According to this page, 


  All communications between Microsoft Azure SQL Database and your
  application require encryption (SSL) at all times.


If this is the case, what is the difference between using the standard connection string of: 

server.database.windows.net


and requiring security and using the "Secure Connection String" of:

server.database.secure.windows.net



Question: Preventing a specific CSS file from getting loaded in Yii
Answer: I would suggest either:

Using a separate layout for that page like main_no-css.php 
or
Adding a condition before registering the script (like if controller != xxx and action != yyy), but this would cause the condition to be checked on every other page.

I would definitely go for a separate layout.