What was going on when I was born?

Because of a computation error by the Federal Economic Development Administration, an article in Metropolitan Report last Tuesday incorrectly reported the status of a loan guarantee sought by the Beattie Manufacturing Company of Keansburg, N.J. The guarantee was approved. A photograph accompanying an article about the rock group Sha Na Na in Weekend on Friday was incorrectly identified. It showed Bruce Clarke, a former member of the group.

Britain's economy is likely to move deeper into recession as a result of the Government's budget proposals, some bankers and economists fear. Many expect industrial output to decline as much as 3 percent this year, while the number of unemployed persons could approach three million. (Page D1.)

A long-awaited report by a panel of architects on how to reshape construction in midtown Manhattan has proposed allowing buildings on the West Side to be a third larger than the biggest towers now permitted in most of the city. The architects diverged sharply from the city's own initial proposals, which called for a lowering of Manhattan's future skyline to let more sunlight reach the streets and hold down the growing density of midtown. The new report, by the American Institute of Architects, is the last major review of midtown zoning to be issued before the city makes its own final proposals. Richard K. Bernstein, the head of the city's Midtown Development Project, a task force charged with overhauling midtown building regulations, said that the architects' report would ''be looked at very carefully.'' He said that the city hoped to finish its final draft by the beginning of April, and that final action by community boards, the City Planning Commission and the Board of Estimate could follow within six months.

The State Department made every effort yesterday to avoid saying that a group of high-ranking South African military officers, including the army's chief of staff for intelligence, had been expelled from the United States for misrepresenting themselves and their mission when they applied for their visas. Instead it explained that official inquiries were made as to when they would be departing and the response was that they would be leaving last night, apparently on the first available plane. The diplomatic delicacy of the Department's account was considerably more than the Pretoria Government might have expected from the Carter Administration under similar circumstances, but considerably less than it obviously hoped to gain from the Reagan Administration when it made its extraordinary breach of protocol by sending the officers to Washington in the guise of diplomats. Disbelief Is Feared American diplomats here and in Washington were immediately concerned that the official explanation of how such high-ranking officers could have been given visas without their identity becoming known would be met by widespread disbelief, especially by South Africa's black-ruled neighbors, which are already quite suspicious of the new Administration's attitude to the white regime here.

In the seven months since the New York State Legislature enacted a tougher handgun law, a record number of New York City residents have applied for licenses to own guns - for their homes and businesses, for target shooting or to carry on the street. Between Aug. 12, when the law went into effect, and March 5, the police received 5,758 applications for handgun licenses, almost twice as many as were filed in the same period a year earlier. The percentages of applications granted are the same as in the past, the police say: approximately 93 percent of those for a gun at a home or business or for use at a gun range, and 55 percent of those to carry a gun. Fear and the New Law The police attribute the increase in applications to a fear of rising crime and to a provision in the new law that is designed to speed the processing of applications.

They discovered a body here this chilly Ides of March weekend in a rambling turn-of-the-century hotel on a remote mountaintop in the foothills of the Catskills where 300 mystery buffs had gathered. The victim was identified as Avaricia Smit, the owner of a New York bookstore, Murder EST, whose body was discovered Thursday night in an oversized Oriental urn, her aquamarine boa spilling onto the Persian carpet. Six suspects were immediately taken into custody for questioning as the guests divided into groups set on bringing the culprit to justice. Enlisting such experts as Isaac Asimov, Robert B. Parker and Patricia Moyes, these self-appointed private eyes spent the next three days stalking the murder scene for clues, searching the Victorian-style hotel's labyrinthine footpaths, exploring its drafty corridors and poking their noses into grandfather clocks, galleyways and gazebos. No matter that, at other times, some preferred Rex Stout to Arthur Conan Doyle or the idiosyncrasies of Hercule Poirot to those of Nick Charles, here in the Mohonk Lake Mountain House at the fifth Annual Murder Ink mystery weekend, all gumshoes were created equal and the only question that mattered was: whodunit?

Starting next month, Connecticut will invest $25 million of the pension fund for its state employees and teachers in what state officials call a ''socially responsible'' new venture - home mortgages. In the next five years the state's pension fund, whose investments up to now have been the more traditional stocks and bonds, plans to put $400 million into the mortgage market to finance up to 12,000 mortgages for Connecticut homebuyers. Record interest rates on mortgages and the decreasing ability of middle-income people to buy houses have prompted state pension funds in Connecticut and other states to look at mortgage investments as a way of getting a good return and stimulating the supply of mortgage funds at the same time. ''The people of Connecticut who are trying to get conventional mortgages need it, the housing industry needs it and our pension investment program needs it,'' said Henry E. Parker, the State Treasurer, ''because it will represent a high-quality investment as well as being a socially responsible act.'' Mr. Parker presides over the $1.5 billion pension fund for 70,000 state workers and teachers.

At lunchtime on Friday, outside the members' entrance to the New York Stock Exchange on Broad Street, there was a line to get a Mister Softee ice cream cone and a line to get a frankfurter, but no wait to get your blood pressure checked for free in the Seventh Day Adventists' van. A trader whose blood pressure seemed to be rising as he stood in the frankfurter line observed, ''Oh yeah, I'd say things are humming inside. They're happening. These last couple of days, it's been go, go, go.''

