the world economy.

In reality, the Raj even succeeded in uniting Indians, albeit in common hatred for the aggressor, at least for some decades before the independence.

That, that hard won unity did not transform in to a permanent unity of a billion Indians in a sense of fraternity is the tragedy of modern India. Today India is virtually as divided as when the British found it centuries ago thanks to the religious division left behind by the British and linguistic division enforced by their successors.

Imagine if Karamchand Gandhi were to try to incite and unite the disparate and hopelessly fractured India, which 1.3 billion Indians now call their country in 2013, even against a Martian invasion ? Even the Martian's would have given up at the rueful prospect of ruling modern India!

Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejeriwal are walking examples of the fallacy of expecting the impossible; to unite India again by raising the bogey of corruption. Corrupt and jailed Jagan Mohan Reddy has won more assembly seats! Corrupt accused leaders have been elected back to power elsewhere.

Narendra Modi and his coterie with the Gujrath model development is another example of someone with their heads in cloud nine, with the idea of a united India lapping up the rhetoric. They simply don't get how divided are the states of India in comparison to the United States of Barack Obama.

By contrast, Kiren Reddy, the CM of congress ruling Andhra Pradesh is a realist who see the danger to his own political future and party, if not for the integrity of the nation, in the destructive trend.

In reality, Sonia Gandhi, the President of the Congress party has proved to be much more of a pragmatic leader who has recognised the inevitable divisiveness of India.

Not surprisingly, though inadvertently, her pragmatism in agreeing to the local aspirations of the people of Andhra Pradesh while declaring and keeping Hyderabad as a Union territory smacks of the pragmatism of the Raj.

Why just Hyderabad, every project area like the contentious Kudamkulam Nuclear Thermal Power station or Integrated Steel Projects and every Metro in the country country, where massive central government investment has been pumped in must be declared a Union territory, to clean them from the evils of parochialism and foist, unhindered growth and prosperity.

Courtsy:Inferno by Dan Brown

If Dante would be alive today and visited India, he would have added a tenth circle of inferno (hell) in his famous poem, Divine Comedy, and assigned it to Sycophancy on the Social Web. He wouldn't have to resort to allegory, it is all over Facebook, Twitter and comment boxes on blogs, for everyone to see. It is even orchestrated, promoted and practised using black hat SEO methods by a dedicated brigade.

If Dante would have been in any doubt, it would only be about its relative place among others he has seen in the Inferno.

Mayavathi, four terms Chief Minister of India's most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, is its most famous Dalit (lower caste) leader who aspire to be its Prime Minister one day.

Much like Barack Obama is for Blacks, Hispanics and a host of other groups of the American political divide, Mayavathi is an Icon and hope for millions of lower caste Hindus of India, who aspire for better opportunities still denied to them despite 60 years of Independence.

If Mayavathi had once sent an aircraft to fetch her a pair of footwear, or showed off a diamond necklace in a mass rally, she had strong reasons which you and I didn't need to know but meant a lot to her followers, not just the whims of a vain woman.

Mayavathi is no body's fool. She certainly wasn't showing off the 'Taylor-Burton diamond' of a love affair or was out to stun the world enhancing her beauty like Imelda Marcos.

Since her public actions and pronouncements time to time reveal chinks of mettle and strength of character worthy of a Prime Minister of India, which most of her critics have failed to notice, she had perhaps valid reason for her famous caprices too.

What if Mayavathi had simply wanted to show millions of her Dalit compatriots what they have a right to, like wearing expensive jewellery like the rich of India, thereby awakening their sense of their rightful place in society?

Many of her recent political manures and supportive actions for the ruling UPA in parliament on critical legislation similarly smack of mature political thinking. Her concern for the nation above parochial indulgence is evident from her recent dig on Narendra Modi, three times Chief Minister of neighbouring state of Gujrath, who she declared is not fit to be a leader of India.

That Mayavathi managed to muster the necessary majority support to rule the state four times as chief minister with the support of other parties and also render decisive outside support to the coalition governments at the centre is proof that this trained teacher has the knack of keeping her class together till the bells ring.

