India, Oct. 13 -- In 25 years, Narendra Modi has made Indians proud of their scientists. He has not yet made India a good place to be one

Of all the images from Narendra Modi's 25 years in power, the one I keep returning to was taken on a bad day. It was the morning of 7 September 2019. Hours earlier, Chandrayaan-2's Vikram lander had lost contact during its final descent, 2.1 km above the Moon. At the ISRO centre in Bengaluru, the Prime Minister pulled K Sivan, the space agency's chief, into a long embrace while Sivan wept on his shoulder.

Most people saw a kind gesture. I saw the best thing Modi has ever done for Indian science. He has never done it again.

Why does a hug matter? Because most science fails. Most experiments don't work...