December 22, 1981

International A strike by 2,800 Polish coal miners in Silesia was confirmed by the Warsaw radio. There were also reports that activists from the Solidarity labor movement had barricaded themselves inside a steel mill in Katowice. The broadcasts, monitored outside Poland, said that the miners had been on strike since last Tuesday. (Page A1, Col. 6.) Pope John Paul II extolled freedom in his annual peace message. He declared that all men should strive to prevent every form of warfare, but he added that ''peoples have a right and even a duty to protect their existence and freedom'' against an unjust aggressor. (A1:2.)

high terrace that juts out from the steep barren walls of this Antarctic valley in Victoria Land. Winds of awesome power tear at the sandstone floor and winter temperatures sometimes plunge to 75 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. But to Imre Friedmann it is a veritable ''rain forest.'' He bends over, picks up a yellowish piece of porous sandstone and gives it a smart rap with his hammer. The rock splits and reveals a narrow band of green lurking a few millimeters beneath the surface - evidence of one of the most extraordinary adaptations of life to hardship ever found. The green band is made up of lichens, a marriage of algae and fungal matter, that have managed to find what Dr. Friedmann calls ''quite a cozy climate'' beneath the surface of otherwise sterile Antarctic rocks. They do so, he recently discovered, not by adapting physiologically to the cold but by changing their growth pattern and shape to enable them to occupy tiny air spaces in the porous rock, where they evade the harsh climate.

The United Auto Workers might renegotiate current contracts with Ford and General Motors, reversing a stand taken in March against reopening contracts with domestic auto makers. A decision might be made at a Jan. 8 meeting as the manufacturers press the union for wage concessions. (Page A1.) The President discussed economic forecasts with top advisers as he moved toward a decision on whether to propose tax increases for the 1983 fiscal year. The agenda also included a discussion of possible cutbacks in programs that provide for such benefits as Medicare, Medicaid and food stamps. (D1.)

Novo Industri A/S, firmly established as the world leader in industrial enzyme production and a major producer of insulin, is wary of the kind of publicity normally associated with biotechnology concerns. The last thing it wants is to be linked in the public mind with the host of new genetic engineering companies, such as Genentech Inc. and the Cetus Corporation, which have yet to produce commercially viable products. Novo believes that it has key strengths that the newer companies lack: a long tradition of business-oriented biology research; experience with manufacturing technologies, such as fermentation, that will be crucial to the successful application of recent breakthroughs, and a worldwide service and marketing organization. Most analysts who follow Novo, which last year earned $24 million on sales of $215 million, conclude that it is ideally positioned to capitalize on highly publicized scientific advances of the past decade.

The Warsaw radio reported today that more than 2,800 Polish coal miners were on strike in Silesia, and there were reports that activists from the Solidarity union movement had barricaded themselves inside a steel mill in Katowice. The broadcasts, monitored outside Poland, said that the coal miners had been on strike since last Tuesday and had spurned appeals from the directors of both mines to end the protest. Polish Government officials confirmed that at least two coal mines in Silesia remained occupied eight days after the imposition of martial law, according to information arriving from Poland. They also said that the number of people interned since martial law was declared totaled about 5,000, and they denied persistent independent reports that the figure was much higher. (Page A11.)