Much has already been written how her social engineering skills have taken the wind out of the sails of the Congress party, which has ruled India for the bulk of the decades after its independence.

Unlike the Congress which traditionally had the support of the upper class of Indian society and thrived on an inclusive plank to carry the lower classes by championing their cause, Mayavathi has shown, time and again, that the majority lower caste offering a real partnership for the upper caste is a better vote winning formula.

Mayavathi has shown that she will base her election strategy on this tried and trusted formula, which can also work beyond the boundaries of her own state, as eventually it can give the same level of satisfaction to the masses as what the congress party, popular in many states, promise.

In several ways, the inclusive approach of Mayavathi, a leader of the under privileged lower classes of India, which has a sizable majority, good enough to claim the chair of the Prime Minister of the country, resemble that of the US Democrats who found an acceptable and capable leader in Barack Obama.

In contrast, the approach of Narendra Modi, whose supporters claim he could be India's answer to President Obama, despite projecting a Gujrath Model development and supported by the Hindu fundamentalists is seen as divisive character.

Wait a minute, I hear you cry, what about the Taj corridor scam, the swindle of magnificent elephants and the disproportionate asset case against Mayavathi?

Actually, the Indian apex court has examined the allegations and all but rejected them as without sufficient base to prosecute Mayavathi.

If you view at the apparently extravagant government spending on the statues of Dalit leaders and her favourite elephants, from the point of view of millions of Dalits who remain underprivileged in the 21st century India, "They also serve who only stand and wait."

If you think the garlands spun from Rs thousand bank notes which are presented to Mayavathi during her rallies and meetings are obnoxious, you haven't dined in one of those fund raising dinners of the Republican party or made an on line donation to Barack Obama's election fund. In reality there is little difference and really nothing to complain about an indigenous way of party fund raising.

Don't you think it is a century or two early to talk about a corruption free government In a nation in the thick of development, in to which money is flowing in to from around the world?

Especially when it is almost a democratic right in India to be enticed with soaps to part with your vote, the most fundamental guarantor of fairness in society.

In a state where an Australian educated Engineer with a post graduate degree finds it imperative to promise and distribute laptops to win votes, after all talking about corruption, at least for now is pointless.

Akhilesh Yadav wouldn't have wanted of any of his mates or faculty from the Sydney Universty where he studied, to be around when he had to go through the bare necessities of Indian democratic system.

With the Congress party and the UPA really deserving a third term and a bigger parliamentary majority to deliver the progress they promised, much like President Obama deserved a second term, Mayavathi and India may have to wait a few more years for their Obama moment in national leadership. Reach Author Shred Pillai On Google

More than just a curiosity and a degree of conviction based on the life of others or the urge of an inquisitive researcher to find out the veracity of Vedic astrology, it was a piece of news which brought me to this post.

The finance minister of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, ruled by the BJP, which stands for Hindu values and tradition, has resigned over charges of sodomising a male servant.

For a country like India where any discussion of such realities of modern society and life is taboo even in the 21st century, the news must be shocking for many and hardly mentioned even by political opponents except reports by some channels which try to drag out India to the modern world
.
It is stated that his party, the BJP, had a year ago suppressed similar allegations about this veteran politician who has been elected several times to represent his constituents and had been a long serving finance minister.

Nevertheless, it wouldn't have been very surprising for anyone who would have been observing the buzz and chatter over the social web.

At least on the social networks, the sub continent is not far behind the rest of the world in matters relating to sexual orientation of people and the acceptance of deviations in society. The social web seems also more open to discuss and accept such details of the lives of great leaders and celebrities, which would have been unspoken before and still taboo in mainstream media.

"It would not be impossible to prove with sufficient repetition and a psychological understanding of the people concerned that a square is in fact a circle. They are mere words, and words can be moulded until they clothe ideas and disguise." ― Joseph Goebbels

There is at least one Indian politician who is the Chief Minister of the state of Gujrath,Narendra Modi, who seem to firmly believe in the Nazi theory of propaganda even now.

Modi thinks that by insanely pushing his "Gujrath Model" of governance for development, he can make 1.3 billion Indians believe that he can govern them like a POTUS and deliver prosperity.