What was going on when I was born?

Mayor Koch told the Salvation Army yesterday that its contracts with the city to provide day care and other services would not be renewed until it adopted an unbiased hiring policy toward homosexuals. Mr. Koch, in a letter to the organization, said that he regretted the situation but that he would allow no exceptions to his Executive Order 50, which bans discrimination because of ''sexual orientation or affectional preference.'' Any group doing business with the city must promise in writing to comply with the two-year-old order. 'There Can Be No Exception' ''The city has high regard for the work of the Salvation Army, but there can be no exception to Executive Order 50,'' the Mayor wrote to Lieut. Col. Wallace C. Conrath, divisional commander of the Salvation Army of Greater New York. He said that while religious groups were free to practice any way they wished, they must comply with all city laws when they receive government money to provide services.

A former Salvadoran military official has implicated high-ranking Salvadoran officials and civilians in acts of terrorism, including Roberto d'Aubuisson, a leading candidate for El Salvador's presidency. The former official, who has served at the highest level of the security police in El Salvador, has given members of Congress extensive information on what he says are the inner workings of Salvadoran death squads, how and why they were formed, who directs and pays them and who selects their victims. He is believed to be the first officer with experience in the highest councils of the Salvadoran Government to accuse fellow officers publicly of violent political crimes. It was not possible to obtain independent verification of the accusations by the officer, who asked to remain anonymous because of fear of reprisal. But a United States Senator who interviewed him says he will seek an investigation of the charges and a Congressman says he is confident of the former official's veracity.

When Robert Newmann began sandblasting a wall of the Palladium Theater in Manhattan in 1982, he intended to create an experimental work of art. Two years later, however, the project has become an experiment of a different sort: the first test of a new law protecting artists and the works they create. For the past year, Mr. Newmann maintains, the Palladium's new tenant has blocked him from completing his project, a mural designed to coax a variety of tones out of a brick wall. So, citing the Artists' Authorship Rights Act, signed by Governor Cuomo last year and in effect since Jan. 1, he has taken the tenant and the landlord to court.

Syria's key Lebanese allies tonight dropped their demands for the resignation of President Amin Gemayel. Officials here said the move cleared the way for carrying out an accord between Mr. Gemayel and President Hafez al-Assad of Syria to end Lebanon's strife. The demands that the Lebanese President resign - which had come from Walid Jumblat, the Druse leader, and Nabih Berri, the Shiite Moslem leader - had been seen as a major obstacle to agreement on the framework of a Lebanese peace accord. In Beirut today, officials said Mr. Assad and Mr. Gemayel had reached an understanding on how to achieve a political solution to the conflict. On Thursday, Syria's official press agency said that after two days of talks, Mr. Gemayel and Mr. Assad were in ''complete agreement on the ways and means of reinforcing Lebanon's Arab identity, unity and independence.''

Konstantin U. Chernenko urged the United States today to take actions that could signal ''the start of a real drastic change in Soviet-American relations.'' ''We would wish such a drastic change,'' the new Soviet leader said in his first major address since the funeral of his predecessor, Yuri V. Andropov. ''Now it is up to Washington to act.'' Mr. Chernenko's speech was the last of a series of ''pre-election speeches'' by unopposed candidates to the Supreme Soviet, one of the major rituals of the Soviet one-party system.

The head of the Environmental Protection Agency today announced rules to curb the use of EDB on fruit and warned that the nation faced a broad problem from many other pesticides put into use before strict health standards were imposed. William D. Ruckelshaus, the agency's Administrator, said the lesson to be learned from the experience with the pesticide EDB was that society must be cautious about introducing chemicals into the environment and becoming dependent on their use. Expert Panel Sees Problem As Mr. Ruckelshaus discussed the need to determine the safety of pesticides already in use, a committee of experts assembled by the National Research Council reported that tens of thousands of commercially important chemicals had never been adequately tested for potential health hazards. (Page 10.)

President Amin Gemayel of Lebanon has reached an understanding with Syria on a plan to resolve his country's political crisis, Lebanese officials said today. The terms of the proposed agreement would mark a sharp shift in Lebanon's diplomatic orientation, away from Israel and toward Syria. Diplomats in Damascus and officials here said the understanding reached by Mr. Gemayel and Mr. Assad called for the cancellation of the troop withdrawal accord that Lebanon reached with Israel last May 17, the resumption of Lebanese political reconciliation talks in Geneva as early as next week and the formation of a government of national unity that would include all major political factions. 'Extremely Successful Visit' A high-ranking Lebanese official who briefed reporters today at the presidential palace just outside Beirut expressed cautious optimism that an agreement with Syria would be concluded.

Rio de Janeiro's legendary carnival is a more serious affair than usual this year. It is taking place during Brazil's worst economic crisis in decades, with both the sacrifice of buying the glittering ''fantasy'' costumes and the need for release from the hardship of daily routine greater than ever. It is also the city's first carnival under a Socialist Governor, Leonel Brizola. Already criticized for rising crime rates and deteriorating public services, Mr. Brizola has made a bid for popularity by spending $20 million on permanent viewing stands - quickly christened the Sambadrome - along the route of the samba parades. But his many political foes seem no less eager to find a way of blaming him for the ''failure'' of carnival.

Edwin Meese 3d, President Reagan's nominee for Attorney General, was challenged today over the sale of his California home, his views on civil rights and the Reagan Administration's record on appointing members of minority groups to the Federal bench. In the second day of confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Howard M. Metzenbaum raised further questions about the sale of the house, based on a copy of the purchaser's mortgage and handwritten notes by Mr. Meese. Mr. Metzenbaum, an Ohio Democrat, has been attempting to examine whether Mr. Meese arranged Reagan Administration jobs in exchange for help in settling debts after he moved to Washington to take his post as the Presidential counselor. Mr. Meese denies this. Looking Into Friends' Dealings As part of that line of questioning, Mr. Metzenbaum has been delving into the dealings of friends who helped Mr. Meese to sell his home in La Mesa, Calif.

The provisional President of El Salvador said here tonight that human rights violations had subsided in his country and called on Congress not to attach strict conditions to military aid. ''I hope the Government and people of El Salvador will not face collective punishment because of the actions a few fanatics,'' President Alvaro Magana said.

Iraq warned foreign shipping again tonight not to approach Iranian ports in the Persian Gulf. But it said it did not intend to attack the main Iranian oil terminal on Kharg Island at present. Speaking on the Baghdad radio, an Iraqi military spokesman said the Government had decided on such a course to give the Iranians a chance ''to allow Iraq to make use of its right of navigation in the Gulf.'' ''But if they insist on preventing us from exercising this right,'' he said, ''Iraq will destroy these installations.''

The State Department has sent a team of technicians to Central America to consult with governments on how to verify compliance in arms limitation treaties, according to a United States Embassy official here. The assistance marks the first time that the United States has offered technical aid to the so-called Contadora peace plan, which is an effort by four Latin American countries to reduce tensions in Central America. Until now, the United States has repeatedly voiced its support for the effort, but has been criticized for not participating more fully. Officials at the American Embassy were reluctant to explain why the United States was now offering assistance, or to characterize the extent of that existence. One high embassy official declined to confirm that the team had been in El Salvador.