March 19, 1981

The Koch administration yesterday announced a plan to fight illegal parking in midtown Manhattan that would prohibit double parking even if the driver or a passenger remained in the car. Although any form of double parking is technically illegal, the city's police officers and brown-uniformed traffic-enforcement agents have traditionally allowed motorists to ignore the regulations as long as someone - even a child - was in the car. Under the new policy, which takes effect on Monday, these drivers, too, will be subject to summonses if they double-park or park in ''no standing'' zones and bus lanes from Third to Seventh Avenues and from 42d to 59th Streets. In a few days, the city expects to start an administrative process that by May would raise the fine for such offenses to $40 from $35.

Acting with a swiftness seldom seen on Capitol Hill, the Republican-dominated Senate Budget Committee today recommended $23 billion in budget cuts. Those decisions, coupled with the panel's actions a day earlier, accounted for a total of more than $35 billion in proposed reductions in two days. Completion of action on the budget package, which senators contend makes the most sweeping changes in financing and programs since the New Deal, is scheduled for tomorrow. The measure, which includes the major share of President Reagan's proposed reductions from the budget for the fiscal year 1982 submitted by the Carter Administration, is scheduled to reach the Senate floor next week, where it is expected to receive equally swift treatment in the Republican-controlled chamber. Last year the committee took a week to recommend cuts of $4 billion and the Senate took six months to approve the measure.

An article in The Times last Sunday on money-raising efforts in connection with the killing and disappearance of black children in Atlanta misstated the purpose of one fund. Money sent to the Committee to Stop Children's Murders, 334 Auburn Avenue S.E., Atlanta, Ga. 30303, will be given to the families of the victims for food, rent and other aid, but not for investigation of the crimes.

Propelled by a rise in automobile buying, the American economy appears to be headed for a surprisingly strong growth rate of 5 percent in this year's first quarter, the Council of Economic Advisers reported today. ''For the quarter as a whole, the gross national product appears to be coming in strong,'' a council spokesman said. The Administration continues to believe that a slowdown is developing, as indicated by the February dip in industrial production, the spokesman said. He confirmed that the council's chairman, Murray L. Weidenbaum, still believes that the spring and summer months will be ''sluggish.'' This adjective is understood to mean that unemployment is expected to rise as economic growth flattens or perhaps turns into a mild contraction or recession.

International Another attack on Soviet policy was made by Secretary of State Alexander M. Haig Jr. At a House hearing, he accused Moscow of responsibility for ''international terrorism'' and of having a ''hit list'' for Communist domination of Central America. (Page A1, Column 4.) A satellite-killing weapon test by the Soviet Union was successful, according to Pentagon sources. It was the first such test since 1977 in the Soviet antisatellite development program, which is considered to be ahead of the United States program. (A1:5.)