Trump blames Obama for not preventing 2016 hacking attack
Washington, July 15 : US President Donald Trump blamed his predecessor, Barack Obama, on Saturday for not taking action to prevent the alleged Russian hacking attack into the computer networks of Hillary Clinton's campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) during the 2016 presidential election.
On Friday, a Grand Jury indicted 12 Russian intelligence officers for participating in efforts to infiltrate those computer networks to obtain damaging information about Clinton and the DNC, which was then dumped online, Efe reported.
"The stories you heard about the 12 Russians yesterday took place during the Obama Administration, not the Trump Administration," Trump said on Twitter.
This is the first time that the president has commented on the indictments presented Friday by Robert Mueller, the special counsel who is investigating whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Kremlin.
"Why didn't they do something about it, especially when it was reported that President Obama was informed by the FBI in September, before the Election?" Trump said.
The accused hackers allegedly spread computer viruses through the email accounts of DNC and Clinton campaign staffers and volunteers, obtaining passwords that allowed them to access information.
The hackers then reportedly posed as US activists and used Facebook and Twitter to spread the information they obtained.
The Russian government has repeatedly denied that it had any role in the DNC and Clinton campaign hacking.
Trump will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin for a bilateral summit on July 16 in Helsinki, in which the two leaders are expected to discuss the conflicts in Syria and Ukraine, arms control, and Russia's suspected meddling in the 2016 US election.
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Rupee falls 9 paise to all-time low of 90.58 against US dollar in early trade
Mumbai (PTI): Rupee depreciated 9 paise to an all-time low of 90.58 against US dollar in early trade on Monday, weighed down by uncertainty over an India-US trade deal and persistent foreign fund outflows.
Forex traders said rupee is trading with a negative bias as investors are in wait and watch mode and awaiting cues from the India-US trade deal front.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 90.53 against the US dollar, then fell further to an all-time intraday low of 90.58 against the greenback, registering a fall of 9 paise over its previous close.
On Friday, the rupee had slipped 17 paise to close at an all-time low of 90.49 against the American currency.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.05 per cent lower at 98.35.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading higher by 0.52 per cent at USD 61.44 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share benchmark index Sensex was trading 298.86 points lower at 84,968.80, while the Nifty was down 121.40 points at 25,925.55.
Foreign Institutional Investors sold equities worth Rs 1,114.22 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.
"FPIs continue to be in selling mode in equity and debt while RBI has been selling dollars to fund their long positions," said Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.
