Washing

Washington, February 8:

Varanasi, Feb.

London, February 7 : Forensic scientists say that Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, a mystical and mercurial philosopher at the court of Lorenzo de' Medici, was poisoned with arsenic.

The suggestion coming from a team of researchers at the universities of Bologna, Pisa and Lecce is significant, given that Pico’s demise has been one of Italy’s most enduring murder mysteries for 500 years.

Ever since Pico suddenly became sick and died in 1494, it has been rumoured that foul play was involved. He died aged 31, two years after Lorenzo, together with a man who might have been his lover, Antonio Ambrosini.

Hyderabad, Feb 7 : Noting that biotechnology is the key in improving agriculture productivity and ensuring a higher growth rate, Vice President Hamid Ansari today called for the advancement of such technologies and directing them towards resource-poor farmers and under-developed regions.
Addressing the inaugural session of “Bio Asia 2008” here today, Ansari listed various reasons for biotechnology being important for the country, the foremost being the fact that “it lies at the intersection of two areas that are critical to our economy – agriculture and the knowledge industry.”
“India being the second largest food producer offers a huge market for biotechnology products,” he added.