Malala and (right) human rights activist Lyudmila Alexeyeva, who are nominated

Oslo - Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl-turned-icon of Taliban resistance, and ex-Eastern bloc activists are among those known to be nominated for this year's Nobel Peace Prize, as the deadline expired on Friday.

This year's award will be announced in early October, but speculation was already underway as the deadline for nominations ran out on February 1. Fifteen-year-old Malala was shot by a Taliban gunman at point blank range as she travelled on a bus to school on October 9. She was targeted for promoting girls' education.

Others known to have been nominated are human rights activists whose names have been mentioned in previous years, including Belarussian human rights activist Ales Belyatski -- currently behind bars -- and Russia's Lyudmila Alexeyeva.

Beliatsky's and Alexeyeva's names have been put forward by two Norwegian lawmakers. “They have both defied authoritarian state structures and the illegal and illegitimate abuse of power,” one of the two MPs, Jan Tore Sanner, said.