diff --git a/.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md b/.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md
index d8180108..7c184b90 100644
--- a/.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md
+++ b/.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md
@@ -1,22 +1,16 @@
-**Is your feature request related to a problem? Please provide an existing Issue # , or describe.**
-A clear and concise description of what the problem is. Ex. I'm always frustrated when [...]
+### Description
+[Describe what this change achieves]
 
-**Describe the solution you are proposing**
-A clear and concise description of what you want to happen.
-
-**Describe alternatives you've considered**
-A clear and concise description of any alternative solutions or features you've considered.
-
-**Additional context**
-Add any other context or screenshots about the feature request here.
+### Related Issues
+Resolves #[Issue number to be closed when this PR is merged]
+<!-- List any other related issues here -->
 
 ### Check List
-- [ ] Backport Labels added.
 - [ ] New functionality includes testing.
-  - [ ] All tests pass
 - [ ] New functionality has been documented.
-  - [ ] New functionality has javadoc added
-- [ ] Commits are signed per the DCO using --signoff
+- [ ] API changes companion pull request [created](https://github.com/opensearch-project/opensearch-api-specification/blob/main/DEVELOPER_GUIDE.md).
+- [ ] Commits are signed per the DCO using `--signoff`.
+- [ ] Public documentation issue/PR [created](https://github.com/opensearch-project/documentation-website/issues/new/choose).
 
 By submitting this pull request, I confirm that my contribution is made under the terms of the Apache 2.0 license.
 For more information on following Developer Certificate of Origin and signing off your commits, please check [here](https://github.com/opensearch-project/performance-analyzer/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md#developer-certificate-of-origin).
diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index 0b8aac4e..0f9f3957 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ buildscript {
 
         // The PA Commons (https://github.com/opensearch-project/performance-analyzer-commons)
         // is a library dependency with hardcoded versioning in PA and RCA repos.
-        paCommonsVersion = "1.4.0"
+        paCommonsVersion = "1.5.0"
 
         // 3.0.0-SNAPSHOT -> 3.0.0.0-SNAPSHOT
         version_tokens = opensearch_version.tokenize('-')
@@ -301,8 +301,8 @@ dependencies {
 
     implementation 'org.jooq:jooq:3.10.8'
     implementation 'org.apache.commons:commons-lang3:3.9'
-    implementation 'org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk15to18:1.74'
-    implementation 'org.bouncycastle:bcpkix-jdk18on:1.74'
+    implementation 'org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk15to18:1.78.1'
+    implementation 'org.bouncycastle:bcpkix-jdk18on:1.78.1'
     implementation "org.opensearch:performance-analyzer-commons:${paCommonsVersion}"
     implementation "com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-annotations:${jacksonVersion}"
     implementation "com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-databind:${jacksonDataBindVersion}"
diff --git a/licenses/bcpkix-jdk15to18-1.78.1.jar.sha1 b/licenses/bcpkix-jdk15to18-1.78.1.jar.sha1
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3a1d2a1e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/licenses/bcpkix-jdk15to18-1.78.1.jar.sha1
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+5884ee847542641d04abfbfdeca3446d0300670b
diff --git a/licenses/bcpkix-jdk18on-1.74.jar.sha1 b/licenses/bcpkix-jdk18on-1.74.jar.sha1
deleted file mode 100644
index 59ea623a..00000000
--- a/licenses/bcpkix-jdk18on-1.74.jar.sha1
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-a197fb87f0697c1925e7248865ee84516fdb6d9c
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/licenses/bcprov-jdk15to18-1.74.jar.sha1 b/licenses/bcprov-jdk15to18-1.74.jar.sha1
deleted file mode 100644
index d0d132e6..00000000
--- a/licenses/bcprov-jdk15to18-1.74.jar.sha1
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-b1a91d0d102042e4ec02084384e1b52b73f125ab
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/licenses/bcprov-jdk15to18-1.78.1.jar.sha1 b/licenses/bcprov-jdk15to18-1.78.1.jar.sha1
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..393c2246
--- /dev/null
+++ b/licenses/bcprov-jdk15to18-1.78.1.jar.sha1
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+83bfa8229f7127d933161aefb281e54a9ffcf9f4
diff --git a/release-notes/opensearch-performance-analyzer.release-notes-2.16.0.0.md b/release-notes/opensearch-performance-analyzer.release-notes-2.16.0.0.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e1b3636e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/release-notes/opensearch-performance-analyzer.release-notes-2.16.0.0.md
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+## Version 2.16.0 Release Notes
+
+Compatible with OpenSearch 2.16.0
+
+### Infrastructure
+* Bump bouncycastle from 1.74 to 1.78.1  [#656](https://github.com/opensearch-project/performance-analyzer/pull/656)
+* Bump PA to use 1.5.0 PA commons lib [#698](https://github.com/opensearch-project/performance-analyzer/pull/698)
+
+### Feature 
+* Adds index_uuid as a tag in node stats all shard metrics [#680](https://github.com/opensearch-project/performance-analyzer/pull/680)
+* Adds the listener for resource utilization metrics [#687](https://github.com/opensearch-project/performance-analyzer/pull/687)