What was going on when I was born?

A dispatch from Washington Jan. 17 on the satellite transmission of a television news conference by Henry A. Kissinger to United States missions misidentified the receiver site in Brazil. It was the United States Consulate in Rio de Janeiro.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1984 The Economy A dispute over reorganizing bank regulation was resolved with an agreement initialed by Paul A. Volcker and senior Administration financial officials. The plan, subject to Congressional approval, would establish a Federal Banking Agency to supplant the Comptroller of the Currency and assume some of the authority over banks now held by Mr. Volcker's Federal Reserve Board. Mr. Volcker had resisted such a reduction in Fed control. (Page D1.) The index of leading indicators rose six-tenths of 1 percent in December. Much of the rise in the index, which usually foreshadows the economy's performance, was attributed to expanded borrowing by business and consumers. The gain encouraged economists who were concerned about November's decline. (D1.)

President Reagan, saying he did not want his budget to become ''a political football,'' told Republican Congressional leaders today that he would propose only limited measures to reduce the Federal deficit to $180 billion next year. In briefings for the leaders at the White House, Mr. Reagan offered a preview of the budget for the fiscal year 1985, which is to be formally submitted Wednesday. The fiscal year will begin Oct. 1. According to Congressional sources, the budget calls for spending $925 billion. Tax and Spending Proposals The deficit in the current fiscal year is expected to be $184 billion. The deficit in the next fiscal year, according to projections, would exceed $190 billion without a relatively modest tax increase of $8 billion and net domestic spending cuts of about $4 billion that Congressional leaders say Mr. Reagan plans to propose.

YOU know you should increase your calcium consumption to protect your bones. You're also concerned about heart disease and have decided to follow a low-fat diet. You look at the lists of foods recommended for each and find that what's good for one condition seems to be bad for the other. As it happens, a high-calcium diet is not incompatible with one that protects your heart. But two recent columns - one on consuming enough calcium to prevent bone loss and the other on lowering cholesterol - have brought many questions from readers. Some wrote to say that if they eat some calcium-rich foods to have healthy bones, they might end up with a heart attack. Other readers were concerned that protecting their hearts by eating foods low in fat would mean risking bone loss. Others had specific nutritional questions. Some foods commonly recommended for a heart-saving diet seemed to have more cholesterol than other readers had been told to avoid. And there was concern about bone strength among people who cannot digest milk, an excellent calcium source, or cannot eat much calcium because they tend to form kidney stones. To clarify these and other questions raised by readers of the two columns, first, here are some definitions: Blood, or Serum, Cholesterol

The United States Steel Corporation yesterday reported a loss of $983 million in the fourth quarter, exceeding analysts' predictions by about $300 million because of unexpectedly weak steel and oil results. Most of the fourth-quarter loss was attributable to a $650 million after-tax charge that the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker, the nation's largest, took in connection with its closing of a dozen steel facilities, announced Dec. 27. The loss was the fourth largest ever in corporate history; the largest was $4.87 billion, registered for the same quarter by the American Telephone and Telegraph Company.

A report in the Business People column on Friday incorrectly described the Wesray Corporation's activity in the greeting card business. Wesray once owned Gibson Greeting Cards Inc., which is now publicly held. The American Greetings Corporation, a separate publicly held corporation, has no connection with Wesray.

An article in Business Day yesterday about Monday's stock market trading misstated the change in Southwest Airlines stock. It fell 2 1/4 points.

''I would like to see every nuclear weapon disappear from the face of the earth.

Seven Democratic Presidential candidates joined in opposing a military presence in Lebanon but differed on the arms race. Page A14. WASHINGTON, Jan. 31 - House Democratic leaders agreed tonight on a Congressional resolution that would urge President Reagan to begin ''the prompt and orderly withdrawal'' of the Marine contingent in Lebanon. The leaders ignored protests in their own ranks, however, and declined to include a specific timetable for the removal of the troops.

A withdrawal of the marines from Lebanon was urged by House Democratic leaders in a proposed Congressional resolution. It would urge President Reagan to begin ''the prompt and orderly withdrawal'' of the force, but the leaders, rejecting protests within their ranks, declined to include a specific timetable for a pullout. (Page A1, Column 6.) The House Armed Services panel accepted a report criticizing the United States military in connection with the bombing of the Marine headquarters in Beirut. The committee has historically been strongly supportive of the military. The report was prepared by the comittee's investigations subcommittee. (A1:5.)

Bishop John J. O'Connor was formally named by the Vatican today to head the Archdiocese of New York, and said his first task would be to overcome his ''inexperience.'' ''I think a problem will be my own inexperience in trying to administer an archdiocese of such dimensions with such a variety of cultural groups,'' he said. He added that one of the ''largest Catholic school systems in the world'' and ''a huge church health-care system'' would probably occupy much of his time. ''With that size,'' he said, ''you're going to have problems maintaining quality.'' Although the Archbishop-designate said in a prepared statement today that his ''number one priority'' would be to ''devote'' himself ''to defend human life, especially the life of the unborn,'' he said later in an interview that he had not yet set an agenda, and touched on other issues that concerned him, such as nuclear proliferation and the problem of the homeless.

A State Department official cautioned today against expecting quick progress in strategic arms talks with the Soviet Union. An American negotiator had suggested Monday that the two countries could ''make a breakthrough'' if the Russians agreed to a date for resuming negotiations. The latest statement came at a televised news conference held here by Richard Burt, the Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs. He was apparently seeking to soften remarks made in Washington Monday by Edward L. Rowny, the chief United States negotiator on reducing strategic nuclear arms.