New Delhi: The Centre has proposed a key change to the copyright regime by making it mandatory for owners and licensors of literary works, musical works and sound recordings to set up an online mechanism for collection of licence fees, as per a notification issued by the commerce ministry on Thursday.

       The move is aimed at streamlining payments and improving transparency in the way royalties are collected and distributed, especially amid the growing reliance on digital modes of content consumption and public performance.

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       BEDMINSTER, N.J.—President Trump warned former right-hand-man Elon Musk to stay out of the midterm elections, threatening “very serious consequences" if he backed Democrats in the campaign.

       Musk, who crossed Trump by staunchly opposing his “big, beautiful" tax-and-spending bill over deficit concerns, said last week that anyone who votes for this bill should be fired. Some Democrats have suggested that they try to win Musk over to their side, despite his being villainized by the party for his sweeping cuts to government staff. The billionaire spent about $300 million backing Trump and Republican candidates in the 2024 elections.

       Asked by NBC News on Saturday if Trump was concerned that Musk could start funding Democratic candidates, Trump said “he’ll have to pay very serious consequences if he does that," but declined to provide specifics.

       In the NBC interview Trump said he had “no reason to" repair his relationship with Musk, after their breakup played out in real time on Thursday. Asked whether his relationship with the billionaire businessman was over, Trump said, “I would assume so."

       Musk deleted social-media posts in which he attempted to connect the president with convicted sex-offender Jeffrey Epstein. As the men’s relationship imploded on Thursday, Musk wrote on X that Trump’s name appeared in documents stemming from a federal investigation of Epstein, insinuating that he was in some way linked to the late disgraced financier’s criminal behavior.

       On Friday, Musk wrote, “I will apologize profusely as soon as there is a full dump of the Epstein files." Both posts have been removed from Musk’s X feed.

       The president and his senior aides said Trump has no connection to Epstein’s crimes. Trump called the allegations “old news" in the NBC interview. “Donald Trump didn’t do anything wrong with Jeffrey Epstein," Vice President JD Vance said in a recent podcast interview.

       Behind the scenes, some people close to Trump and Musk have sought to organize a phone call between the two men in an attempt to hash out their differences, according to people familiar with the matter.

       David Sacks, a venture capitalist who acts as Trump’s AI and crypto czar, has been privately encouraging Musk to call the president to try to mend the relationship, according to people familiar with the matter. James Fishback, a businessman and supporter of both Trump and Musk, encouraged Musk on social media to apologize to the president. A spokeswoman for Sacks declined to comment.

       But Trump has said repeatedly in interviews he has no interest in talking to Musk, and the president’s advisers played down the possibility of a call.

       A senior White House official reiterated that Trump has no immediate plans to speak with Musk, adding that the president is in the process of moving on after the high-profile clash with the billionaire. The official said Musk’s decision to delete his social-media posts about Epstein isn’t enough to repair the relationship.

       After Fishback wrote in a social-media post that Musk should apologize to Trump, Fishback heard from White House officials, who thanked him for his support, but said—at least for now—that the relationship between the president and the Tesla CEO is over, a person with knowledge of the conversation said.

       Long before Trump and Musk had their public falling out, some White House staff privately clashed with the billionaire, including Sergio Gor, the head of the White House Personnel Office.

       Issues between Musk and Gor intensified during a mid-March cabinet meeting, where Musk complained extensively about what he said was the slow pace of hiring aides to fill agencies. Musk’s complaints were seen as an effort by Musk to embarrass Gor in front of the cabinet, according to several people familiar with the episode. But Gor was prepared to push back on Musk’s broadsides, and had statistics about the pace of hiring at his fingertips, some of the people said.

       Steven Cheung, the White House communications director, said in a statement that Gor is a vital member of Trump’s team. “As a long-time advisor, there is nobody more capable of ensuring the government is staffed with people who are aligned with the mission to make America great again and work towards implementing the president’s agenda," Cheung said.

       Though Musk has toned down some of his harsh rhetoric over the past 48 hours, he has continued to raise concerns on his X account about what he argues is out-of-control spending by the federal government.

       And he has continued publicly discussing the possibility of starting a new political party that he argues would better represent the majority of voters. He wrote on X that he plans to call it The America Party.

       Trump and his senior advisers have tried to refocus their attention on passing Trump’s tax-and-spending bill, which cleared the House last month and is now being debated in the Senate.

       “I’m too busy doing other things. You know, I won an election in a landslide. I gave him a lot of breaks, long before this happened," Trump told NBC when asked if he has any desire to repair his relationship with Musk. “I think it’s a very bad thing, because he’s very disrespectful. You could not disrespect the office of the president."

       Write to Brian Schwartz at brian.schwartz@wsj.com and Annie Linskey at annie.linskey@wsj.com

       New Delhi: India needs to grow by at least 7-8% annually in its pursuit to become a developed country by 2047, chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance Bhartruhari Mahtab said on Friday.

       He stressed on the need to focus on increasing women's participation in the workforce, particularly in urban areas, and strengthening the education system of the country. Mahtab's remarks followed a briefing by chief economic advisor V. Anantha Nageswaran on the current macroeconomic situation.

       Also read: Retail inflation seen dropping to 3% or below in May—lowest since 2019

       Mahtab told reporters that Nageswaran apprised the panel, which is a joint committee composed of 21 Lok Sabha members and 10 Rajya Sabha nominees, on the global economic headwinds and other challenges before India.

       Mahtab said, quoting Nageswaran, that India’s economy is progressing steadily and that the current growth rate is “nothing less."

       “In comparison to other developing and developed countries, India is in a safe place," said Mahtab.

       “We are on course (to become a developed nation by 2047) but we would like to increase the pace of our economic growth to a minimum of 7-8% growth. That is our target," Mahtab explained.

       Mahtab also said that Nageswaran emphasised on reforms for accelerating growth.

       Also read: Mint Explainer: RBI cuts repo rate by 50 bps. How will it impact lenders and borrowers?

       The recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance influence government's decision making, although they are not binding on the government.

       The monthly economic review for April prepared by the finance ministry had said India has the potential to remain as one of the most promising destinations for investment, amid global uncertainty.

       “Foreign direct investors are likely to respond positively to policies that strengthen the country’s medium-term growth prospects," the review had said. Policies that enhance the skills and productivity of the country’s young workforce can significantly strengthen the virtuous cycle of investment and growth, the review had said.

       On Friday, the RBI said India’s economy is expected to grow at 6.5% in the current financial year with risks evenly balanced. The central bank expressed optimism about farm output growth and rural demand getting further impetus by an above normal southwest monsoon rainfall. The central government’s estimate is of a 6.3-6.8% growth in the current year.

       Also read: India plans critical mineral recycling scheme amid China supply worries

       The central bank pointed out that sustained buoyancy in services activity should nurture revival in urban consumption. Policy makers are betting on improved balance sheets of banks and corporations, government’s continued thrust on capital expenditure and improved capacity utilisation in factories for a further revival in investment activity.

       The RBI will brief the house panel on 20 June on the central bank’s ‘evolving role in India’s dynamic economy,’ as per the committee’s schedule.