What was going on when I was born?

Secretary of State Alexander M. Haig Jr. said today that the list of 50 senators opposed to the sale of Awacs radar surveillance planes to Saudi Arabia was ''replete with soft spots'' and that he could name a dozen senators who were ''ready to reconsider'' their position. Mr. Haig contended that once senators had been fully briefed on all aspects of the Administration's case, the chances for approval of the sale would improve. In Jerusalem, Prime Minister Menachem Begin said that there was ''no link'' between the proposed sale of the Awacs planes and his agreement with President Reagan on an arrangement for strategic cooperation. There have been suggestions in Washington that Congressional rejection of the deal would disrupt the United States-Israeli plan. (Page A6.)

International An emergency meeting in Warsaw was held by Poland's leaders, the second in four days, and when it ended they issued a vaguely worded statement saying that they were prepared to take urgent measures. The Polish press agency said that the authorities were preparing major moves, but did not indicate what they might be. (Page A1, Column 6.) The execution of 149 dissidents in Iran was r eported by Iran's official media. According to a newspaper repo rt, the head of th e the Islamic revolutionary courts said that armed demonstrators may face afiring squad at the ''scene of their crimes'' in the futur e. (A1:4.)

The chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said yesterday that within a year he would seek a 25-cent increase in the $1 tolls on the Triborough Bridge and four other East River crossings to help finance a new plan to pour billions of dollars into the region's mass-transit system. The improvement plan, costing $6.7 billion, calls for the agency to purchase hundreds of new subway cars, commuter rail cars and buses, as well as to make numerous other maintenance improvements over the next five years. Approval by the 15-member M.T.A. board is expected this week. The plan proposed by the authority's chairman, Richard Ravitch, relies heavily on the agency's success in an uncertain municipal bond market. Citing high interest rates, several bond experts, including Felix G. Rohatyn, the chairman of the Municipal Assistance Corporation, have called for the M.T.A. to cut back on its spending plans.

Amid a sense that the economic and political situation was heading for a new crisis, the Government held a second emergency session in four days today and afterward issued a vaguely worded statement that it was prepared to take urgent measures. Reporting on the meeting of the Council of Ministers, or Cabinet, the official press agency, P.A.P., said the central authorities were preparing major moves but gave no indication of what those moves might be. Local mayors and administrative heads from the provinces also attended the m eeting. Political Climate Worsens In recent days, as the political climate has worsened and the economic shortages have grown ever more severe, there has been speculation that the Government may ultimately be forced to declare a state of emergency, a step that would effectively mean the imposition of martial law.

Candidates in tomorrow's primary in New York City, frustrated by a 12-day delay and uncertain whether voters would be discouraged by the judicial intervention that caused the delay, wound up their last weekend of campaigning yesterday with a flurry of appearances. Meanwhile, as the City Council hurried to meet today's deadline for submission of demographic and voting statistics to the United States Justice Department, one of the plaintiffs who won postponement of the Council races said that a defense of the redistricting plan announced Saturday by the Council's attorney, would ''never succeed.'' ''He has not discovered something new,'' said Gabriel Kaimowitz, an attorney for the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, which was one of the plaintiffs. Campaigning among the browsers at the Fifth Avenue Book Fair, Mayor Koch was presented with a framed copy of the fair's official poster, and he told a cheering crowd: ''I am going to take this back to Gracie Mansion and it will be there for at least eight years.'' Arms Aloft in Crowd The Mayor then went to the Third Avenue Street Festival, where he strode from 68th Street to 92d Street, his arms aloft and thumbs cocked. He asked the festival crowd his familiar refrain: ''How'm I'mdoing?''

The General Motors Corporation gave the economy of northwest Louisiana a boost earlier this month when it opened a highly automated plant to produce a new line of light-duty trucks. But the excitement over the new plant and its impact on the local economy has overshadowed the recognition that G.M.'s factory, which will pump an annual payroll of about $34.9 million into the economy, may be the industry's last big investment in the South for some time, ending an era of rapid expansion in the region by G.M. and, to some extent, by the Ford Motor Company. ''The South, economically, still looks good,'' said Howard Kehrl, vice chairman at G.M., who cautioned against ruling out the area as a site for future construction. But, he added, there was another side to the story that bodes well for investment in the North and Middle West.

The Federal Communications Commission ''almost certainly'' will delay beyond March 1982 the planned implementation of its telephone deregulation program, according to one of the agency's members. The centerpiece of the program is a new subsidiary of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company that would sell on an unregulated basis a variety of communications equipment, ranging from telephones to complex switchboards, and offer sophisticated data and information services. Subject to pending appeals before the commission and in the United States Court of Appeals here, the plan, drawn up by the F.C.C., was to take effect March 1, 1982. But Joseph R. Fogarty, a commission member who specializes in telephone regulation, said that implementation of the program could slip to December of 1982 or even later.

In a move intended to reduce the threat of serious trade friction with the United States and Europe, Japan is planning to c urb its rapidly rising exports of videotape recorders, the Governmen t confirmed today. Details of the plan, being drafted by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, were not disclosed. However, the ministry is preparing to present the program of so-called voluntary restraints at a trade conference in November between Japan, the United States and the European Economic Community. The tentative plan to restrict exports of the popular consoles, mostly used to record and replay television programs and view movies at home, would begin April 1, 1982.

Imports of Canadian steel into the United States, though relatively small, are growing rapidly, causing concern in the sluggish American market. And amplifying this concern are disputes over Canada's trade practices and questions about the competitiveness of steelmakers in the United States. The impact of the Canadian imports has been overshadowed by the flow of Japanese and European steel into the United States. But the focus is shifting.

At the Pittsburgh Hilton, Val Troy, the general manager, was a little concerned when he found out for sure Aug. 3 that the nation's air traffic controllers were about to begin a nationwide strike. Three weeks later all his worries had been confirmed: a lot of his rooms had gone unoccupied. But in the ensuing three weeks, his fears have faded, and Mr. Troy said the other day, ''Now everything is back to normal.'' Mr. Troy's experience in a business that is partly dependent on traffic from Pittsburgh's airport, the nation's hardest hit in terms of canceled flights, has parallels across the country, a spot check by The New York Times of major airports and neighboring cities has found. Though experiences vary from business to business, most have seen conditions creep back toward levels before the strike.

With a major retrenchment in Government social programs scheduled to occur Oct. 1, millions of poor Americans are facing the imminent loss of some or all of their Government benefits. But the effects may be delayed somewhat by uncertainty and confusion among state officials who must enforce the changes. No one in Washington or the state capitals can predict precisely how many people will be affected, and interpretation of the new law will vary from state to state. Welfare officials believe that Thousands of families in the New York metropolitan area have been notified of welfare cuts. Page D12. the people who depend on programs such as Aid to Families with Dependent Children, food stamps, Medicaid, unemployment insurance and public housing will themselves be surprised by many of the changes because officials in Washington and most states have not publicized the details.

Fall in the suburbs is what the leaves do. Much is made of the leaves' spectacular color and graceful descent, but to many suburban homeowners, autumn leaves are just so many enemy paratroopers littering their lawns and clogging the gutters. ''Raking 40 bags every year for 18 years makes you look at the beautiful leaves as a problem,'' said Elise Missall, offering the view of a score of other residents of the area. ''Raking leaves is a drag.'' So, said many residents, is lugging the lawn furniture back to the garage, taking out air-conditioners and putting up storm windows.