http://www.iloveindia.com/population-of-india/index.html

Current Population Of India 1,065,070,607 (July 2004 est.)
Population Density of India 324 persons per square kilometre

Age structure
0 to 14 years 31.7% (male 173,869,856; female 164,003,915)
15 to 64 years 63.5% (male 349,785,804; female 326,289,402)
65 years and over 4.8% (male 25,885,725; female 25,235,905) (2004 estimate)

Median age
Total 24.4 years
Male 24.4 years
female 24.4 years (2004 est.)
Population growth rate 1.44% (2004 est.)
Birth rate 22.8 births/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Death rate 8.38 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Net migration rate -0.07 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Infant mortality rate
Total 57.92 deaths/1,000 live births
Female 57.29 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.)
Male 58.52 deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth
Total population 63.99 years
Male 63.25 years
Female 64.77 years (2004 est.)
Total fertility rate 2.85 children born/woman (2004 est.)

HIV / AIDS
Adult prevalence rate 0.8% (2001 est.)
People living with HIV / AIDS 3.97 million (2001 est.)
Deaths because of HIV / AIDS 310,000 (2001 est.)

Nationality
Noun Indian(s)
Adjective Indian

Ethnic groups
Indo-Aryan 72%
Dravidian 25%
Mongoloid and other's 3% (2000)

Religions
Hindu 81.3%
Muslim 12%
Christian 2.3%
Sikh 1.9%
Other groups including Buddhist, Jain, Parsi 2.5% (2000)

Languages English enjoys associate status but is the most important language for national, political, and commercial communication; Hindi is the national language and primary tongue of 30% of the people; there are 14 other official languages: Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, and Sanskrit; Hindustani is a popular variant of Hindi/Urdu spoken widely throughout northern India but is not an official language.

Literacy Rate (Definition: Age 15 and over that can read and write)
Total Population 59.5%
Male 70.2%
Female 48.3% (2003 est.)

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http://ww3.mid-day.com/news/city/2006/june/139169.htm

Muslims demand quota in politics, jobs
By: PTI
June 11, 2006
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Muslim groups today demanded reservations for the community in politics and jobs on the basis of population.

A resolution to this effect was passed at the Maharashtra Muslim Convention, hosted jointly by the All India Ulema Council and Mumbai Aman Committee, at the Anjuman-e-Islam near Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in Mumbai.

The resolution said that besides Parliament, state assemblies and councils, representation on the basis of population must be given to Muslims in the police, bureaucracy, local bodies and private institutions.

The convention also appealed to Muslims to unite and prevail upon political parties to give representation to them on the basis of population ratio.

Speaking on the occasion, Maulana Zahiruddin Khan, president of the All India Ulema Council, said that since Independence the Muslim community has not been given proper representation.

Badruddin Ajmal, leader of the Assam United Democratic Front that had won 11 seats in the assembly elections in that state, said Muslims should not have a different political party.

\"It is not at all required. What is needed is that they should shake hands with the downtrodden, farmers, fisherfolk and oppressed sections of society and demand proper representation. Everything will follow,\" he added.

Riyaz Khan, vice president of the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, noted that the interim report of the Sachar Committee had pointed out that 90 per cent of Muslims have not benefited from various schemes launched by the central and state governments.

Renowned Islamic scholar Maulana Zillur Rehman Siddiqui said over 65 per cent of the Muslim population in the country lived below the poverty line. \"Before making plans, we need to take this into consideration. We need to bridge this gap,\" he said.

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Speech by Thomas Friedman of The New York Times....

"When we were young kids growing up in America, we were told to eat our
vegetables at dinner and not leave them. Mothers said, 'think of the
starving children in India and finish the dinner.' And now I tell my
children: 'Finish your maths homework. Think of the children in India
who would make you starve, if you don't.'"