Prithvi Narayan \'prit-ve-'na-ra-yan\ Shah (b. 1723?—d. 1775) Founder of the modem state of Nepal. A member of the ruling Shah fam¬ ily of Gurkha (Gorkha) principality, he conquered the three Malla king¬ doms (see Malla era) and consolidated them. After unifying Nepal, he annexed territory in northern India, as well as large portions of the Pla¬ teau of Tibet and of the valleys of the Inner Himalayas. He sealed Nepal’s border and maintained peaceful but distant relations with the British.
Pritzker Architecture Prize World’s most prestigious honour in the field of architecture. Established through the philanthropic efforts of the Pritzkers, a prominent Chicago business family, the prize, first awarded in 1979, bestows an annual award of $100,000 on an architect whose built contributions to the field and to society are judged worthiest. The inter¬ national jury has included architects, artists, historians, academicians, crit¬ ics, and business executives.
privacy, right of Right of a person to be free from intrusion into mat¬ ters of a personal nature. Although not explicitly mentioned in the U.S. Constitution, a right to privacy has been held to be implicit in the Bill of Rights, providing protection from unwarranted government intrusion into areas such as marriage and contraception. A person’s right to privacy may be overcome by a compelling state interest. In tort law, privacy is a right not to have one’s intimate life and affairs exposed to public view or oth¬ erwise invaded. Less broad protections of privacy are afforded public officials and others defined by law as “public figures” (e.g., movie stars).
privateer Privately owned vessel commissioned by a state at war to attack enemy ships, usually merchant vessels. All nations engaged in pri¬ vateering from the earliest times until the 19th century. Crews were not paid by the government but were entitled to receive portions of the value of any cargo they seized. Limiting privateers to the activities laid down in their commissions was difficult, and the line between privateering and piracy was often blurred. In 1856, by the Declaration of Paris, Britain and other major European countries (except Spain) declared privateering ille¬ gal; the U.S. finally repudiated it at the end of the 19th century, and Spain agreed to the ban in 1908. See also buccaneer, Francis Drake, William Kidd, Jean Laffite.
privatization Transfer of government services or assets to the private sector. State-owned assets may be sold to private owners, or statutory restrictions on competition between privately and publicly owned enter¬ prises may be lifted. Services formerly provided by government may be contracted out. The objective is often to increase government efficiency; implementation may affect government revenue either positively or nega¬ tively. Privatization is the opposite of nationalization, a policy resorted to by governments that want to keep the revenues from major industries, especially those that might otherwise be controlled by foreign interests.
privet Vpri-V9t\ Any of about 40-50 species of shrubs and small trees in the genus Ligustrum of the olive family that are widely used for hedges, screens, and ornamental plantings. Native to Europe, Asia, Australia, and the Mediterranean, these evergreen or deciduous plants have usually oval, smooth-edged leaves; creamy-white, often odorous clusters of flowers; and black berries. The hardy common privet (L. vulgare), native to north¬ eastern Europe and Britain and naturalized in northeastern North America, is used widely as a hedge plant. Mock privets belong to the genus Phillyrea (same family) and bear small, bright-red fruits that turn purple- black as they mature.
privileged communication or confidential communication
In law, communication between parties to a confidential relation such that the communication’s recipient is exempted from disclosing it as a wit¬ ness. Communications between attorney and client are privileged and do not have to be disclosed to the court. The right to privileged communi¬ cation also exists between husbands and wives, as neither is required to testify against the other in court, and between physicians and patients, though doctors may be required to disclose such information if the right of the defendant to receive a fair trial outweighs the patient’s right to con¬ fidentiality. Members of the clergy have limited rights to refuse to testify in court, and reporters have been accorded a limited right to privileged communication concerning the sources of their information, though they can be ordered to divulge information in certain circumstances.
Privy Vpri-ve\ Council Historically, the British sovereign’s private council. Once powerful, the Privy Council has long ceased to be an active body, having lost most of its judicial and political functions since the middle of the 17th century. It grew out of the medieval curia ( curia regis ), which comprised the king’s tenants in chief, household officials, and other advisers. The curia performed all the functions of government in either small groups, which became the king’s council, or large groups, which grew into the great council and Parliament. It now is chiefly concerned with issuing royal charters, conducting government research, and serving as an appeals body for ecclesiastical and other lesser courts. See also pre¬ rogative court.
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1550 I PrixdeRome ► proctoscope
Prix de Rome Vpre-ds-'rorrA in full Grand Prix de Rome Art
scholarship awarded by the French government. First established in 1666 by Louis XIV and Charles Le Brun, it enables young French painters, sculp¬ tors, architects, engravers, and musicians to study in Rome. Grand-prize winners in each artistic category study at the Academie de France in Rome for four years. Many of the greatest French artists and musicians of past centuries have been prizewinners, including Jean-Honore Fragonard, Jacques-Louis David, Hector Berlioz, and Claude Debussy. The prizes are still being awarded, though their prestige has diminished.
prize cases (1863) Legal dispute in which the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Pres. Abraham Lincoln’s seizure of ships (prizes). In April 1861, three months before Congress declared a state of war, Lincoln authorized a blockade of Confederate ports. In that three-month period, several mer¬ chant ships ran the blockade and were captured by the Union navy. The legality of the seizures was challenged in court; on appeal, the Supreme Court ruled that the president had acted legally to resist insurrection, sanctioning presidential use of emergency powers.
probability theory Branch of mathematics that deals with analysis of random events. Probability is the numerical assessment of likelihood on a scale from 0 (impossibility) to 1 (absolute certainty). Probability is usu¬ ally expressed as the ratio between the number of ways an event can hap¬ pen and the total number of things that can happen (e.g., there are 13 ways of picking a diamond from a deck of 52 cards, so the probability of picking a diamond is 13 /s 2 , or Va). Probability theory grew out of attempts to understand card games and gambling. As science became more rigor¬ ous, analogies between certain biological, physical, and social phenom¬ ena and games of chance became more evident (e.g., the sexes of newborn infants follow sequences similar to those of coin tosses). As a result, probability became a fundamental tool of modern genetics and many other disciplines. Probability theory is also the basis of the insurance industry, in the form of actuarial statistics.
probate In law, the process of proving in a court (probate court) that an instrument is the valid last will and testament of a deceased person. The term also refers broadly to the process of administering an estate. Unless it is contested or shown to contain obvious anomalies, a document purporting to be a will requires little authenticating proof for certification (admission to probate). Probate courts also often supervise the adminis¬ tration of estates by executors and oversee the guardianship of minors and others lacking capacity under the law.