Given below are two statements.

Statement I : Disturbance in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in a population would be interpreted as resulting in evolution.

Statement II : Natural selection is a process in which heritable variations enabling better survival are enabled to reproduce and leave a greater number of progeny.

In light of the above statements, choose the correct answer from the options given below.

Both statement-I and statement-II are true.

The Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium describes a theoretical state in which allele frequencies in a population remain constant from generation to generation if certain conditions are met (such as absence of mutation, migration, genetic drift, natural selection, and random mating). Any deviation from these conditions can lead to changes in allele frequencies over time, indicating evolutionary processes at work.

Natural selection acts on heritable variations within a population, favouring traits that enhance an organism's survival and reproduction in its environment. Individuals with advantageous traits are more likely to survive, reproduce, and pass on their beneficial traits to offspring, thereby increasing the frequency of those traits in the population over successive generations.