April 17, 1987

LEAD: AMID the plentiful ways to celebrate Easter traditionally, here are some weekend possibilities that have nothing to do with eggs or rabbits. They involve, among other things, ghosts, workhorses, Svengali and medieval African music.

LEAD: Rangers Fall in Six Games The Rangers were eliminated from the National Hockey League playoffs by Philadelphia. The Islanders-Capitals series is tied at 3-3. Page B7. Telephone Fee Raised Residences and small businesses will pay $1.50 more a month for service, the F.C.C. decided.

LEAD: Investigators in Manhattan said yesterday that they had uncovered a swindle scheme involving fraudulent Indonesian Government promissory notes with a face value of $3.5 billion. They said the scheme was controlled by a Middle Eastern businessman whom law enforcement officials have linked to the Palestine Liberation

LEAD: THE ECONOMY The President's budget director warned the Fed not to raise interest rates, saying such action could cause a recession. The Reagan aide, James C. Miller 3d, seemed to be positioning the Administration to blame the Fed if a recession occurs in 1988, an election year. Paul A. Volcker has indicated that the Fed might have to consider pushing up rates to combat the dollar's slide.

LEAD: The Federal Communications Commission, responding to public complaints, unanimously adopted measures today intended to sharply restrict explicit language about sex and bodily functions on radio, television and telephone services.