For Salvador peasants, fruits of change seem good A2 Turkish military increasing regi- mentation of civilian life A3 Notes on the U.N.: 1 in 4 women there report harassment A4 Around the World A5 Soviet Jewish activist threatened with expulsion from Moscow A7 Zia calls hijacking a bid to turn Pakistan from Islamic path A8 U.S. seeks identity of 'American' on hijacked plane A8 Government/Politics House Republicans seek Demo- cratic votes for Reagan budget A17 Connecticut to provide home mortgages with pension funds B1 Reagan, in New York, plans eve- ning watching son dance B6 Restored Federal grants to New York followed intense lobbying B6 Watt's testimony indicates Rea- gan goals on public lands B10 General Around the Nation A10 Philadelphia braces for full effect of transit strike A11 Former mill town faces arrival of sewer lines with mixed feelings A19 Three hundred "sleuths" gather to pore over a bookish crime B1 Industry/Labor Economic slump threatens 105- year-old candy company A18 Northeast rail corridor project faces budget cuts B10 Religion Ex-hostage and wife say ordeal led them to transformation B3 Style Relationships B8 The childhood 'industry': Con- flicting advice B8 Reagan's protocol choice: A pen- chant for perfection B8 SportsMonday Baseball: Guidry taking it slowly, looking for year like 1978 C7 Mets top Cardinals, 11-7 C7 Basketball: Ray Williams, Rich- ardson lead Knicks over 76ers C1 Celtics beat Nets and move within a half game of 76ers C5 Brown, U.C.L.A. coach, still un- certain about joining Nets C3 Virginia ousts Villanova, 54-50, in East Regional C1 Aguirre taking De Paul's loss as personal failure C3 Upset of De Paul fits into St. Jo- seph's tradition C2 Boston College, Alabama-Bir- mingham win in upsets C4 Oregon State again makes early exit from tournament play C5 North Carolina downs Pitts- burgh in West C4 Kansas, Wichita State triumph in Midwest C4 Columns: Red Smith on Rick Cer- one C7 Dave Anderson on black managers in major leagues C8 Features: In sports, the main issue is money C1 Sports World Specials C2 Question Box C10 Golf: Tom Weiskopf, at 38, is still reaching for his potential C10 Ray Floyd wins Doral open by a stroke on 68-273 C10 Hockey: Rangers rebound with 6-2 victory over Whalers C8 Skiing: Phil Mahre takes World Cup slalom in Japan C8 Sports News Briefs C8 Statistics C11 Tennis: Connors beats Gottfried in Belgian final C10 Arts/Entertainment Lucinda Childs, choreographer, presents four of her works C12 "Broadway Follies," a vaudeville program, at Nederlander C13 Lefort reviews first 6 months as Paris Opera director C13 "The Cat and the King" by Louis Auchincloss is reviewed C15 "Nine Months," Hungarian film by Marta Meszaros, opens C15 Oakland Ballet appears in Brook- lyn College series C15 Bobby Rosengarden leads all-star combo at Rainbow Room C16 Donahue, on TV, talks to children who face death C22 Features/Notes About Washington: A nonlyrical view of Irish troubles A10 Going Out Guide C14 Notes on People C15 News Analysis Joseph Lelyveld on South Africa's hopes for Reagan A1 Stuart Taylor Jr. assesses Con- gress' moves on Federal courts A16 Editorials/Letters/Op-Ed Editorials A22 Critical choice for I.C.C. post To make boarding homes safer Coalition to improve city transit Hugh Price: TV regulation Letters A22 Flora Lewis: putting the military cart before the horse A23 William Safire: the end of public television A23 James C. Webster: reasons for continuing the grain embargo A23 Jay Angoff: the cost of tax loop- holes A23

Bloomingdale's, whose efforts to enter the Chicago market have been frustrated for months because of opposition from Marshall Field & Company, that city's largest department-store chain, may be closing in on its goal. Federated Department Stores Inc., the parent company of Bloomingdale's and Abraham & Straus, said in response to queries that it was ''working with Marshall Field to solve the problem and we have hopes that we can do so amicably.'' A Federated spokesman in Cincinnati said that he could not elaborate because negotiations were under way in Chicago.

With Michael Ray Richardson and Ray Williams at their best, Campy Russell on target with long jump shots and Marvin Webster playing intimidating defense, the Knicks beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 120-109, yesterday at Madison Square Garden. The loss, coupled with Boston's 133-125 victory over the Nets, cut Philadelphia's Atlantic Division lead to a half-game over the Celtics. It was third time this season the Knicks have beaten the 76ers, who have lost only 17 games. The Knicks attacked from the start. With some torrid shooting by Russell and Williams, who scored 10 points each, and eight rebounds by Sly Williams, the Knicks raced to a 34-25 first quarter advantage. The 76ers didn't challenge after that.

For the nation's big oil companies, it has been quite a shopping spree. In little more than a week, the Standard Oil Company of Califonia has offered to buy Amax Inc. for $4 billion, the Standard Oil Company (Ohio) has agreed to buy the Kennecott Corporation for $1.77 billion and Joseph E. Seagram & Sons is trying to buy the St. Joe Minerals Corporation with $2 billion of the money it made selling its oil assets last year. ''Don't leave anything sitting around on a table, or we'll buy it,'' said an oil company official with a laugh. But the headlong rush by major oil companies to purchase natural resource concerns is hardly a laughing matter to a growing number of economists who worry that the purchases may not represent the most efficient use of scarce capital. There is also concern among opponents of conglomerate mergers, advocates of forcing fast development of alternative energy sources and political liberals who fought against the decontrol of crude oil prices this year. Focus on the Search for Oil