✨ Prepare main branch for release-1.9 development

[Ankitasw]

What this PR does / why we need it:
This PR addresses following to prepare main branch for release-1.9:
Prepare main branch for development of the new release

Which issue(s) this PR fixes (optional, in fixes #<issue number>(, fixes #<issue_number>, ...) format, will close the issue(s) when PR gets merged):
Part of #2207

[codecov]

Codecov Report

All modified and coverable lines are covered by tests ✅

Comparison is base (fda92b9) 62.61% compared to head (fa402db) 62.90%.
Report is 2 commits behind head on main.

Additional details and impacted files

@@            Coverage Diff             @@
##             main    #2461      +/-   ##
==========================================
+ Coverage   62.61%   62.90%   +0.28%     
==========================================
  Files         122      122              
  Lines        8770     8763       -7     
==========================================
+ Hits         5491     5512      +21     
+ Misses       2880     2860      -20     
+ Partials      399      391       -8     

see 18 files with indirect coverage changes

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[sbueringer]

Thx!

/lgtm
/approve

[k8s-ci-robot]

LGTM label has been added.

Git tree hash: 0d73cfad1e5f7a4a384d6803f8e6bab4c171a8fb

[k8s-ci-robot]

[APPROVALNOTIFIER] This PR is APPROVED

This pull-request has been approved by: sbueringer

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[killianmuldoon]

/lgtm

Thanks!