February 17, 1970

NY Telephone pres C W Owens says proposed interim rate increase of 10.4% will not be enough in view of massive expansion and service improvement programs currently under way; PSC hearing examiner I E Crade blames inadequate service on 'poor forecasting' of resources needed to meet growth in demand, says personnel do not meet acceptable standards of efficiency and courtesy; PSC adopts his recommendation that co file monthly progress rept; orders moratorium on installation or inward direct dialing systems, except for orders already accepted, until co's capacity to provide service exceeds state's busy hour requirements; co concedes that it underestimated problem, says it has difficulty getting and keeping skilled help

Illus

USSR press agency Tass, in statement highly critical of Israel, pledges USSR will supply Arab states with 'necessary support' to bolster their defenses against Israeli 'aggression'; notes raid on scrap-metal plant; holds USSR wants pol settlement; Western diplomats see statement indicating added mil aid for UAR, other Arab nations is likely; see pledge to aid 'Arab states' ruling out overt support for guerrilla orgns; Al Fatah and Palestine Liberation Orgn head Arafat is in USSR as guest of African-Asian Solidarity Group, nongovt body, and has been ignored by USSR press; UN repts Thant and Jarring will meet in Geneva to assess their roles in seeking to cope with deteriorating situation; 6-nation UN investigating body repts hearing charges that Israelis tortured prisoners in Nablus, Jerusalem and Gaza; repts Israel did not cooperate with probe, barred group from Israeli territory; repts some witnesses said Israeli forces occasionally ill-treated and killed civilians without provocation

nomination approved by Sen Judiciary Com

effects of indus layoffs on Detroit econ discussed; recession is not worst city has seen; mid-Jan jobless total was 84,000, unemployment rate of 4.9%, compared with 166,000 jobless, or 11.6%, in Jan '61; illus