Update- since I was not getting anywhere following the fuel supply issue, I decided to inspect the glow plugs system as per Diesel Giant's DYI write-up (eveni though in-dash glow plug light was showing up and disappearing beautifully...)- and there it was: a hairline fracture of the strip fuse in the relay!!! Replaced the fuse and my car starts perfectly again. My hard starts were hard because the engine had to relay on compression alone! So ,lesson learned as it is shown so many times on this forum: inspect what you expect and assume nothing!!!