What was going on when I was born?

A city panel yesterday narrowed from 13 to seven the number of companies competing for the most sought-after cable franchises in the nation - contracts in Brooklyn, Staten Island, the Bronx and Queens. The panel, the Cable Television Working Group, an advisory unit appointed by the Board of Estimate, also proposed Chairman's statement, page B4. that the city carve all boroughs but the Bronx, which attracted only one proposal, into three cable areas each. The approach permits a number of companies to share in anticipated profits.

A $225-a-week electrical maintenance worker in a Manhattan office building was announced yesterday as the sole winner of the $5 million prize in the New York State Nov. 14 Lotto drawing, the largest known lottery payoff in history. Although the winner, Louis Eisenberg, 53 years old, and his wife, Bernice, expect to remain in their two-and-a-half-room apartment in the King's Highway section of Brooklyn, he will retire immediately to ''complete freedom to do what we enjoy.'' They plan to take some trips, perhaps to Hawaii. ''Fifty-three years I'm eating bread, and I want to eat cake,'' said Mr. Eisenberg, a bouncy man with sparkling eyes and a toothpaste-ad smile. He gave his reactions in what he called ''my first press conference'' at the New York State Lottery offices at 2 World Trade Center.

When Pete Love, chairman of National Steel, is not busy streamlining his steel operations, he likes to talk about making National the financial services company for the working class. ''We don't want to confuse people,'' said Mr. Love, his long legs crammed under a conference table. ''But we are a steel company and a financial services company.'' The foundation of the National Steel Corporation's financial services operation is the Citizens Savings and Loan of California, which it bought it 1979. But just last September, it broadened its base with the purchase of two troubled thrift institutions - West Side Federal in New York and Washington Savings and Loan in Florida.

A surprising move by the Federal Reserve adding credit to the banking system led to a steep drop in interest rates yesterday, but by late in the day rates climbed above their lowest levels as some analysts began to doubt the significance of the Fed's action. Despite the late-afternoon increases, short- and long-term interest rates ended the day significantly lower. The three-month Treasury bill, for example, closed at 10.02 percent, down from 10.59 percent a day earlier. In volatile trading, the three-month issue traded briefly at 9.75 percent, the first time it has dropped below 10 percent since early September 1980.

The White House said today that President Reagan had received an initial report from the Federal Bureau of Investigation saying there was no call for administrative action against Richard V. Allen, the national security adviser, for receiving a $1,000 cash payment from a Japanese journalist. The White House said ''an initial oral F.B.I. report'' was ''provided'' to Edwin Meese 3d ''for guidance'' about two weeks ago and that Mr. Meese transmitted the report to Mr. Reagan. But the White House did not say who spoke to Mr. Meese or exactly when the conversation took place. At the same time, Justice Department sources reaffirmed that prosecutors had not uncovered evidence indicating that Mr. Allen committed a crime. They said that, barring any startling developments, they did not expect Attorney General William French Smith to request a special prosecutor, as provided for in the Ethics and Government Act of 1978.

The recent Federal indictment of four men on charges of enslaving eight migrant farm workers in North Carolina has drawn attention to what appears to be a broader problem of involuntary servitude in the fields of the Southeast. The two brothers and two other members of a black clan of migrant labor contractors were accused of enticing the workers with drink and marijuana and then holding them against their will. Lawyers for the four men deny the charges. But regardless of the outcome of the case the Justice Department official who monitors such situations, as well as advocates for farm workers, contend this type of incident is a serious and continuing problem in the region. Federal Efforts Stepped Up The plight of the domestic laborers is gaining attention as the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Justice Department are stepping up efforts to halt the smuggling into the United States of illegal aliens, who are also often forced to work for little or no money. Like the aliens, the domestic workers are trucked to fields by labor contractors and crew leaders who recruit, deliver and supervise them.

International An American arms control plan was presented by President Reagan. Urging that both Washington and Moscow act to avoid ''the dread threat of nuclear war,'' he announced he had proposed to the Kremlin cancellation of plans for new American intermediate-range missiles in Europe in return for the dismantling of comparable Soviet nuclear forces. (Page A1, Column 6.) Moscow dismissed the arms proposals offered by President Reagan as a ploy designed to scuttle the Geneva talks on controls and to blunt the antinuclear movement in Western Europe. A dispatch by Tass questioned Mr. Reagan's assertion that Moscow was superior in mediumrange weapons and called his figures ''fantastic.'' (A1:5.)

Throughout much of the 1970's the Consolidated Edison Company of New York was viewed as one of the nation's most troubled electric utilities. It committed the blasphemy of omitting a dividend payment in 1974. Its credit was deemed so risky that it had no credit rating at all. And stock market analysts did not even want to discuss the company, let alone recommend that their clients buy some of its depressed shares. ''We were the pariah of the industry,'' Arthur Hauspurg, Consolidated Edison's president, said in an interview. ''When we skipped a dividend, everybody in the industry hated us -analysts, all the other utilities, everybody. But when I see many of those same people today, they say our skipping a dividend was the best thing that ever happened to the industry. It shocked the rate commissions into loosening up and helped lay the basis for where we are today.'' Where Con Edison is today - at least as Wall Street sees it - is at the end of a transformation. It is a recovery that many Wall Street analysts contend has become a model for electric utilities around the nation. The company's earnings were up 52 percent in the third quarter to a record $202.9 million, or $3.05 a share, and Con Ed's stock price has been regularly pushing through its yearly high.

