Obama yet to receive Nobel prize money

Washington, March 10, 2010 (PTI) - Three months after receiving the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, U.S. President Barack Obama is yet to receive the $1.4 million cash award, the White House said on Tuesday.

“Not that I am aware of, no,” White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters at his daily press briefing when asked if Mr. Obama has received the check of $1.4 million from the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which awarded him the coveted peace prize on December 10 last year.

Mr. Gibbs told curious reporters that Mr. Obama has not asked for the money yet.

“I assume it (money) is with the committee,” he said.

Soon after receiving the award, the White House had said that Mr. Obama intends to donate this money to charities.

“That’s what we’re working on. That’s quite perceptive,” he said.

“There will be a process to evaluate that, from his perspective. I assume it will be many different charities. But he has not told me or anybody else here the specifics of what those might be,” Mr. Gibbs had told reporters on October 13, 2009.

On October 9, 2009 the Nobel Prize Committee had announced that Mr. Obama has won the Peace Prize for “his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”

Humbled by the prize, Mr. Obama said in a statement which he read from the Rose Garden of the White House that he will accept this award as a call to action, a call for all nations to confront the common challenges of the 21st century.