Nobel Peace Prize 2017: Here's everything you need to know

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos gives a speech during the Peace Prize awarding ceremony at the City Hall in Oslo, Norway December 10, 2016. NTB Scanpix/Lise Aaserud/via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NORWAY OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN NORWAY. - RC1ACDC44130

The Norwegian Nobel Committee will announce the winner of the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo on Friday.

The committee, which is appointed by the Norwegian parliament, will select the winner from a pool of 318 known and reported candidates.

The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five 'Nobel prizes' started by Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel.

The prizes for the year 2017 in the fields of Chemistry, Physics, Physiology or Medicine, and Literature are being announced through this week.

The names of the losing nominees remain a tightly guarded secret for a period of 50 years.

The nominees usually include former laureates, academicians, activists, politicians, statesmen and international organisations.

In 2014, child rights activist Kailash Sathyarthi became the first India-born peace prize winner. While Mother Theresa and the 14th Dalai Lama were also awarded the prize, they were not born in India.

Most media reports have narrowed down some of the potential winners of the 2017 peace prize. Here are the top three possible contenders:

White Helmets

The White Helmets is a volunteer organisation that operates inside rebel-controlled areas of Syria and also in Turkey.

The group shot to fame in 2016 after a documentary captured their work in the war-torn region. They claim to have saved more than 99,000 people in the ongoing Syrian conflict.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees had almost 11,000 staff members on the field as on June 31.

The organisation estimates that there are around 22.5 million refugees across the world today. It covers emergencies like the Syria crisis, large-scale repatriation operations and the recent fleeing of Rohingyas from Myanmar.

Iran nuclear deal brokers

While the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action between Iran and 'P5+1 nations' has been in place since 2015, the Norwegian Nobel Committee could support the historic agreement at a time when tensions are on the rise between United States and North Korea regarding the latter's nuclear capabilities.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and European Union Foreign Policy chief Federica Mogherini were at the forefront of the negotiations.

US President Donald Trump disapproves of the Iran nuclear deal and has threatened to 'tear it apart'.

The winner will be announced at 14:30 hours (Indian Standard Time) on Friday.