United States President Barack Obama has been surprisingly given the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 for his extraordinary efforts in strengthening international diplomacy and for taking landmark initiatives to create a nuclear-free world.

Announcing the award here, an official of the Norwegian Nobel Committee said that Obama was yet to be informed about the award, and would receive the award on December 10 this year.

He also said that Obama had beaten 205 other nominees for the prestigious award, which includes a gold medal, a Nobel diploma and 1.4 million dollars.

The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded 90 times to 120 Nobel Laureates between 1901 and 2009 - 97 times to individuals and 23 times to organizations.

Since International Committee of the Red Cross was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1917, 1944 and 1963, and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1954 and 1981, that means 97 individuals and 20 organizations have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

The Nobel Peace Prize is one of five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel. According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize should be awarded "to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses."

Alfred Nobel's will stated that a committee of five people elected by the Norwegian Parliament should award the prize. Norway and Sweden were at that time still in union, and with Sweden responsible for all foreign policy. Nobel felt that the prize might be less subject to political corruption if awarded by Norway. The Peace Prize is presented annually in Oslo, in the presence of the king, on December 10 (the anniversary of Nobel's death), and is the only Nobel Prize not presented in Stockholm. " (ANI)

More Security and Stability
IF YOU HAVE HEALTH INSURANCE, THE OBAMA PLAN:
Ends discrimination against people with pre-existing conditions.
Limits premium discrimination based on gender and age.
Prevents insurance companies from dropping coverage when people are sick and need it most.
Caps out-of-pocket expenses so people don’t go broke when they get sick.
Eliminates extra charges for preventive care like mammograms, flu shots and diabetes tests to improve health and save money.
Protects Medicare for seniors.
Eliminates the “donut-hole” gap in coverage for prescription drugs.

Quality, Affordable Choices
IF YOU DON’T HAVE INSURANCE, THE OBAMA PLAN:
Creates a new insurance marketplace — the Exchange — that allows people without insurance and small businesses to compare plans and buy insurance at competitive prices.
Provides new tax credits to help people buy insurance.
Provides small businesses tax credits and affordable options for covering employees.
Offers a public health insurance option to provide the uninsured and those who can’t find affordable coverage with a real choice.
Immediately offers new, low-cost coverage through a national “high risk” pool to protect people with preexisting conditions from financial ruin until the new Exchange is created.

Reins in the Cost of Health Care
FOR ALL AMERICANS, THE OBAMA PLAN:
Won’t add a dime to the deficit and is paid for upfront.
Requires additional cuts if savings are not realized.
Implements a number of delivery system reforms that begin to rein in health care costs and align incentives for hospitals, physicians, and others to improve quality.
Creates an independent commission of doctors and medical experts to identify waste, fraud and abuse in the health care system.
Orders immediate medical malpractice reform projects that could help doctors focus on putting their patients first, not on practicing defensive medicine.
Requires large employers to cover their employees and individuals who can afford it to buy insurance so everyone shares in the responsibility of reform.

He is now the forty-fourth President of the United States. Obama is the first African American to be elected President of the United States, and was the first to be nominated for President by a major U.S. political party. Barack Obama is also the first candidate born in Hawaii to have been nominated and subsequently elected president. He will also the first U.S. President to be born in the 1960's.