maybe this is what you meant.
define("myDataFile", "../news-eng/data-eng.txt");
if you want to access a file from the parent of the current directory, you must put 2 dots.
or if the problem is still recurring try to hardcode the file to be open:
$fp=@fopen("../news-eng/data-eng.txt", "a");
or if the problem still persist
try to open the filename using its fullpathname, of course, only you knows the absolute path of data-eng.txt