Short answers, pulled from the story.
Alfred Nobel, the Swedish inventor of dynamite and ballistite, established the Nobel Peace Prize in his will before his death in 1896. He did not leave a written explanation, but the Norwegian Nobel Committee credits his close friendship with peace activist Bertha von Suttner as a major influence. Some scholars also see the prize as Nobel's attempt to balance the destructive impact of his inventions.
Alfred Nobel's will specified that the Peace Prize be administered by a committee appointed by the Norwegian Parliament, while the other Nobel Prizes are handled by Swedish institutions. The Norwegian Nobel Committee speculates that Nobel may have seen Norway as less encumbered by militaristic traditions. Norway's parliament was also closely involved in Inter-Parliamentary Union mediation efforts at the close of the 19th century.
Since 1990, the ceremony has been held at Oslo City Hall on the 10th of December each year, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death. Earlier venues included the Norwegian Nobel Institute from 1905 to 1946, the atrium of the University of Oslo Faculty of Law from 1947 to 1989, and the Storting (Parliament) from 1901 to 1904.
The medal was designed by Norwegian sculptor Gustav Vigeland in 1901. Because Vigeland was not an engraver, Erik Lindberg made the dies. The reverse of the medal shows three men in a fraternal bond and bears the Latin inscription "Pro pace et fraternitate gentium," meaning "For the peace and brotherhood of men."
Gandhi was nominated in 1937, 1938, 1939-1947, and just days before his assassination in January 1948, but the committee never awarded him the prize. After his death in 1948, the committee declined to award a prize that year, citing no suitable living candidate. Geir Lundestad, the committee's Secretary in 2006, called this the greatest omission in the prize's history.
Critics argue the prize is increasingly awarded for aspirations rather than accomplishments, that the selection criteria are too opaque, and that retired politicians dominate the committee rather than international professionals. Norwegian historian Øivind Stenersen has argued that Norway uses the prize as an instrument for nation-building and foreign policy. The 1973 award to Henry Kissinger and Lê Duc Tho is often cited as the most controversial decision, prompting two committee members to resign.