  Gamow-Teller (GT) transitions play an important and consequential role in
many astrophysical phenomena. These include, but are not limited to, electron
and positron capture rates which determine the fate of massive stars and play
an intricate role in the dynamics of core collapse. These $GT_{\pm}$
transitions rates are the significant inputs in the description of supernova
explosions. $GT_{\pm}$ strength function values are sensitive to the $^{56}Ni$
core excitation in the middle \textit{pf}-shell region and to the size of the
model space as well. We used the pn-QRPA theory for extracting the GT strength
for ground and excited states of $^{56}Ni$. We then used these GT strength
distributions to calculate the electron \textit{and} positron capture rates
which show differences with the earlier calculations. One curious finding of
this paper is our enhanced electron capture rates on $^{56}Ni$ at presupernova
temperatures. These differences need to be taken into account for the modeling
of the early stages of Type II supernova evolution.
