Cuemath raises $15 million from CapitalG, Sequoia India

Math learning start-up Cuemath has raised $15 million (around Rs 102 crore) in series B funding from CapitalG and Sequoia India.

Cuemath is an after-school math excellence programme for children in KG to grade 8 and is offered through home-based centers. Founded in 2013, it has over 2,000 centers educating more than 10,000 students across the country.

CapitalG (formerly known as Google Capital), the growth equity investment fund of Alphabet, led this round of funding, a company release said.

"We believe technology can help solve the strong desire and need for quality education. And Cuemath has scaled with great unit economics and capital efficiency," CapitalG Head of India Investments Kaushik Anand said.

By March 2018, Cuemath aims to establish 5,000 centers and enrol 40,000 children in the programme. The funds raised will be utilised towards making the learning system more powerful and expanding to more cities across the country.

"Manan and the team have spent years perfecting a new way of teaching math to young children and delivering it through a unique partner model, and this round of funding gives them the ability to expand the business dramatically." Abheek Anand, principal, Sequoia Capital India Advisors, said.

Currently, Cuemath has a strong presence in Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai, Pune and Hyderabad, with over 300 math excellence centers in each of these cities.

"Given the way technology is evolving, the most valuable ability in just a few years from now will be that of complex problem-solving, and the best way to build that ability is to build a strong and holistic math foundation," Manan Khurma, Cuemath's founder & chief executive said.

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India Have Found A Gem At No.6 Position: Sunil Gavaskar On Kedar Jadhav

Cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar on Sunday congratulated Indian Team on the series win against England and said that Virat Kohli's team have all the bases covered ahead of the Champions Trophy. Praising Kedar Jadhav's ability to hit the ball with precision, the former India captain said, "He is a finisher and looking good at No.6. I think India have found a gem in that position." Gavaskar, in an exclusive chat with NDTV, also lauded Kohli's captaincy."The good thing is that captaincy has not affected Virat Kohli's batting and we need him more as a batsman than a captain," he said.

In the first match, India had managed to chase down the score of 351 runs and in the second match MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh led India to an astounding victory. However, Virat Kohli and co. narrowly lost the third match by a narrow margin of five runs.

Gavaskar, who looked content with India's performance in all the three matches said, "Death bowling is still a concern for the Indian team but other than that the team is doing quite well, be it batting or fielding. Now, we don't need to hide any fielder and everyone is contributing, which is a very positive thing."

However, he pointed out some issues, which the Indian team needed to address before the Champions Trophy.

"India have not started well in all the three matches. Virat Kohli or MS Dhoni are not going to score in every matches and someone needs to take the responsibility. Openers lack of form has been a worry but I think once Rohit Sharma is fit, he will be the automatic choice and I would still go for Shikhar Dhawan as the second opener," he said.

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Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja Rested From India's T20I Series Vs England

Top India spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were given a rest from the upcoming Twenty20 International series against England, the Board of Control For Cricket in India said in a statement on Monday. Leg-spinner Amit Mishra and all-rounder Parvez Rasool have been named Ashwin and Jadeja's replacement for the series, starting on January 26.

"The All-India Senior Selection committee in consultation with Team India management has decided to rest spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja from the Paytm T20I series against England," BCCI said in a release on Monday.

"Amit Mishra and Parvez Rasool will replace Ashwin and Jadeja, with the 1st match to be played on January 26th at Kanpur."

India won the Test series 4-0 and the ODI series 2-1.

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Jallikattu: Madras HC declines to hear matter on police action on students

The Madras High Court has declined to hear a matter raised in open court about police action on pro-Jallikattu protesters at Marina Beach, epicentre of the stir for the past one week.

A special mention was made before the first bench comprising Chief Justice S K Kaul and Justice M Sundar about the police crackdown on protesters by advocates Sudha Ramalingam and George Williams.

The advocates sought judicial intervention in the matter.

Chief Justice Kaul declined to hear the matter saying, "How can the court interfere in administrative matters." Police, in an early morning crackdown, started removing scores of protesters, mostly students and youths who were demonstrating at the Marina beach for the past one week, demanding a permanent solution for holding Jallikattu.

