The first argument to open is the file itself "asgn.txt" thank you for pointing this out and yes I meant this

open $OUT, '>', $NEW or die ...

If the program runs properly, but what I am missing is a the first line from the first index and I am getting an extra line for the next index. Like this

bos-mp96h:~ jvx$ head -1 00000140.log 
mpg=2 mrule=140 reg=7989 score=10625 rank=0 perc=100 mp_demand=40
bos-mp96h:~ jvx$ tail -1 00000140.log  
mpg=1 mrule=3 reg=6346 score=10625 rank=0 perc=100 mp_demand=1
[download]

I might have to reiterate through my logic, but any suggestions would be helpful :)