LEAD: Three weeks ago, when New York State's April 1 budget deadline was still fresh in official memory, budget talks here had a bit of drama. All-night meetings were followed by angry recriminations, then by stirring scenes of reconciliation.

The Budget? Albany Waits For Decisions

LEAD: An appeals court here ruled today that a pregnant woman, even one who is terminally ill and whose fetus is probably viable, may not be forced against her will to undergo a Caesarean delivery in an effort to save the fetus.

Court in Capital Bars Forced Surgery to Save Fetus

LEAD: Long-term interest rates moved above 9 percent yesterday for the first time in nearly a year, continuing a rise that will crimp certain sectors of the economy.

  Interest Rates Rise Above 9%

LEAD: As President Bush's Cabinet-level Economic Policy Council met today to consider which countries to target for reprisal under 1988 trade legislation, Administration officials said that India was likely to remain on their ''hit list'' but that Brazil, like Japan, had worked its way off.

India Is Expected to Remain On U.S. Trade 'Hit List'

Business Digest

LEAD: ''Whoa, don't even mention higher taxes here!'' yelped Veronica Woodruff, assistant manager of a cosmetics shop at the Woodbridge Center mall. Her eyes squinted as if she were being force-fed a lemon when she heard the name of her new Governor, the recent bearer of bad news, Jim Florio.

Days of Rage: Florio and the Taxpayers

LEAD: At the sun-splashed farmers' market on Calvary Street, the asking price for a pound of tomatoes today was half a day's wages. The taxis parked outside demanded astronomical fares to make up for black-market gasoline costing $20 a gallon, and the driver might well have been a newly laid off factory worker.

  In Lithuania, on Its Own, Determination and Doubt

LEAD: France and West Germany jointly urged Lithuania today to suspend its Parliament's moves toward independence and to seek negotiations with Moscow with a view to finding ''a solution acceptable to all parties.''

  LITHUANIA IS ASKED BY PARIS AND BONN TO HALT DECISIONS

LEAD: At night, TriBeCa's tall, heavy industrial buildings and warehouses somehow make it seem darker than the rest of the city.

SOLEMN TRIBECA'S HIDDEN SMILES

LEAD: In a sweeping decision that could signal widespread changes for judicial elections throughout the South, the Department of Justice has thrown out Georgia's system for electing judges on the ground that it discriminates against blacks.

Georgia's Way of Electing Judges Is Overturned by U.S. as Biased

LEAD: After only eight months on the job, Arnold F. Staloff, the president and chief executive of the Commodity Exchange Inc., or Comex, resigned under pressure last night, people at the exchange said.

Comex Chief Reportedly Resigns

LEAD: There is such desperate need for group homes for the mentally ill on Long Island, the waiting lists grow and grow. Delia Rivas, who suffers from manic depression, has been free to leave Pilgrim State Psychiatric Hospital for four months, but stays, in Building 45, waiting for a group home bed. ''It's not good to stay in a circumstance where other people around you are very sick,'' she says.

Our Towns;   Group Homes Face New Battles On Old Fears

LEAD: Facing intense pressure from Congress to cut more deeply into the Pentagon budget, Defense Secretary Dick Cheney today proposed large reductions in the development and production of new warplanes, including the Stealth bomber.

CHENEY PROPOSES SHARP REDUCTIONS IN NEW WARPLANES

LEAD: The venomous, long-running board-room battle at LVMH Moet Hennessy-Louis Vuitton, the luxury-goods group, appeared to have ended today as Henry Racamier resigned as chairman of the company's Louis Vuitton leather goods subsidiary.

Vuitton's Chief Quits, Ending a Bitter Feud

LEAD: Unable to recover from the setbacks it suffered after taking over the Zayre discount department stores in 1988, Ames Department Stores Inc. said yesterday that it had filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 of the Federal Bankruptcy Code.

Ames Stores Files for Bankruptcy

LEAD:    Peres Comes Up Short       The Labor Party leader, Shimon Peres, gave up trying to form a new government in Israel, opening the way for the conservatives aligned with Yitzhak Shamir. Page A3.       German on the Mend       Oskar Lafontaine, the West German Social Democratic Party leader, was reported much improved a day after being stabbed in the neck by a deranged woman.

INSIDE

LEAD: Only eight years ago, most restaurants in the brooding industrial landscape of TriBeCa were identifiable by neon beer signs in the windows. Today, Budweiser is eclipsed by Bordeaux and Barolos as stylish restaurants sprout all over this eccentrically delineated neighborhood. Underscoring the fervid renaissance is the recent opening of Robert De Niro and company's dream restaurant, TriBeCa Grill, which, for those who follow the stars, could rank second only to the Hayden Planetarium.

WINING, DINING AND STARGAZING

LEAD: The chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission has asked a securities group to explore the development of an electronic pricing system for the high-yield ''junk bond'' market, industry executives said yesterday.

'Junk Bond' Changes Proposed

LEAD: The stage was set today for one of the toughest national political battles of 1990, drawing the environmental movement directly into hardball politics over a measure that would impose on California the most sweeping controls in the country.

California Pushing the Limits With Environmental Plan

LEAD: Despite the demands of his law firm, his five children, summer vacations and seven tax seasons, Jacob I. Friedman has set aside one hour every day for the last seven and a half years to study the Talmud, the veritable library of Jewish law, ethics, mysticism and folklore.

Talmud Gala: Ancient Law for 1990's Issues

LEAD: Because of the March of Dimes Walk America fund-raiser, Lexington Avenue from 23d Street to 96th Street will be closed on Sunday from 7 A.M. to 2 P.M.

Traffic Alert

LEAD: New York City and state officials announced an agreement yesterday to spend $600 million in the next seven years to clean up five leaking or contaminated garbage dumps, including the world's largest landfill at Fresh Kills on Staten Island.

A $600 Million Landfill Cleanup Is Set by New York City and State

LEAD: Vinnie Gramuglia is very fond of his giant road sign - a retired 18-wheeler perched 65 feet up in the sky over the Gov. Thomas E. Dewey Thruway. The sign, the local truck-stop owner says, ''is to trucks what a lighthouse is to ships.''

In Battle Over Sign, All Roads Lead to Albany

LEAD:    Friday       PASOLINI RETROSPECTIVE

WEEKENDER GUIDE

LEAD: A State Supreme Court justice ruled yesterday that suspects in New York State must be arraigned within 24 hours of their arrest, rather than the current maximum of 72 hours.

Judge Orders Arraignments In 24 Hours

Austin Reed Dillon is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 3 Chevrolet ZL1 and part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 3 Chevrolet SS for Richard Childress Racing. He is the grandson of RCR team owner Richard Childress, the older brother of Ty Dillon who competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, and the son of Mike Dillon, a former racing driver who currently works as RCR's general manager.

April 27, 1990

Headlines from April 27, 1990

The Budget? Albany Waits For Decisions

Court in Capital Bars Forced Surgery to Save Fetus

Interest Rates Rise Above 9%

India Is Expected to Remain On U.S. Trade 'Hit List'

Business Digest

Billboard 200

I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got

Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814

Soul Provider

Nick Of Time

Forever Your Girl

Notable Births

Historical Context for April 27, 1990