Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday spoke to India's top athletes, including cricket stars such as current captain Virat Kohli, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly, and batting legend Sachin Tendulkar, amid a national lockdown to combat the rapidly-spreading COVID-19 pandemic.

A total of 49 athletes, along with Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju, participated in the video call.

The ministry source said the athletes have been requested to spread awareness about social distancing through their social media pages.

Apart from Tendulkar, Ganguly and Kohli, others who are participating include World Cup-winning former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, former pacer Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh, and K L Rahul.

India's 21-day lockdown to contain the spread of the deadly virus ends on April 14. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1585900908.9451866/Modi-discusses-COVID-19-lockdown-with-cricket-icons,-top-Olympic-sport-athletes?ref=audio_experience

Businesses looking for services can reach out to railway officials at the zonal level.

While passenger trains have been halted, services are operational for the supply of essential food and medical goods.

At the same time, Indian Railways is also using some coaches as quarantine facilities for suspected and positive Covid-19 cases.

Besides this, Goyal had also held virtual discussions with several stakeholders from the ecommerce and logistics industry.

“We are committed to ensuring that essential goods reach the people in the most convenient and safest manner,” he added. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1585899006.135347/Indian-Railways-To-Use-Trains-For-Ecommerce,-Grocery-Deliveries?ref=audio_experience

Many have said that startups need to create a series of plans for all possibilities ranging from worst-case scenario to the most optimistic possibility.

However, if the situation continues, startups need to have a series of contingency plans to keep the show running.

Citing the example from a POSist perspective, Tulsian said that after the lockdown situation, restaurants were shut, the company was one of the first to get impacted.

If the situation continues for the next three months, restaurants will suffer a major revenue blow.

“I suggest entrepreneurs make three months plan (Plan A), a six months plan (Plan B), and a 12 months plan (Plan C), they may or may not coincide or be sequential. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1585897205.3557184/POSist’s-Ashish-Tulsian-On-Survival-By-Planning-For-Every-Contingency?ref=audio_experience

BENGALURU/NEW DELHI: Thousands of merchants whose non-essential item orders were cancelled on Amazon India and Flipkart have to wait longer to get their payments cleared.

On Flipkart, payments that were supposed to be made on April 1 will come a week later.

Some consumers have already started getting refunds, but others still have to wait.

Amazon India is sending non-essential products, which were shipped already or were out for delivery, back to its own warehouses or sellers’ fulfilment centres.“For cancelled orders with non-essential items, refunds are currently being initiated.

This comes at a time when merchants are worried over their cash flows as no new sales are happening either.“There are payment delays across marketplaces like Amazon, Flipkart. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1585895405.4944375/Amazon,-Flipkart-refund-buyers,-while-sellers-have-to-wait?ref=audio_experience

NEW DELHI: Softbank-backed Oyo has written to hotel owners invoking ‘force majeure’ clauses on their agreements as the Covid-19 pandemic has severely impacted the business of their hotels.

But, a number of angry hotel owners said Oyo cannot invoke ‘force majeure’ as the clause was never included in the original agreements.Oyo did not respond to ET’s queries till the time of going to press.

The letter goes on to state that Oyo proposes a revenue share model to effectively supersede the existing arrangement.

“How can the ‘force majeure clause’ be invoked if there wasn’t any such clause in the agreement we signed with them.

The owner said Oyo owes him Rs 12 lakh for the past six months.Dilip Datwani, another hotel owner said he is planning to write to the company. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1585893605.72633/Oyo-suspends-payments-to-hotels;-Partners-say-clause-not-in-contract?ref=audio_experience

The World Bank has approved $1 billion emergency funding for India to help it tackle the coronavirus pandemic, which has claimed 76 lives and infected 2,500 people in the country.

In South Asia, the World Bank also approved $200 million for Pakistan, $100 million for Afghanistan, $7.3 million for the Maldives and $128.6 million for Sri Lanka.

"The World Bank Group is taking broad, fast action to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and we already have health response operations moving forward in over 65 countries," said World Bank Group President David Malpass.

"We are working to strengthen (the) developing nations' ability to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and shorten the time to economic and social recovery.

The World Bank is encouraging others to provide financial support to developing countries for the COVID-19 health response, said the media statement. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1585891805.2282248/World-Bank-approves-$1B-emergency-funds-for-India-to-tackle-COVID-19-outbreak?ref=audio_experience

The upcoming escrow payment ecosystemEscrow-based payments have been around for over 150 years and are not new.

An escrow account is emerging as a unique and novel mechanism, which creates an added layer of transparency in the ecosystem, helping build more trust.

Using escrow, a buyer can place their funds in a bank-based escrow account, which is supervised by a third party.

For specific-use transaction cases like procurement, supply chain, professional services, etc., startups and emerging businesses can leverage escrow payment methods to minimise risk.

An escrow mechanism facilitates hassle-free, efficient, and safe business transactions for startups and helps in their seamless growth. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1585890005.6515691/Why-escrow-payments-can-help-India-improve-its-business-environment?ref=audio_experience

BENGALURU: Google is shutting down its neighbourhood community app Neighbourly , nearly two years after its launch.The firm said the app hasn't gained traction as they had hoped, due to which they will be closing it down on May 12, 2020 and users will be able to download their Neighbourly content until October 12 this year.The shutdown of the service, which was initially rolled out in Mumbai and later extended to cities like Bengaluru, New Delhi, Chennai and Hyderabad among others, comes at a time when India is under a 21-day nationwide lockdown. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1585888204.8868258/Google’s-app-Neighbourly-shut-for-lack-of-traction?ref=audio_experience

We interviewed Colive founder Suresh Rangarajan K to know about this fast growing coliving startup.

Colive - Company DetailsStartup Name Colive Headquarter Bangalore Founder Suresh Rangarajan K Sector Co-living Founded 2016 Parent Organization CoLife Advisory Pvt.

Read More Latest News and Updates about Colive HereFounders of Colive and teamSuresh Rangarajan K is the Founder and CEO of Colive.

Suresh Rangarajan K is an alumnus of Yale School of Management.

said Colive owner Suresh Rangarajan K explaining the idea behind starting Colive. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1585886406.6810255/Coliving-Space-for-Millenials?ref=audio_experience

BENGALURU: How to keep customers engaged in times of lockdown?

Some ecommerce businesses deemed non-essential or with limited items on the essentials list have found several ways of staying in touch.Myntra, Bookmyshow FirstCry and Nykaa are using informational content, gaming, and entertainment on their apps to connect with customers.

The Flipkart-owned ecommerce retailer has suspended new orders, but it has revamped its app.

It also has a health activity tracker, cooking classes and fashion advice.Nykaa, too, has launched quizzes, contextual work from home, health and social distancing content and campaigns.

This seems to have paid off for SoftBank-backed baby ecommerce portal FirstCry.The company amplified content from its parenting portal FirstCry Parenting on the main app. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1585884707.4740117/Covid-19:-Myntra,-Bookmyshow,-others-use-entertainment-to-connect-with-customers?ref=audio_experience