The glossy book has 32 pages and was written by four men. Chris George is the manager of the caves, Mike Augee is biologist and fossil enthusiast, Bruce Welch is caver, and George Dewar the photographer who made the pictures. The book, simply named Wellington Caves, was officially launched at the Wellington Library last Saturday. It is now available for $4.95 at the caves kiosk.
Gepranath Mahadev Mandir is a cave temple located on the banks of the Chambal, 25km from Kota town. It is a famous temple dedoicated to Lord Shiva and was visited by hundreds of locals last Sunday.
Rain caused a landslide which damaged the staircase or ladder(?) going down into the cave and destroyed the railings. One visitor, an engineering student, was killed and two others were hurt or also killed. 250 people were trapped inside the cave shrine, among them some 30 women and 50 children. The accident happened around 3pm on Sunday, and until dusk the rescue forces were not able to free the people. Food, water and other relief material was sent down into the cave by ropes. Then the rescue work was stopped until the next morning because of the darkness.
Update: One day later the numbers given before were corrected. 135 people, which were trapped in the cave, were rescued Monday during the morning. Four people at a time were lifted from the cave with a crane. It seems two people were killed during the accident.
Magura is located in Bulgaria near the town of Belogradchik. The municipality has now won a fund for a renovation project from the EEA, an organization which is backed by the EU plus Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein. The 400,000 Euros of the fund will finance archeological excavations around and inside the cave and the restoration of some of the prehistoric drawings dating back to 8000 BC. The project also includes the construction of six platforms inside the cave which will allow a view on the excavations and will also have an exhibition of ancient artifacts found in the cave. The works will start in 2009 and will take 18 months.
The municipality is also submitting the cave to be inscribed into the UNESCO World Heritage List.
More at 
Bulgaria’s Cave “Magurata” Renovated with EUR 400 000 from EEA
Marakoopa Cave at the Mole Creek Karst National Park has been closed six weeks ago, after a rock fall near the entrance took place. Wet weather caused the rock fall and was also responsible for the delay of the repair work.
Trained staff has been working on ropes to check the stability of rocks on the cliff face above the cave entrance, which is 50m wide and up to 150m high. Loose rocks were dislodged and so the problem is solved and the cave was now reopened.
Marengo Cave was discovered on 06-SEP-1883, which is almost 125 ago. To the 125th anniversary the cave will celebrate by offering special cave tours which will cost a fee of 125 cents.
More info on Noblesville News & Sports – Event to celebrate Marengo Cave’s discovery 125 years ago
The Gunns Plains Cave is located south of Ulverstone in north-west Tasmania. It is the oldest show cave on the island and was opened to the public 100 years ago. For the centenary the Parks and Wildlife Service, which manages the cave, completed the installation of a new lighting and electrical system.
The new light system needs less electricity, produces less heat, and therefore has a smaller environmental impact. This was made by using 24 V LEDs. Light emitting diodes are more durable and will be able to resist better against the intermittent floods in the cave. And after all they have a much longer life span than other light sources.
Kalabera Cave is a popular destination on Saipan island, which belongs to the Northern Mariana Islands. The semi-wild cave has now been closed to the public for the development as a show cave. This will include the construction of an elevated path and electric lighting. We do not list this cave at the moment, but will add a new show cave page with the next update.
Okay, this might not be an option for tourists in the next decades: visiting a show cave on Mars. Nevertheless its a fascinating thing. Many scientists now believe in the existence of caves on Mars, some years ago this was a new idea, first postulated by the great Herbert W. Franke.
After some years the NASA has officially accepted the idea and lately they created a 10-member team spending one month in Chile’s Atacama desert to develop techniques for discovering and studying caves on Mars. They will visit lava tubes and salt caves similar to those expected on Mars. The caves will be mapped and sensors planted, to develop techniques for discovering and studying caves on Mars. (Probably they should ask a caver…)
Planetarium official to take part in NASA cave project | www.rgj.com | Reno Gazette-Journal
For several decades the German cavers offer an international training camp for young cavers, called JuHöFoLa. The camp has been very popular among German and east European cavers. The first attended because of its good value (250 € for two weeks including meals and all materials and transportation), the latter for the possibility to escape the iron courtain for two weeks and the chance to find someone to marry. 
But like many traditional leisure activities caving has nowadays problems in finding interested youths. Most are pretty busy using their cell phone and working to pay the cell phone fee. And the eastern countries are now part of the EU and borders are open. So last time the camp was skipped the first time after 20 years because of too few applications, and this year the camp is much smaller. It is pretty sobering if you learn that many attendants were not really interested in the topic.
However, there is still the possibility to attend the camp. Some courses are booked but others still have vacancies. The camp is international, the only requirement is to understand English (or German of course) and if you are not of age a signature of your parents.
The geology course has still some vacancies. It will include an introduction into the geology of caves, of southern Germany and its escarpments, volcanism, the biggest meteor crater in Europe (25km in diameter) and fossils of the Mesozoic including some world famous fossil collecting opportunities. It will include a little practice in using maps and GPS, surveying, work with geologic compasses, preparation of fossils and work with cave sediments. There will be a little caving, but nothing difficult. Of course there are so called free days, where you may choose to visit a cave.
For more info look at the official website.
Ah, and by the way: I will be one of the course instructors for geology. 
Thhe light system of the Fairgrounds Tour at Wind Cave has been renovated during the last two winters. It is now open although a small part is still to do. This last piece will be completed next winter.
The renovation works included the installation of 295 lights wired with some 8.5 kilometers of special cable. The replaced light was installed in the 1950s.