At 17, Malala Yousafzai is the youngest Nobel Prize winner ever. She will share the $1.11-million prize with Mr. Kailash Satyarthi of the Bachpan Bachao Andolan, to be awarded in Oslo on December 10. Speaking in London, Malala said she wished the Indian and Pakistan Prime Ministers would participate in the Prize-giving ceremony.
Answering a question from The Hindu on whether he saw the Nobel Peace prize contributing to peace in the subcontinent, particularly with tensions at the border, Nobel Committee chairman and former Norwegian Prime Minister Thorbjørn Jagland said that “contribution to resolving conflict anywhere is welcome.”
This year there were 278 nominees for the prize, the highest number for any year till date. The other major contenders this year were Edward Snowden, who exposed the surveillance activities of U.S. intelligence agencies; Pope Francis, the first non-European Pope in modern times; Denis Mukwege, a Congolese leader who worked with rape victims; and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