The Office of Management and Budget has proposed cutting the operating budget of the Environmental Protection Agency by 36 percent in the fiscal year 1983, Reagan Administration officials disclosed today. The agency's administrator, Anne M. Gorsuch, contends that cuts of that magnitude would throw the agency into disarray, according to the officials, who asked not to be identified. They said she was prepared to fight the proposal, which was made last week, and would take it up to President Reagan if necessary. Mrs. Gorsuch herself had suggested that the agency's budget be reduced by 18 percent for the fiscal year 1983. This would come on top of cuts of at least 16 percent already imposed on the agency by the Reagan Administration for the fiscal years 1981 and 1982.

The billion-dollar fur industry, which has seen a rare upsurge in manufacturing in New York City in recent years, has been hit by a general strike for the first time in 30 years. Yesterday marked the eighth day of the strike, by 2,500 union members of the Furriers Joint Council. Nearly 300 shops have been closed. Both sides agree that the key issue is whether manufacturers with more orders than they can handle should be allowed to get work done by nonunion contractors.

The first statewide recount of a governor's race in New Jersey began today at sites in the state's 21 counties. Under the watchful eye of aides and lawyers representing Thomas H. Kean of Livingston, the Republican candidate, and James J. Florio of Runnemede, the Democrat, county election officials opened voting machines and boxes of ballots to begin recounting 2.289 million votes. Mr. Florio, who sought the recount, trailed Mr. Kean by 1,677 votes in the first count. Brief disagreements between the two sides over procedural regulations caused delays in some counties in the morning, but they were cleared up by midday, officials said. 'Going Very Smoothly' Neil Upmeyer, director of the state's Division of Elections, said this afternoon: ''I've been spending the last hour or so calling around and I've heard of very few changes and very few problems. There were some hurdles over ground rules this morning. But everybody's reporting to me it's going very smoothly this afternoon.''

In China's garden, Protestantism blossoms, too A2 Turkey adopts patient attitude toward Papandreou A3 U.N. General Assembly urges troop pullout from Afghanistan A4 Reagan aide says Philippines needs more progress on rights A5 Israeli Cabinet's Secretary faces disciplinary hearing A6 Khomeini gives up further powers to expected successor A8 Henry Kissinger trapped in lecture hall in Brazil protest A9 Moroccan policy: crackdown at home, turn to U.S. abroad A11 Christian Lebanese militia keeps up siege of U.N. base A12 Japanese magazine presented gift box to Mrs. Reagan A14 Bulgarian collective farm is proud of its wine A15 Government/Politics Crime reform bill clears Senate Judiciary Committee A22 Illinois Democrats endorse Stevenson for Governor B8 Connecticut legislative session to provide test for Governor B2 Washington Talk Briefing B6 Henry Kissinger keeps distance from Reagan White House B6 Nicknames are in vogue on Capitol Hill B6 General Around the Nation A20 Geneticist and brain researcher get Lasker awards B2 Witness at Margiotta retrial details insurance fee splitting B3 How a young lawyer got his big chance B3 Industry/Labor A look at the efforts of organizers for the United Mine Workers A20 Silk gets 2 as Rangers defeat Flyers, 5-2 B11 Todd still in pain and his playing status remains uncertain B11 Dick Williams accepts job as manager of Padres B11 Rockets beat Celtics, 108-106 B14 Dave Anderson on the N.F.L.'s painful reality B14 Features/Notes Woman in the News: Kathy Whitmire, Mayor-elect of Houston A24 Notes on People C27 Sports People B14 News Analysis Hedrick Smith assesses Reagan's arms proposal A16 Martin Tolchin on reason for the delay on a money bill A21 Tony Schwartz on the cable telvision franchise candidates B4 Editorials/Letters/Op-Ed Editorials A30 A sober custodian Marathon Oil is a bargain Topics: stop, look and listen Letters A30 Anthony Lewis: "absurd and sui- cidal" A31 William Safire: Reagan gets started A31 C.B. Macpherson: Reagan, Thatcher and liberalism A31 Larry Bush: the "majority" vs. gays A31 Home Section Home The new Bohemians: Design as self-expression C1 Monticello regains 18th-century look C1 Down's syndrome and sibling love C1 Hers C2 A half dozen crafts fairs in Connecticut C3 Home Beat C3 Home Improvement C4 Calendar of Events C5 On the right track down in the Village C8 A growing passion for plate collecting C10 Gardening: Indoor plants that need little light C12 Health/Science Tacoma pupfish, a Death Valley dweller, declared extinct A20 Arts/Entertainment Music From Marlboro plays Schoenberg's String Trio C16 Ephraim Kishon, Israeli humorist, wins a prize C19 Sydney Pollack's film "Absence of Malice" opens C21 "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" staged C21 Renovated Ritz Theater will rejoin Broadway fold C21 Critic examines hazard of plays about occupations C24 Book of anecdotes, "The Literary Life," reviewed C26 A doctor who sees what others hear on records C28 City Ballet offers 3 choreographers at opening night C39 Home Box Office offers pay TV "Sherlock Holmes" C30 Barry Salwen plays Beethoven in piano recital C32 Obituaries Daniel Lang, author and New Yorker writer B8 Sports Pitt joins Big East Conference in basketball B10