1 important thing: Disasters spare none! Bengaluru floods this year have wreaked havoc in billionaire streets around Yemalur.

• Crorepati residents of properties like Epsilon, and Divyashree will be forced to cough up at least Rs 100-200 crores to fix their drowned homes and cars.

• With no sign of rains slowing down, car and two-wheeler insurers are bracing themselves for a huge rise in claims.

• Quick commerce companies halted operations in some areas due to waterlogging. Can't step out, nor order for essentials!

In today's newsletter:

• Google Play flirts with fantasy
• Lido Learning is officially bankrupt
• E-commerce players pin hopes on festive sales

Also: You can now access some mails that the legendary Steve Jobs sent to himself. Scroll down for more deets!

Looks like Diwali has come early for fantasy sports and rummy apps in India

Google plans to conduct a pilot to permit real-money games such as daily fantasy sports and rummy apps on Google Play in India, thereby addressing a long overdue request from local startups that are witnessing rising popularity in the country.

• The year-long pilot will start from September 28, although the app distribution will be limited to only India at present.

The move will likely give a boost to real-money gaming apps in India that currently account for the majority of the industry's revenue in the country.

• Real money games contributed for about 51 percent of the overall gaming industry revenue that reached around $1.8 billion in the financial year 2020, according to a recent report.

Google says these apps should not use its in-app billing system or be available as a paid app on the app store.

This comes at a time when Google Play has been facing a massive backlash from Indian developers over the mandatory integration of its Play billing system, apart from a probe from Competition Commission of India. The policy deadline has since then been moved to October 31, 2022.

Apps looking to participate in this pilot will have to comply with an additional set of terms apart from Google Play's policies.

• Ensure their service is accessible to only those aged 18 or above and reside in states where the game is permitted to operate.

• Hold requisite licences and permits where required.

• Collect the user's PAN card details for tax compliance along with their bank account details.

Also read: Google Play spots key monetization opportunity in India as spends on local apps rise 80% in two years

Six months after asking over 1,200 employees to resign overnight citing a cash crunch, Ronnie Screwvala-backed edtech startup Lido Learning has officially filed for bankruptcy.

• The startup, founded by former Byju's Vice President Sahil Sheth, had told employees back then that it was looking to wind down operations as it was cash-strapped.

Lido Learning's board of directors has passed a special resolution to file an application under section 10 of Insolvency and Bankruptcy (IBC) code 2016, with the Mumbai bench of National Company Law Tribunal.

• Lido, which also counts Shaadi.com's Anupam Mittal and Paytm's Vijay Shekhar Sharma among others as its backers, has failed to pay back its debts. Anil Drolia has been proposed as the Interim Corporate Resolution Professional.

The company has also defaulted on payments to former employees. We had reported exclusively in May how employees were waiting for their full and final settlement from the edtech company and were struggling to pay for their daily needs.

Lido Learning's move to file for bankruptcy comes just a couple of weeks after Nandan Nilekani-backed ShopX had also filed for bankruptcy, signifying the pain for startups amid a funding winter.

Moreover, it also underlines the troubles faced by consumer-facing edtech companies, including the biggest such as Unacademy, Byju's and Vedantu among others, who have already fired thousands of employees to cut costs and keep a longer runway amid slowing demand for online education services.

• Also Read: Layoffs, restructuring, slowdown: India's edtech firms are struggling post-pandemic

The festive season might bring back some cheer for the e-commerce players which have seen sluggish growth over the last few months.

• These players are likely to clock sales of $11.8 billion this festive season, a 28% growth YoY, as per the latest report of research firm ReedSeer.

Festive season sale is one of the busiest seasons for online commerce and is a primary indicator for the growth of e-commerce in the country.

• This year the sale is likely to start from September 24 to October 1. The debut week of the season is likely to rake in $5.9 billion.

During this peak season, mobiles and electronics usually remain the top category. Over the last few months, it has taken a hit, but with offers and new launches, it is likely to revive its momentum.

Fashion is set to be the next emerging category. Moreover, smaller towns and cities will drive this festive sale, which is also set to have an effect on the basket value.

While the number of online shoppers has grown to 78 million this year, e-commerce biggies are now gearing up to make quicker deliveries, facilitate easy credit for purchases, and experiment with newer shopping formats such as live commerce and 3D experiences.

Read the story

• A group of Celsius borrowers wants a bankruptcy court to appoint an independent examiner to investigate the crypto-lender's financials, but not one working for the U.S. Trustee office.

• The Toronto cryptocurrency marketplace Coinberry says it has lost some $3 million in bitcoin due to a software glitch.

• A group of hackers allegedly stole and deleted data of educational institutes of KN Modi Foundation and demanded cryptocurrency worth $1 million to resolve the issue.

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs was a tech visionary and a master storyteller. When he spoke, his speeches became legendary, be it his Stanford commencement speech in 2005 or the pathbreaking iPhone launch event in 2007.

Yesterday, Jobs' widow Laurene Powell Jobs unveiled an online archive that celebrates the tech pioneer, offering a repository of historical materials relating to Steve Jobs, some of which have never before been made public.

"While we do have some artefacts and some actual real material, the archive is much more about ideas," Jobs said. She hopes this will be a place to draw inspiration from Jobs' life and work.

Our pick is the email that Steve Jobs sent to himself in September 2010. He often sent himself messages to capture what was on his mind.

Dive in