Though an ordinance was promulgated on Saturday for holding Jallikattu, and the bull taming sport held in some parts of the state yesterday, the protesters had vowed to carry on with their protest till a permanent solution was found to ensure the sport was held annually without any hindrance.

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Jallikattu Protestors Push Back, Defy Police Orders To Leave Chennai's Marina Beach

CHENNAI:  Protests at Chennai's Marina Beach in support of bull-taming festival Jallikattu, peaceful for five days, turned violent today as hundreds resisted the police who arrived at 5 am in large numbers and physically removed protesters. Some people were injured in clashes with the police in and around the beach. Protesters standing in a chain edged closer to the sea and threw stones at the police, who used batons and tear gas to control the crowd. The protesters had yesterday threatened to block Republic Day celebrations despite the state government's ordinance or special order bypassing a Supreme Court ban on Jallikattu.

The police arrived on the beach in the morning with orders to remove the protesters if they refused to leave. They reportedly showed a copy of the ordinance to the protesters, who have demanded a more permanent solution.

As the protesters asked for time, the police blocked all roads to the beach and started removing large groups, mainly of women and children.

The beach, where around 15,000 had gathered at the height of protests last week, was mostly clear within hours.

Some protesters claimed that pregnant women were pushed as the police used force on the people.

Denying the use of excess force, a senior police officer told reporters, "We requested them to leave two-three times. Some of them were willing to go, but the rest said they wanted more time."

On Sunday, Jallikattu returned to parts of the state following the state government's ordinance. Three men were killed during the celebrations.

Two men were gored to death by a bull at Pudukottai, where the event was inaugurated by state Health Minister C Vijayabhaskar. A third man reportedly died of thirst at another event.

Chief Minister O Panneerselvam was to open the government's official Jallikattu event at Madurai's Alanganallur, around 400 km from Chennai, but people refused to allow it, demanding that the ban be permanently gone.

The ordinance has to be cleared within six months for it to become law. Mr Panneerselvam has promised that it will be passed in the assembly session which begins today.

Jallikattu, in which young men wrestle with a bull in an open field during the harvest festival of Pongal, was banned by the Supreme Court in 2014. Last year, the Centre allowed the sport, but that decision has been challenged in the Supreme Court. The court has agreed to not deliver its verdict this week after the centre pointed out that a decision could create law and order problems.

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India beat England by 15 runs in thrilling 2nd ODI, take 2-0 series lead: Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni took it to the victory

India’s (381/6) defeated England (366/8) by 15 runs in second ODI at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack to take unbeatable 2-0 lead in three-game series. Yuvraj Singh scored 150, his highest-ever score, while MS Dhoni scored 134 to help India post a massive total of 381/6. In reply, England managed to score 366/8 in 50 overs, courtesy Eoin Morgan’s 102. But it was not enough as they lost by 15 runs. Catch cricket score of India vs England 2nd ODI here. (Cuttack ODI highlights)

If you cannot view the India vs England scorecard, click here.

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India v England 2nd ODI : Get ready to make history

CUTTACK: An excited crowd made a beeline at the Barabati Stadium but to their disappointment, captain Virat Kohli and most of the Indian players skipped the optional practice session on the eve of the second ODI against England.

Having checked in with less than 24 hours to go for the match, only three members of the team -- MS Dhoni, Ajinkya Rahane and KL Rahul -- were seen in the evening practice session.

The trio batted at the nets after the usual warm-up and concluded their two-hour session with the routine pitch inspection.

The teams, who always stay in the Odisha capital city of Bhubaneswar about 25 kilometres away, had to extend their stay in Pune by three more days after the first ODI on January 15 because the team hotel was booked for a wedding.

Both teams landed in the Odisha capital around 2.15 pm.

"It was something that had been finalised by the BCCI. The teams do not have any problem in arriving on the eve of the match," Odisha Cricket Association CEO Bidyut Kumar Nayak told PTI.

The English team members practice however were delayed for about an hour after their luggage arrived late at the airport, according to a team official.

The visitors, facing a must-win situation to keep themselves afloat in the three-match series, had a full practice session.

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