March 7, 1994

No Early Burmese Talks The Burmese military leader ruled out early talks with the detained democracy leader, calling her attitude "counterproductive." Page A8. Dutch Build on the Ecology In the crowded Netherlands, a movement is taking root to design communities based on the best environmental and health standards. Page A3. Melina Mercouri Is Dead The actress, known for the 1960 film "Never on Sunday," capped her career with a real-life role as Greece's Minister of Culture. Page D8. A2 Arts

New York City's Transportation Department estimates that it will fill a quarter of a million new potholes this season. That would be 20 percent more than last year, a testament to the severity of this winter. The 15 storms and nine freeze-thaw cycles have played havoc with streets and highways. Water seeps under the road surface, then expands as it freezes, forcing the pavement to bulge. When the ice melts and the water drains away, it leaves an empty pocket that becomes exposed when traffic crushes the bulged pavement.

For months, Republicans have pressed the White House and Congress's Democratic majority to look into the involvement of Federal agencies in the Whitewater affair. For months, the White House and Democrats have replied with a stiff-arm. Now, if the talk on Capitol Hill is any indication, President Clinton is about to reap the whirlwind of that policy in Congress.

Up through a ghostly terrain of smashed and ransacked former Muslim homes, Branko Grujic led the way, intent on showing off his crowning contribution to what he calls the victory of Serbian Orthodox Christianity over Islam in Bosnia. Mr. Grujic, the Mayor of this northeastern Bosnian town now controlled by Serbs and completely "cleansed" of its 40,000 prewar Muslim inhabitants, has a pet project. It stands atop the escarpment that overlooks Zvornik and the meandering sweep of the Drina River.

Simmering since September, the Glenn Healy-Mike Keenan stew has come to a boil. As the Rangers take their league-leading record into tonight's game against second-best Detroit at Madison Square Garden, the treatment of the backup goalie by his coach overwhelms the other major plot lines that color a fascinating stretch of an interesting season.

NEW YORK REAL ESTATE IS BACK New York City's commercial real-estate brokers and landlords are unanimous: Buildings are filling up. Average midtown rents have stopped their slide. Landlords are getting more from tenants and giving them less. Some companies are even buying buildings again. All told, brokers and landlords say, the real-estate recession is ending. A1. NEW YORK CITY THE IRON AGE LIVES AGAIN Ironworkers have had a slow time of it lately in New York City, settling for maintenance chores like bridge repair instead of building skyscrapers. But a majestic project on the East Side, the first stage in the construction of an $842 million addition to New York Hospital between 68th and 70th Streets, is filling the union hall and bringing back the swagger. B3.

Companies Florida's Insurance Commissioner presented a scathing report about Metropolitan Life, asserting that it failed to heed its own knowledge of improper sales practices and proposed that the company pay fines totaling $20 million. The fines were agreed to by all 50 states. [ Page D1. ]

The air was bone chilling, but the admiring throngs hardly noticed one afternoon as a blue-eyed Snow White smiled engagingly and the Seven Dwarfs performed their antics, singing the tune every child raised on Disney fare knows: "Hi-ho! Hi-ho! Shinpai nai utai tsuzukeyo!" If home is where the cash registers ring loudest, it would be hard to imagine Mickey Mouse and his friends ensconced more comfortably anyplace other than this bustling plot of landfill on the shores of Tokyo Bay, at Tokyo Disneyland.

When President Clinton stood before an audience at an Arlington, Va., health clinic last year and characterized the pharmaceutical industry as a bunch of price gougers, executives of the nation's drug companies had what their scientists might call a convulsive reaction. After the initial shock, the industry sought strong remedies to counter the threat. In the 12 months since that speech, the drug companies have mounted a sophisticated campaign that has included frequent visits to Washington by their top executives, a multimillion-dollar advertising blitz, hefty campaign contributions to members of Congress and intense lobbying of the lawmakers who receive those donations. Counteroffensive Moves Lodewijk J. R. de Vink, president of the Warner-Lambert Company, said: "The President's accusations put us immediately on guard, in a very defensive mode. We never anticipated that kind of frontal attack. We decided to mount a counteroffensive."

In a scathing report to state insurance commissioners, Florida's Insurance Commissioner asserted yesterday that Metropolitan Life had failed to heed its own knowledge of improper sales practices by its agents. The commissioners accepted a Florida proposal that the company pay fines totaling $20 million, $12.5 million of that in cash to states. The Florida report, presented by Tom Gallagher, the state's commissioner, at a meeting of insurance commissioners in Denver, found that Metropolitan's sales practices violated the laws of most states and were "widespread, nationwide and virtually unpoliced by the management." Mr. Gallagher added that the company could face larger fines from individual states if it rejected the $20 million offer.

As part of the criminal investigation of Prudential Securities, Federal prosecutors are examining potential licensing deficiencies in the sales forces of at least two companies within the firm's parent, the Prudential Insurance Company of America, people with knowledge of the inquiry said over the weekend. Government officials have conducted numerous interviews in recent weeks asking possible witnesses about a program through which agents of Pruco Securities, a division of Prudential Insurance, improperly sold limited partnerships without having the necessary licenses to sell securities.

They cannot agree on how much space still languishes empty, or on what the average rents are. But on some things, New York's commercial real-estate brokers and building owners are unanimous: Buildings are filling up. Landlords are getting more from tenants and giving them less. Some companies are even buying buildings again. All told, brokers and landlords say, the real-estate recession is ending. "If February's numbers are an indication of what the rest of 1994 will look like, the New York real-estate market is in for a sustained period of recovery," said Barry Gosin, chief executive officer of Newmark & Company Real Estate.