November 20, 1991

A Federal judge in Miami ordered a five-day stay today in the forced return of Haitians trying to flee to the United States by boat, as hundreds more Haitians put to sea. The ruling came only hours after a second group of Haitians numbering over 300 were returned to the island. The United States resumed a decade-old policy of returning Haitians on Monday, after a period of relaxation following a military coup on Sept. 30 that ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The State Department says that 538 Haitians have been returned in the last two days. Only 53 in the present exodus have been given asylum.

Two lesser-known, privately held computer companies have been awarded one of the richest Government computer contracts ever, estimated to be worth at least $1 billion. The award is for a three-year order to supply the Department of Defense with as many as 300,000 high-powered desktop computers and related software and services. The Compuadd Corporation of Austin and Sysorex Information Systems Inc. of Falls Church, Va., will share the contract, known as Desktop IV. Twenty-two companies, most of them far larger and better known, had bid on the lucrative project. The contract was awarded Nov. 15 by the Air Force Standard Systems Center at Gunter Air Force Base, Ala., but not reported until Monday.

Two years after the "velvet revolution" that he led, President Vaclav Havel of Czechoslovakia is struggling to preserve the unity of his country against Slovak separatist strivings. The possibility of a breakup of Czechoslovakia, founded in 1918 after the demise of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, seemed unthinkable when Mr. Havel came to power late in December 1989. Now, though, the unthinkable occupies the top of the President's agenda, and he is considering the worst.

He may not have had the artistic impact of the composer Charles Ives and the poet Wallace Stevens, both versatile executives who juggled careers in insurance and the arts, but Julius R. Nasso's dual career has a similarly diverse flair. Mr. Nasso runs Universal Marine Medical Supplies, which he has built into the world's largest distributor of pharmaceuticals to ships, while helping produce action films like "Hard to Kill" and "Out for Justice."

Gov. Mario M. Cuomo's budget office said today that the gap in the coming state budget may rise to $3.6 billion, double its previous estimate, or more than 10 percent of total projected spending. Officials said they based the new figure on forecasts that the state and national economies would take still another turn for the worse, depressing tax collections and increasing spending on social services.