chore: update master with rc1

[rollandf]

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[greptile-apps]

Greptile Summary

The PR advances Network Operator and component release references from 26.7.0-beta.5 to 26.7.0-rc.1, including the previously stale Helm chart metadata.

• Updates Helm chart metadata and default component image tags to rc.1.
• Updates Kustomize init-container configuration and example NicClusterPolicy resources.
• Updates the central release manifest, but leaves the generated OLM CSV labeled beta.5.

Confidence Score: 4/5

The PR is not yet safe to merge because its rc.1 release sources still produce a tracked OLM bundle identified as beta.5.

The Helm metadata is fixed, but the packaged ClusterServiceVersion retains the beta.5 name and spec.version, so publishing this commit's OLM bundle would misidentify the rc.1 release.

Files Needing Attention: hack/release.yaml and bundle/manifests/nvidia-network-operator.clusterserviceversion.yaml

Important Files Changed

Filename	Overview
hack/release.yaml	Advances release component versions to rc.1, but the corresponding tracked OLM CSV was not regenerated.
deployment/network-operator/Chart.yaml	Correctly synchronizes both chart version and appVersion with v26.7.0-rc.1.
deployment/network-operator/values.yaml	Consistently updates the changed default component image tags to the rc.1 release.
config/manager/init_container_image_name_patch.yaml	Updates the Kustomize deployment's init-container image to rc.1.

_{Reviews (2): Last reviewed commit: "chore: update master with rc1" | Re-trigger Greptile}

[greptile-apps]

Stale chart version mixes releases

When a Helm installation does not override operator.tag, the unchanged Chart.appVersion selects the beta.5 operator image while this release manifest and component defaults select rc.1, causing a mixed-version deployment and leaving generated Helm and OLM artifacts labeled beta.5.

Knowledge Base Used: Deployment and Manifests

[greptile-apps]

OLM bundle remains beta.5

When the OLM bundle is published for this rc.1 release, the unchanged ClusterServiceVersion still uses nvidia-network-operator.v26.7.0-beta.5 and version: 26.7.0-beta.5, causing OLM to identify the rc.1 artifact as the previous beta release.

Knowledge Base Used: Deployment and Manifests

[rollandf]

/retest-all