This paper presents a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of non-zero quantum discord in any dimensional bipartite quantum state. Quantum discord measures the non-classicality of correlations in quantum systems and has been proposed as a key resource in quantum communication and computation tasks without requiring significant entanglement. The authors derive a simple and experimentally implementable criterion for detecting non-zero quantum discord, based on the singular value decomposition of a correlation matrix. This criterion allows for the direct evaluation of quantum discord from a subset of measurements typically used in quantum state tomography. For two-qubit systems, the authors propose a geometric measure of quantum discord, which results in a closed-form expression. They apply their findings to the deterministic quantum computation with one qubit (DQC1) model, showing that quantum discord is unlikely to be the reason for the speedup in this model. The paper also discusses the implications of quantum discord for characterizing non-classical resources in quantum information processing, emphasizing that quantum discord is not symmetric and can increase under local operations. The authors conclude that their method can be extended to any number of subsystems, although the complexity of evaluating discord increases with the number of subsystems and their dimensions.This paper presents a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of non-zero quantum discord in any dimensional bipartite quantum state. Quantum discord measures the non-classicality of correlations in quantum systems and has been proposed as a key resource in quantum communication and computation tasks without requiring significant entanglement. The authors derive a simple and experimentally implementable criterion for detecting non-zero quantum discord, based on the singular value decomposition of a correlation matrix. This criterion allows for the direct evaluation of quantum discord from a subset of measurements typically used in quantum state tomography. For two-qubit systems, the authors propose a geometric measure of quantum discord, which results in a closed-form expression. They apply their findings to the deterministic quantum computation with one qubit (DQC1) model, showing that quantum discord is unlikely to be the reason for the speedup in this model. The paper also discusses the implications of quantum discord for characterizing non-classical resources in quantum information processing, emphasizing that quantum discord is not symmetric and can increase under local operations. The authors conclude that their method can be extended to any number of subsystems, although the complexity of evaluating discord increases with the number of subsystems and their dimensions.