May 19, 1979

British Govt sources say Prime Min Thatcher has decided to send full-time envoy to Rhodesia; envoy will go to Salisbury soon after biracial govt of Bishop Muzorewa will take office; Thatcher and Foreign Sec Lord Carrington recognize that their action will increase pressure on Pres Carter to soften his opposition to internal settlement; 35 high commissioners from Commonwealth countries say Rhodesian elections won by Muzorewa's party constituted 'gigantic fraud' (M)

Billy Carter, in interview with NY Times, says he has told Federal grand jury in Atlanta, Ga, that no money from family's peanut business or its banks loans was diverted to '76 Presidential campaign; says grand jury session centered on how Carter Warehouse Inc had arranged for $6.8 million in loans from National Bank of Georgia, then controlled by Bert Lance; Billy Carter por (M)

Exxon will market a highly efficient 'alternating current synthesizer' that will allow AC motors from 1 to 100 horsepower or larger to be operated at variable speeds and, according to company, could save US energy equivalent of 1 million bbls a day of oil by '90; says device will mean a 50% saving in energy needed to power industrial motors, primary market for device; will spend 'well over $100 million' on development; is talking with Reliance Electric, leading maker of industrial controls, on possible merger; Howard C Kauffmann, president, comments; illus; graph of power saving (M)

News analysis of Carter Adm's energy policies finds Adm has recently sounded 'confusing and contradictory trumpet'; contrasts Carter's admonishment of American public for not facing inevitable prospects of energy shortages or prospects of paying more while using less fuel with his reassurance to Calif Gov Edmund G Brown Jr that things will improve; notes contradictory statements by Energy Sec James R Schlesinger and press secretary Jody Powell

jury in Karen Silkwood case awards $103 million in damages to her estate; Judge Frank G Theis accepts Silkwood attorneys' argument that nuclear power industry should be held to 'strict' or 'absolute' liability, which means that negligence on Kerr-McGee's part did not have to be proved; jury rejects company's argument that Silkwood removed plutonium from plant; Kerr-McGee to seek new trial and appeal if it is not granted; possible effects on Theis's ruling on nuclear power industry discussed; Silkwood por; illus of her parents (M)